OIL PORTRAITURE by Kiefer 
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Judging the Edina Art Center's "Bird Show", 2010 April is considered early spring in Minnesota. On April 1st, an unusually warm and brilliant day, I judged a very interesting theme show at the Edina Art Center (Edina is a city adjacent to Minneapolis). I love that particular venue. Decades ago, the property had been donated to the City of Edina. The house was converted into a community base for art opportunities. Even though a major east-west highway skirts its northern property line, the grounds are hilly and lined with a variety of stately trees, tempering the surrounding urban environment. Diana Hedges, the Director of the Center, is a dynamo of a leader, in constant motion programming a host of learning experiences for over 7,000 metro area students and offering several art exhibits open to the public year round. In mid-March, I received an email from Diana asking if I'd be interested in being hired to judge their upcoming "Bird Show". Loving birds in general, I agreed. The show was open to all artists in the region, so I knew it would be very interesting and diverse. I asked Diana if she had requested the artists to represent any particular aspect of birds in the "Call to Entry". Diana has a rye sense of humor, so thought she might be asking the artists to base their work on, for instance, "Evolution as Seen Through the Eyes of a Terradactal" or some such whimsical theme. That wasn't the case, as it turns out. The idea for the show originated with Anne Spooner, a veteran art instructor at the Center, who had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Anne had transformed her anguishing experience into new works of art, using the bird as a symbol of courage and hope. Diana and Anne, recognizing the power of that particular symbol, collaborated to open up this fresh surge of creativity to everyone. The "Bird Show" was born: a show with a soul. So how does one judge such a show? I was in the unenviable position to select out certain works, based on artistic excellence. But courage and hope are personal expressions, unique to the individual ... sacredly personal. As I began the task of analyzing each of the entries, I discovered some tremendously well-executed and highly creative works. It soon became obvious that my goal would be to determine which of the artists most successfully demonstrated their unique perspective; which ones had the clearest "voice". All of the entries were dazzling. It's as if the artists had been awakened, eager for the chance to incorporate this beautiful symbol of our greatest aspirations into their artwork. Only three awards could be given in this show: 2 "Merit" awards and a "Best of Show" award. They were awarded as follows: "BEST OF SHOW" -- Wendy Brockman (of Wisconsin) for her graphite piece, "The Complexity of Home" "MERIT" -- Adama Sow for his clay sculpture, "Maternite" "MERIT" -- Patty Carmody Smith for her 3D mixed media piece, "Raven in Paradise" Congratulations to all! What a stunning show, full of personal exploration, levity and, of course, a lot heart. It was a true pleasure to be a small part of this wonderful endeavor, so much so that I asked Diana if she would allow me to include one of my paintings (of a Sandhill Crane) in the show. She graciously agreed. Please try to catch this show, if you are local. It runs through April 29th. For more information and photos of the show, go to the Edina Art Center website at www.ci.edina.mn.us.com or contact Diana at DHedges@ci.edina.mn.us or call 952-903-5783. |
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