Local Artists Receive Awards

Chisholm Trail Arts Council’s Best of Show was a sculpture by Katherine Farrow that has summarized what many of us have been living these past several months. No matter your viewpoint, 2020 has definitely been something that many of us won’t forget, and this piece speaks for itself.

Right before Thanksgiving, CTAC held their 3rd Annual Holiday Art Show reception where they presented awards to participating artists. There were forty-eight artists who participated in this year’s exhibit with a total of 140 pieces of artwork. Awards were given in three categories: fine art, photography and three dimensional.

“We knew that the reception attendance would be much lower than last year, and we completely respect people’s choices on attending or not attending the night of the reception. However, the great thing about the exhibit is that it will remain hanging through December 17th. We will also have two more late Tuesdays, Dec 8 & 15th until 6:30 pm, where people can come by after work to view and purchase artwork – just in time for the holidays.” In addition to some of the local artists, the exhibit features artwork from Norman, Oklahoma City, Midwest City, Wichita Falls and more.

Judging this year’s show was B.C. Gilbert, an artist/ teacher from Wichita Falls TX. In his judge’s statement, Gilbert said, “It was obvious to me by the number of entries I had the opportunity to look over that this show is something that has come to be looked forward to every year.” And when asked how he judged the art he stated, “When choosing this year’s winners, I found myself tending to focus on composition as well as individual style. I am sure a different judge would have picked different work, but I chose the work that stood out to me the most. These are certainly unprecedented times we are living in where the whole world as we know it has the same concerns as everyone else. With that being said, I felt it was appropriate that the work I chose to receive Best of Show not only display a meticulous use of a medium that stood out but also opened up a conversation about our current situation.”

A total of $1825 in award money was presented to artists. Best of Show went to Duncan’s Katherine Farrow’s three-dimensional piece “The Masks We Wear.” Farrow also won $400 for Best of Show. Other winning artists included in the:

Fine Art Category: Dan B. Timmons’ “Maybe” (1st Place), Jesse Baggett’s “Mucha Bunnies” (2nd Place), Linda Kukuk’s “High Fashion” (3rd Place) and Ed Hoosier’s “The Hills Have Eyes” (Hon Mention).

Photography: Krystal Britz’s “Infectious Smile” (1st Place), Pattie Calfy’s “Mardi Gras Refraction”, Heather Szarka’s “Molten Metal” (3rd Place), and Martha Burger’s “Gnarled” (Hon Mention)

3D: Tommy Cox’s “Prospector Gold Miner” (1st Place), Mark Fuller’s “Etched Fish Platter” & “Moose Antler Wall Hanging” (2ndPlace/ Hon Mention), and Robert Taylor’s “My Shadow Box” (3rd Place)

The next CTAC Art Gallery show will feature Hollis Howard with an opening night reception of January 8th. Howard was the former professor at USAO and his art has won many top prizes in a variety of media and subjects. His show will hang Jan 8 – Feb 25.