Ellarslie Open 30

Ellarslie Open 30
Juried Exhibit
On Display April 26, 2013 – June 9, 2013

History

During the early years of the museum, the focus was on acquiring items to expand the decorative arts collection. Museum director Ben Whitmire (1978-1988) changed the focus to include temporary exhibitions of contemporary art with an emphasis on Trenton area artists. In 1982, he established the Ellarslie Open to encourage local artists to submit their work for judging and display. Since then, the Trenton City Museum has displayed the work of over five hundred local and regional artists, many selected on the basis of work they submitted to the Ellarslie Open. Today, the Ellarslie Open has become a significant exhibition in its own right, drawing on the work of professional artists from all over the tri-state region and beyond, while encouraging and recognizing emerging artists.

Ellarslie Open 30

This spring, over 250 artists from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York submitted over 450 works to the 30th Ellarslie Open. Such an outpouring is a testament to the vibrancy and the resilience of the Trenton art scene.  For the 30th Ellarslie Open, this year’s juror selected 119 captivating works in a variety of styles and media produced by 95 talented artists.

Awards and Prizes

Louis Russomanno, Mud Men
Palmer Award for Excellence for Best in Show Overall

Tomas Co, Masa
Trentypo Award for Best in Show – Digital Art

Sandra Lewis, Duchess Enthroned
Director’s Award for Best in Show – Drawing

Victoria Chu Moy, Second Thoughts
Runner Up – Drawing

Laura Friesel, Fine Chocolate
Shoppe 202 Award for Best in Show – Fiber Art

Arlene Milgram, Broken Promise
Jerry’s Artarama Award for Best in Show – Mixed Media

Bill Hoo, CO2: The Black Cloud over Farmers
Runner Up – Mixed Media

Louis Russomanno, Mud Men
Best in Show – Painting

Nancy Bentley, Yesterday’s Games
Artful Deposit Award for Runner Up – Painting

Gary Koenitzer, NY Nanosecond
Honorable Mention – Painting

Igor Svibilsky,Kallisto
TMS  Award for Best in Show – Photography

Joseph Gilchrist, The Terminus
Runner Up – Photography

Oleg Moiseyenko, The City/Chicago at Night
Honorable Mention – Photography

Kathleen Liao, Theme and Variation
B&B Award for Best in Show – Printmaking

Maryann Cannon, Deco Dream
Runner Up – Printmaking

Priscilla Snow Algava, Four Sisters
Honorable Mention – Printmaking

David Cann, Sketch #6 “Arch”
President’s Award for Best in Show – Sculpture

Bob Justin, The Oxbow
Runner Up – Sculpture

Rosemary Tottoroto, Escaping Reading Terminal
Farnsworth Gallery Award for Best in Show – Watercolor

Mark Schreiber, Sunrise Over the Princeton Campus
Jerry’s Artarama Award for Runner Up – Watercolor

Karen Bannister, Good Host II
Honorable Mention – Watercolor

Kevin Hogan, Capitol Fog
Ben Whitmire Purchase Award

Judith Rosenthal, Round Forrest Bowl
Trenton Museum Society Purchase Award

Mary-Kate O’Hare, Ph.D., Juror

Mary-Kate O’Hare, Ph.D., is Curator of American Art at the Newark Museum, where she has organized several critically lauded exhibitions including Constructive Spirit: Abstract Art in South and North America, 1920s-50s (2010); At the Movies: Edward Hopper’s The Sheridan Theatre (2007); and co-curated (with Holly Pyne Connor) Off the Pedestal: New Women in the Art of Homer, Sargent and Chase (2006). The International Association of Art Critics (AICA-USA) honored her work for Constructive Spirit with a second place award for “Best Thematic Museum Show Nationally.” Her current research focuses on U.S. and Latin American modern and contemporary art, with particular attention to modes of artistic exchange between artists in the Americas. She is an adjunct faculty member at Rutgers University, where she also earned a Ph.D. in art history, writing her dissertation on issues of masculinity in the work of John Singer Sargent. In 2010 she was the recipient of the Clinton Hill/Allen Tran Foundation Curatorial Innovation Grant and in 2011 held a four-month fellowship at the Clark Art Institute, where she worked on an upcoming interdisciplinary exhibition that explores the intersections between mid-20th century Brazilian art, music, and design.