92nd Annual McLean County Amateur Art Exhibition Award Winners (2019)

Merwin Medal – Best of Show – Camila Marianela, Illinois State University, BFA, “Untitled”

Ashley Ritter Most Promising Art Award – Ashley Spencer, Heyworth High School, “History Reimagined”

HIGH SCHOOL 1st PLACE 2nd PLACE
Painting Tyger Gudeman John McGowan 
Graphics Benjamin Guo Rishith Talagadadeevi
Photography Maddy Day Rachel Kullman
Sculpture John Ames Emily Hlebasko

UNIVERSITY 1st PLACE 2nd PLACE
Painting Emily Minton Max Martin
Graphics Zoephia Laughlin Christopher Gabbrants
Photography Brianna Lehnen Jeffrey Smudde
Sculpture Eunjung Schantz Kirsten Heteji

ADULT 1st PLACE 2nd PLACE
Painting Robert Faulkner Allyson Frink 
Graphics Kristin Bowers Johanna Weichsel
Photography Ariele Jones William Norris
Sculpture Michelle Hanacek Cliff Carney

This exhibition and awards are made possible by the generosity of these sponsors:

Jerry Antonini, Charles and Laura Baue, Miles and Ruth Blair, Tracey Covert, Gay Dolan, John Elterich and Karen Schmidt, Susan Emmerson, Linda Willis Fisher and Robert Fisher, Deanna Frautschi, John and Marilyn Freese, Tim Garvey and Paula Aschim, Alison Hatcher, Edward Hines, Brian and Yvonne Hoop, Doug and Kristen Johnson, Mike and Alexis Kalish, Koda Roamers Camera Club of Bloomington-Normal, Sheila Lamberson and Cheryl Divine, Anne and Steve Matter, Cathy Pratt and Dave Templeton, Morgan Price and Sarah Sciba, Jim and Pam Raymond, Laura and Bob Reardon, Carmel and Rod Rhoda, Nancy and Steve Snyder, Robert and Connie Stefl, and Lynn and Patsy Webber

92nd Annual McLean County Amateur Art Exhibition Award Winners

McLean County Arts Center received 231 entries for this year’s competition. The juror, Andrea Ferrigno, selected 99 artworks for the exhibition and awarded 26 cash prizes for outstanding works of art by amateur McLean County artists.

THIS YEAR'S JUDGE: Andrea Ferrigno was born in Des Moines, Iowa. She received her BFA from Kansas City Art Institute and her MFA from the University of Iowa. Ferrigno has exhibited nationally and internationally. She was recently included in exhibitions at Blue Mountain Gallery and The Painting Center in NYC. This past summer she was an artist fellow at Virginia Center for Creative Arts (VCCA) in Amherst, VA. She has also been a resident a DRAWinternational in Caylus, France and at the Vermont Studio Center. She was awarded the Helen Longmire Prize for her work, “Turning Time” at the St. Louis Artist Guild. Ferrigno is currently Assistant Professor of Fine Art at Knox, College in Galesburg, Illinois where she lives and works.

Entries received: Entries accepted:
HIGH SCHOOL 82 36
UNIVERSITY 59 33
ADULT 90 30

Total 231 Total 99

Juror’s Statement

"It was an honor to serve as the juror for the 89th Amateur Exhibition at McLean County Arts Center. Thank you to all who submitted. It was inspiring to spend time with everyone’s work and exciting to see the breadth and quality of creative work happening in McLean County. As the juror for this exhibition I looked for moments of surprise and for innovative and thoughtful approaches to the subject-matter, and composition, across genres. It was a difficult process narrowing down the submissions, and even more challenging to determine awards. There were many tough calls. I want to encourage everyone regardless of acceptance or not, to continue to create and to submit to future opportunities. Congratulations to all the artists and best wishes in your creative and professional pursuits!"

-Andrea Ferrigno

Pictured Above: Maggie Kunze, MCAC Curator, Andrea Ferrigno, Exhibition Judge, and Emily Wiles, MCAC Intern

Accepted Artwork List

First Name	Last Name	Class	Artwork #1 Title	Artwork #2 Title
Sally	Berry	Adult	Sea Music
Kristin	Bowers	Adult	Heat Wave	Immolation
Taylor	Braasch	Adult	"Yearling"
Jeanna	Campbell	Adult	#MeToo
Felicia	Cannon	Adult	potentially necessary but unseen
Cliff	Carney	Adult	Ooks Florp Zapper
Kiera	Dymit	Adult	The Open Heart
Robert	Faulkner	Adult	G'night Darling
Allyson	Frink	Adult	Moraine View Mist
Pam	Gates	Adult	Infectious Laughter
Amber	Gravett	Adult	Animal Totems
Cathie	Haab	Adult	Information Fatigue
Michelle	Hanacek	Adult	Promise
Susan	Holifield	Adult	The empty glass	The Farm
Yvonne	Hoop	Adult	Fish One
Ariele	Jones	Adult	Foxie 1920
Mardell	Klasen	Adult	October
Don	Necessary	Adult	Hunter's gift
William	Norris	Adult	Ah Such a Place
Shirley	Passmore	Adult	Burning Bush
Sajay	Sadasivan	Adult	Green Beings
Kyle	Schiebel	Adult	Nepenthe
Joan	Shelton	Adult	Rough Waters
Eric	Shine	Adult	Reclining Male Torso, Charcoal, 2018
Judy	Steffens	Adult	Lounging Legs
Alan	Swanson	Adult	untitled
Jessie	Swiech	Adult	Genessee Park
Johanna	Weichsel	Adult	Selfie
Izabela	Batko	College	Untitled
Ryland	BeDell	College	Up In The Brume
Chloe	Bell	College	Self Portrait
Mario	Clarke	College	Mental Corset
Logan	Daugherty	College	Static
Daniel	DeJarld	College	Fishbone
Andrea	DuBois	College	Bittersweet
Christopher	Gabbrants	College	Colors and Contours, Year 1	Nightshop
Arianna	Garcia	College	Max	Polly
Shea	Grehan	College	Illusion
Kirsten	Heteji	College	Unititled
Halie	Hugenberg	College	Starvin' Marvin
Raya	Hussein	College	Sugar Flowers	Metallic
Becca	Kordas	College	A Walk in the Woods
Joe	Koski	College	Curtains and Sunlight
Zoephia	Laughlin	College	Tuesday's Lunch
Brianna	Lehnen	College	I am a Woman Waiting, Day #8030
Camila	Marianela	College	Untitled	Untitled
Max	Martin	College	Duality
Emily	Minton	College	All Positions	Untitled
Eunjung	Schantz	College	Fishing Sun	Whale Coffee Dripper and cups set
Jeffrey	Smudde	College	Untitled (2019)
Regan	Stewart	College	Through the Bars
Lucas	Stiegman	College	pink fuzzy handcuffs
Kelsey	Vaughn	College	Surface Area
Mary	Wilhelm	College	Untitled (2018)
Anisha	Amaravadi	High School	Mandala Absoluteness- Delightful facets
John	Ames	High School	"Incidental Compounds DeConstructed"
Stephanie	Baker	High School	Into the Looking Glass
Mollie	Brothers	High School	City of Echos
Gracie	Burleson	High School	Winter Escape
Moriah	Burton	High School	Me, Myself and I	The Mess After the Party
Jacob	Croke	High School	Mother Mary
Maddy	Day	High School	Valerie
Jessica	Dougall	High School	Baby Grizzly
Megan	Fulton	High School	Invasion	Flower girl
Tyler	Grimsley	High School	Reflection
Tyger	Gudeman	High School	Sightseeing	Holding On
Benjamin	Guo	High School	The Sacred Scarab	Berry Reflective
Emily	Hlebasko	High School	Mans footprint
Kirsten	Kindred	High School	Self-Portriat
Rachel	Kullman	High School	Sterling Silver
Mary	Leahey	High School	The Project
Austin	Lopez	High School	When Everything Else Burns, I'll Be There
Madelyn	Lyle	High School	Strawberry Shortcake	Saugatuck
Samuel	Mason	High School	A Sneaking Clematis
John	McGowan	High School	CUBE
Alexa	Nave	High School	Rainbow Reflection
Olivia	Sidem	High School	Royalty	Cherry Soda Pop
Taylor	Sondgeroth	High School	Dairy Cows	The New Generation
Ashley	Spencer	High School	History Reimagined
Greta	Springer	High School	Sunlit Dunes
Skyler	Stoller	High School	Friday night lights
Rishith	Talagadadeevi	High School	Inspection
Gabe	Tobin	High School	Heavy Metal
Ellana	Tobin	High School	Draco dormiens nunquam titillandus