The Coleman Center for the Arts (CCA) is pleased to announce the Sumter County Fine Arts Council (SCFAC) Annual Juried Show. The show will opens on Friday, March 15th at 6 PM and will be on display until April 18th.
The show features the work of Sumter County artists and includes painting, photography, sculpture, ceramics, quilting, furniture, stained glass and more. First place was awarded to Garland Farwell for the painting Lady Fan and Lasso; second place was awarded to Gloria Wilson for the quilt Patchwork ; third place was awarded to Jessica Smith for the ceramic sculpture Six on One Hand; and honorable mentions were awarded to James Cockrell for his Birdhouse, Mattie Dunning for her Cleopatra’s Puzzle Quilt, David Gosselin for his painting Darwin, Sheila J. Hull for her painting Summer’s Humming, Liz Robertson for her painting Rooster and Alica Seale for her fiber work Ammonite Toy.
Visiting Juror Mathew Fluharty remarked: I am deeply grateful to have had the chance to spend time with all of the work that surrounds us in the Coleman Center’s Annual Juried Show. What immediately struck me was the wide range of styles one finds among Sumter County’s finest artists – and how some shared images, common landscapes, and elements of everyday life are presented with such amazing individuality.
“These unique visions, when put alongside each other, tell a compelling story: painted roosters contemplate the barns and structures we see across this show, the attention to form in the sculptural pieces is matched by the kaleidoscopic patterns of the quilts, the men and women presented in these paintings share stories of origin in their own distinctive language. These pieces mark their ground.
“The painter Grant Wood once said that he had to go to Paris to appreciate where he was from in Iowa. Standing in this room, with this art, I can’t help but feel something similar. These artists lead us to a sense of vision, of possibility and playfulness. And they remind us that it’s all around us, every day.”
About the Juror: Matthew Fluharty is the Director of Art of the Rural. Matthew holds a PhD in English and American Literature from Washington University in Saint Louis, where he wrote on the concept of “rural modernity” across transatlantic art and literature. Matthew’s poetry and essays have been widely published in the US and abroad. Matthew is a member of the M12 art collective and a Research Fellow in American Culture Studies at Washington University in Saint Louis, and the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Art.
This show is made possible by support from the Sumter County Fine Arts Council and the Coleman Center for the Arts. For more information please contact the Coleman Center at the Arts at 205-392-2005.