Mercer County Artists Award Winners Announced

The arts community was out in force on Feb. 22 for the Opening Reception and Awards Ceremony for "Mercer County Artists 2017," now on display at the Gallery at Mercer County Community College (MCCC) through March 23. The Gallery at Mercer is located on the second floor of the Communications Building on the college's West Windsor Campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road. (The gallery is closed during Spring Break, March 13 to 19.)

The show features 43 works by 37 artists in a variety of media including oil, acrylic, and watercolor paintings, mixed media collages, and ceramics. The subject matter varies widely from whimsical to abstract to classic still lifes.

The new director of the gallery is MCCC Professor of Fine Art Lucas Kelly, who introduced himself to the crowd by saying he couldn't have asked for a better way to start his tenure as director. He noted that the juror, Philadelphia artist and curator Douglas Witmer, was truly impressed with the quality of the submissions. "He tapped into the sincerity and integrity of the arts in our community," Kelly said. "You are the folks who are keeping the arts alive in our county." Kelly curated the show with MCCC student volunteers.

In addition to Kelly, awards presenters included MCCC President Jianping Wang, along with Tricia Fagan of the Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission. Also presenting was Ailyn Green, Executive Director of the West Windsor Arts Council.

James Doherty of Lawrence was awarded the Blick Art Supplies Best in Show for "Pigtails." Juror's Choice Awards went to Concetta Maglione of Princeton for "The Announcement" and Ryan Vogen of Plainsboro, an MCCC art student, for "The Subway Scene." Eleven artists received Honorable Mentions: Larry Chestnut of Hamilton for "Teapot with Wooden Flower," Salvatore Damiano of Hamilton for "Skinny Dippers and Voyeurs," Joseph H. Dougherty of Pennington for "Shades," Phillip Cox Luth of Princeton for "Red Dot Matrix," Lea Novak of Hamilton Square for "Pennsylvania Hills," Michael Pietras of Pennington for "Flying Saucer Bowl," Libby Ramage of Princeton for "Study Wasp Nest #3 and #4," Meredith Remz of Princeton for "George Washington," Vijay Sawant of East Windsor for "Adventure," Jenny Sweetland of Princeton for "Doughnuts," and Andrew Werth of Princeton Junction for "Center of Narrative Gravity." Four artists were selected for Mercer County Purchase Awards: Mechtild Bitter of Princeton for "Crater of the Moon II," James Doherty for "Pigtails," Lea Novak for "Floating Feather," and Maxine Shore of East Windsor for "Hiking in the Swiss Alps." The West Windsor Arts Council Award went to Arlene Gail Milgram of Trenton for "Dichotomy."

In addition to award winners, other artists featured in the show include: Samita Bhatia of West Windsor, Sean Carney of Robbinsville,Sue Chiu of Lawrenceville, Cornelia Huellstrunk of Princeton, Joy Kreves of Ewing, Phillip Cox Luth of Princeton, Deborah Paglione of Robbinsville, Amber Palecek of West Windsor, Ken Palmer of Crosswicks, Dallas Piotrowski of Hamilton, Bill Plank of Lawrenceville, Helene Plank of Lawrenceville, Shoshana Pofelis of East Windsor, Jules Schaeffer of Belle Mead, Janet Marion Simmons of Princeton, Ruth Strohl-Palmer of Crosswicks, Judy Tobie of Princeton, Megan Uhaze of Hamilton, Dylan Wolfe of Ewing, Christina Young of Hamilton, and Daniel Zimmerman of Hamilton Square.

Gallery hours are Mondays through Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., with Wednesday hours extended until 7 p.m.

This exhibit is co-sponsored by and supported through a grant from the Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission, with funding from the New Jersey State Council of the Arts/ Department of State, a partner of the National Endowment for the Arts. Directions and gallery hours are available at www.mccc.edu/gallery.

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