“Birds of Great Falls” Exhibit at Great Falls Library

I had the privilege of curating a show of my fellow Great Falls Studios artists yesterday. “Birds of Great Falls” will be on display at the Great Falls library for the month of June.

The exhibit shows 53 works of art in all media, depicting the seven bird species in our village-wide contest to choose a bird as the “Great Falls Bird.” The Eastern Bluebird won by a feather!The other species in the running were the Pileated Woodpecker, which came in second, the Great Blue Heron, the American Goldfinch, the Ruby-throated Hummingbird, the Red-shouldered Hawk and the Wild Turkey.

In the image at left you can see the diversity and range of the artwork, including two photographs by Dean Souleles, two pastels by Pat Newman, and three mixed media pieces by Jennifer Duncan.

The artists bring their artwork in for these shows and lean it up against the walls and I always wonder–how am I going to create an exhibit that does justice to all of the wonderful diversity and talent in this group? Somehow it always comes together! At right are two paintings by Bob Gilbert, two photographs by Bill Garrett, a wood sculpture by Jon Fisher and a painting by Brenda Drake.

 

I toyed with the idea of grouping all the images of each bird species together, but in the end it worked better to mix everything up–birds, techniques, and media. When you walk around the room, there’s something fascinating on every wall. At left is a painting by John McCabe, my fiber piece, and three photographs by Walt Lawrence.

We had an outside judge come in to award a “Best of Show” Prize and other recognitions for the first time.

Jill Banks won the “Best of Show” prize for her painting of a bluebird–“Blue”–which is in the middle of the photo below. Right-click on the image to see it better. Also in the photo are clay sculptures by Laura Nichols, two paintings by Bob Gilbert and another one of Jill’s paintings below the bluebird.

Other recognitions went to the following artists:

• Best Bluebird – Bill Garrett
• Best Pileated Woodpecker – Walt Lawrence
• Best Goldfinch – Dean Souleles
• Best Great Blue Heron – Laura Nichols
• Best Hummingbird – Brenda Drake
• Best Red-Shouldered Hawk – Ben Cheshire
• Best Wild Turkey – Jill Banks
• Originality – Jan Bender

To see the work of all of our talented artists, visit http://greatfallsstudios.com and click on “Artists.” Be sure and stop by the library to see the show and pick your favorite bird! I wasn’t able to show all of the walls, so when you go, you’re in for a treat. The library is located at 9830 Georgetown Pike and is open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10 AM – 6 PM, Tuesday and Thursday from 1 PM – 9 PM, and Saturday from 10 AM – 5 PM.