Mercer County Artists Award Announced

The Mercer County arts community came out in force to view the rich and varied works of fellow artists at the Awards Ceremony and Opening Reception for "Mercer County Artists 2015" on February 4. The exhibit is on display through February 27 at the Gallery at Mercer County Community College (MCCC), located on the second floor of the Communications Building on the college's West Windsor campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road.

The show features 89 works by 63 artists in a variety of media including oil, acrylic, and watercolor paintings, as well as mixed media collages and 23 sculptures.

Gallery Director Dylan Wolfe announced the award winners with fellow presenters Tricia Fagan and Nora Añanos from the Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission. "This exhibit clearly demonstrates the immense talent and culture of Mercer County," Wolfe said. "Supporting the arts sustains the inspirations we can each find when we are living in a community flush with creativity, culture and the expression of passions."

Wolfe thanked juror Kyle Stevenson, an artist and MCCC Professor of Fine Arts, for making his selections from 244 pieces submitted by 138 artists. "Having been present during his deliberation, I can tell you with certainty that he made many difficult choices," Wolfe told the crowd.

Wolfe also acknowledged the Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission for its continuing support of the exhibit. "The commission not only supports us through grant funding, but also purchased artwork totaling over $2500 from this exhibit. They continue to build a remarkable permanent collection of county created, county owned artwork, and provide direct support and encouragement to our community of artists," he said.

Award winners include: the Utrecht-Blick Best in Show Prize to David Orban of Trenton for "The Work Party: The Workbench." The Juror's Choice Awards went to Janis Purcell of East Windsor for "Phoenix Rising" and Megan Uhaze of Hamilton for "The Eye." Juror's Honorable Mention recipients were Marina Ahun of Princeton for "New York Grand Central Terminal"; Elise Dodeles of Lambertville for "San Francisco Area Fighter A219, Ike O'Rourke"; James Doherty of Lawrence for "Wynwood Walls"; Timothy J. Fitzpatrick of Mercerville for "Low Tide"; and Bill Plank of Lawrenceville for "Birth."

County Purchase Awards went to Jamie Greenfield of Lawrenceville for "Seven Gold Coins"; Libby Ramage of Princeton for "Incantation"; John Pietrowski of Ewing (untitled); Adam Hillman of Pennington (untitled); Terri McNichol of Cranbury for "The Baptism"; and Cathy Saska-Mydlowski of Hamilton for "South Beach."

Arin Black, Executive Director of the West Windsor Arts Council, awarded the Council's prize to Kathleen Liao of Princeton Junction for "Quantum Leap."

Other featured artists are: Priscilla Snow Algava of Princeton, Joanne Amantea of Princeton, Sheryl Bassman of Robbinsville, Richard Bilotti of Pennington, Mechtild Bitter of Princeton, Donna Blachford of Monroe Township, Michele Bouchard of West Windsor, Emily Buchalski of Hamilton, Michael Buriani of Hamilton Square, Sean Carney of Ewing, Al Chasan of West Windsor, Larry Chestnut of Hamilton, Sue Chui of Lawrenceville, Patricia Cook Rubino of Trenton, Chris Cooper of Lawrenceville, Ingrid Davis of East Windsor, Katja De Rutyer of Princeton, NJ DeVico of Titusville, Mary Dolan of Princeton, Joseph Dougherty of Pennington, Chris DuBois of Robbinsville, Lynne Faridy of Levittown, Pa., Janet Felton of Princeton Junction, Mary Gilchrist of Hamilton, Dee Gozonsky of West Windsor, Kyle Hamilton of Hamilton, Jamaila Hernandez of Franklin Park, Marlene Hingstman of Ewing, Michael Kane of Hamilton, Michael Kember of Trenton, Sejal Krishnan of Princeton, Ronald A. LaMahieu of Princeton, Scott Madsen of Lawrenceville, Suzanne Migliori of Groveville, Arlene Gale Milgram of Trenton, Gabi Muenzel of Plainsboro, Caryn Newman of Ewing, Lea Novak of Hamilton, Michael V. Pascucci of Monroe, Ghislaine Pasteur of Princeton, Elizabeth Pelikan of Lawrenceville, Dallas Piotrowski of Hamilton, Vijay Sawant of East Windsor, Christa Schneider of Princeton, J. Marion Simmons of Plainsboro, Larry Steele of Lawrenceville, Judith Tallerman of Princeton, Cathy Tsao of East Windsor, Ellen Veden of Princeton, Andrew Werth of Princeton Junction, Mark Wilkie of Hamilton Square, Susan Winter of Hightstown, and Mary Yess of Trenton.

Wolfe, who curated the show, was assisted by MCCC students Autumn Bardachino, Mackenzie Evans and Chris DuBois. Directions and gallery hours are available at www.mccc.edu/gallery.

BroadwayWorld brings you a look at a few of the winners below!

Photos courtesy of Wendy Humphrey