July 16, 2014 at 3:47 p.m.
Benedict-Jones to judge 2014 Northern National Art Competition
Benedict-Jones to judge 2014 Northern National Art Competition
Winners will be announced at the Northern National Art Competition opening reception Tuesday, July 22, at Nicolet College. The event opens at 5 p.m. and includes hors d' oeuvres, an exhibition of the 60 entries chosen as finalists for the competition, and a discussion of the submissions by Juror Linda Benedict-Jones.
Benedict-Jones is an adjunct professor of art at Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. She is also Curator of Photography for the Carnegie Art Museum. She was pleased by the volume and variety of entries in this year's competition.
"It was an honor to be invited as the Juror for the Northern National Art Competition," Benedict-Jones said. "With a robust response - 266 applications from 35 states - I realized that I was taking on a challenging assignment. I also assumed there would be a diverse artistic vocabulary represented among the submissions, and in this I was not disappointed. I try to keep a very open mind when I begin the process, and typically I'm much more stringent with photographic images since I have worked in the field for decades."
She admits that, when one is reducing a field from 266 entries to 60 finalists, the process may not appear to be scientific. "I look through all the submissions to get an overview, and then I slowly group them into three categories: yes, no, maybe. There is a little dance that takes place between those in the 'maybe' and 'yes' categories, and occasionally a 'no' sneaks back into the limelight. I respond positively to what strikes me as somewhat uncommon: 'Show me something I haven't seen before' is what I would often say to my students," she said.
Benedict-Jones will make the final prize-winning selections after the works are hung in the Nicolet Gallery by curator Katherine Ralph. An additional "audience choice" award will be selected by those attending the July 22 reception.
Several Northwoods artists and others in the state had works selected for the show. These include Christine Alfery, Lac du Flambeau; Marilyn Annin, Land O'Lakes; CathyJean Clark, Neillsville; Tim Feathers, Schofield; Tim Johnson, Rhinelander; Janice Kanyusik, Rhinelander; Kitty Kingston, Marshfield; Cindy Martin, Deerfield; Joanne Nock Olsen, Lake Tomahawk; Patrick Plunkett, Wausau; Dani Schafer, Antigo; Sheila Stilin, Rhinelander; and Gale Willcox, Rhinelander.
Tickets for the reception are available at Nicolet College, Rhinelander ArtStart, Lattitudes, and Diane's Frame Shoppe in Rhinelander for $18.
Tickets will also be available at School of the Arts at Rhinelander which opens Saturday, July 19, at James Williams Middle School. Tickets will not be sold at the door the night of the reception.
The Northern National Art Competition exhibition will be on display in the Nicolet College Gallery through Sept. 12.
After the reception admission is free to the exhibit.
The gallery is in the Learning Resources Center on the Nicolet College Campus, one mile south of Rhinelander just off of Hwy. G.
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