28th Annual Thomas Hart Benton Art Competition announces winners
Winners of the Neosho Arts Council’s annual Thomas Hart Benton Art Competition and Exhibition were announced recently.
The event is in its 28th year and Regina Willard, an oil painter from West Plains, MO, served as this year’s judge. She presented thirteen awards to area artists.
“I looked for three things that stood out to me, artists knowledge and experience with the medium, how well they observe subject matter, and good color placement as far as use of values and color relationships. Also, works that I felt drawn to, as far as maybe a story or led me to ask a question,” said Willard after presenting awards.
This year’s overall Best of show was awarded to Jeffery Jones of Neosho for his oil painting titled “Portrait of Alex.”
“I felt it was one of my stronger paintings this year,” said Jones as to why he entered this piece. “One of my chosen subject pathways in the last year or so has been to paint more figurative works.” Music is important to Jones and he has been sketching and gathering references on people who make music. He said that he has been moved emotionally by the music of his model, Alex Williams.
Williams, a Neosho native, is a Los Angeles based professional composer and cellist working in film, television, video games, and concert stage. The Thomas Hart Benton Art Competition and Exhibition featured two divisions with awards being presented in each one.
“I liked the categories of emerging and professional,” Willard said. “It gives respect to where they, the artist, are in their journey and what they may envision in the future as far as what it is they want to say in their work.”
Winners in the professional division included: First Place for “Dogwood Canyon” an oil painting by Barbara Hicklin (Joplin), Second Place for “Living Landscape” an oil painting by Jesse McCormick (Webb City), and Third Place for “Floral Study” an oil painting by Debbie Reed (Joplin).
“It’s always exciting to see who the top winners are in each division because of how they are broke down,” said Sarah Serio, President of Neosho Arts Council. “The emerging division is artists just getting started, still finding their personal styles, and they’ve taken the risk of entering a competition. It’s not totally fair to judge them against season professionals.”
In the emerging division winners included: First Place for “Who Are The Americans” a mixed media piece by Ali Rae (Carl Junction), Second Place for “Out of Reach” a pencil and charcoal piece by Randi Davis (Southwest City), and Third Place for “When One Door Closes…” a watercolor painting by Elizabeth Burton (Joplin).
Rae said she was honored to take home the first place award, “There were so many amazing works.”
“Overall I thought there were a good many works, those that didn’t place, that had potential,” Willard said. She was able to award several merit awards to those works including: Merit in Mixed Media for “Re-emergence” a textile piece by Mary Thornton (Jay, OK), Merit for Works on Paper for “Lily in the Leaves” a mixed media piece by Dawn Eads (Neosho), Merit in Watercolor for “No More Kisses” a watercolor painting by Debbie Reed (Joplin), Merit in Acrylic for “Open Invitation” an acrylic painting by Jeff Cantwell Sr (Neosho), Merit in Oil for “Love Birds” an oil painting by Dustin Miller (Siloam Springs, AR), and the Mary Ellen Pitts Memorial Pastel Award for “Georgia On My Mind” an oil pastel by Al Gritten (Neosho).
The 28th Annual Thomas Hart Benton Art Competition and Exhibition is on view through October at the Big Spring Gallery inside the Neosho Area Chamber of Commerce (216 West Spring Street, Neosho, MO). It’s also online at neoshoarts.net.