September 28, 2016 at 2:09 p.m.
The 29th annual Northern National Art Competition has been judged
The 29th annual Northern National Art Competition has been judged
By Kayla Thomason-
The pieces, which range from flowers with soft colors and photographs with unique perspectives, to an oil painting depicting ice fishing, are part of the 29th annual Northern National Art Competition, which is co-sponsored by the Northern Arts Council and Nicolet College.
Jeanine Ryding, an instructor at the Art Institute of Chicago, had the pleasure and challenge of selecting 85 pieces out of approximately 400 submitted.
"It's always really interesting to me to see all the images come in from across the country and then I put them in a slide show for the judge and then we always wonder what the judge is going to pick," said Katy Ralph, Nicolet Art Gallery director.
Ryding initially went through the Powerpoint slide show quite rapidly to get an initial idea of what types of submissions there were.
She then went though the slide show again to eliminate those pieces that wouldn't make the final cut.
She said she was fascinated to see the pieces in person, to observe the texture, scale, minute details and more.
"I came here thinking I could make my decisions pretty easily and that was not the case," Ryding said, adding that "there were a lot of pieces that were equal in expertise and execution and everything, but having to choose one over another is very difficult given the varied personalities of all the work and the artists here in the show."
As she chose the winning pieces she felt a sense of thoughtfulness from the artists' work, she said.
"It made me feel, I think I was looking at work that was done by very thoughtful people, people who had a very good sense of what they wanted to represent and they had the skills to do that," she said. "It was way beyond just a technical exercise, it was definitely something that you look at, it surprises you and makes you think."
She has some advice for those artists whose work didn't make it into the show.
"Just be careful in photographing to not have the camera move so one has as much detail looking at the work as possible, don't include as much of the wall, really focus in on the artwork," Ryding said.
"I think everyone who entered I would congratulate them, whether they got in the show or not, because they were brave enough to do that," she added.
For those who made it in to the show but didn't place, she had warm words of encouragement.
"The work is very excellent, I think all the work in the show is very good work," she said. "People are working at a very high level of expression and craft and thought.Definitely keep entering exhibitions, keep working by all means because the more you do the better you get."
Ryding also took time to congratulate those artists whose pieces placed in this year's competition.
"Congratulations, first and foremost, you made the job enjoyable but not very easy," she said with a smile.
About 20 artists received awards.
There were three awards of excellence and four or so in the other categories. Monetary prizes ranged from $100 to $1,000, totalling over $8,500.
"This is really an extremely high-quality show in many ways and these awards are far greater than many awards in other shows," Ryding said. "I think this is one of the better shows around. I'm so pleased at the variety. There are works here that are very abstract pieces that work very well right side by side with much more traditional pieces. To the artists who have really gone out on a limb and they've really done a lot of work toward the show, I just want to thank them especially because you can really see it in their work."
The public is welcome to see the artwork - displayed in Nicolet's new art gallery in the Northwoods Center - for free.
Gallery hours are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The show will be available through Nov. 4.
Kayla Breese may be reached at [email protected].
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