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Artists > Award Winners 2009!
Award Winners 2009!
Our judges have selected the following artists as Award Winners for 2009. The process consisted of a panel of artists, gallery owners, youth participants and art lovers who were each required to visit every artist's booth. Cash awards totaling $10,500 were awarded to the winners in these categories, and they were identified by ribbons and special booth markings on Friday. Please visit their respective artist pages in our Participating Artist's Gallery!
2009 Judges: Ann Ekstrom was born in Fort Worth. She earned a B.FA. degree from Texas Christian University, and received additional academic training at the University of Texas at Austin and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in Philadelphia. Ekstrom's interests and versatility range from printmaking to watercolor painting to large-scale oils. Her 72-foot painting, Hints of a Life, is permanently installed at Tarrant County College, Southeast Campus. Her paintings are included in corporate and private collections across North Texas. Ekstrom is a popular Fort Worth lecturer and has been featured in the Kimbell Art Museum's program The Artist's Eye. In addition to studio work, Ekstrom currently works as a painting instructor for Texas Christian University's Extended Education program. She was recently selected by the office of Fort Worth Public Art for a project at Penrose and W. Vickery in the neighborhood now officially known as "Bomber Heights." Ekstrom is a long-time promoter of Art in the Metroplex; a steering committee member of EASL (Emergency Artists' Support League), and was recently a member of the Exhibition Advisory Panel of the Fort Worth Community Arts Center.
R. Michael Holloway graduated Texas Christian University. He was Chief Financial Officer for the Hyder Family Companies from 1992-1996 and Business Manager and Chief Financial Officer for the Bass Brothers/Taylor Partners from 1996-2001. Michael retired from the financial arena to pursue a life long interest/passion in art and started Iron Chinchilla Functional Art Studio in 2001. Iron Chinchilla Functional Art Studio is an entity that creates metal functional art pieces for the home.
Barry Houston Phillips has pursued a life-long passion for television and film both in front of and behind the camera. His extensive background includes working with many noted directors including Oliver Stone and Sylvester Stallone as well as all the major television networks including CBS, NBC, ABC, HBO, Showtime and PBS. As both a designer and on-camera host, Barry's commentary comes from a source of understanding of the actual production aspects of a show, the viewpoint of the director and the actor's perspective.
Beth Stribling has been interested in fine arts and fine craft since she was a child. She was raised sewing and making art projects, and has been interested in ideas of design and the built environment since her mother let her choose the paint colors and the drapes for her room. She entered college as a fine Art major, experimenting in all mediums. She changed in mid-stream to concentrating on Architectural design and Interior design. Her career as an Interior Designer and builder has kept her very aware of the current trends in popular culture, and her interest in the Fine Art and craft has continued along with that. She has continued to study art history, especially the Modern period and the Contemporary movements in art. She has also been active as an amateur artist, having experimented in several mediums, especially the crafts of working with clay and with fiber.
She has been active in the arts community in Ft. Worth for two decades as a collector and friend of local artists. She currently volunteers with the Modern Art Museum of Ft. Worth as a docent, which requires continuing education in the current issues in art.
For five years she mounted two gallery shows a year during the city-wide arts celebrations. Her office was converted to a gallery space, which gave several local artists their first chance to have a gallery show. She selected the artist, designed the space and helped mount the work to prepare for the events. She finds this relationship with creative people very important in her life.
Rebecca Low was born in the small farming community of Tarkio, Missouri. She graduated from Tarkio High School and spent her first two years of college attending DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. After transferring to Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, she graduated with a degree in Applied Art with an emphasis in interior design. She practiced interior design in Nebraska and Texas for twenty five years before closing her business to pursue her artistic career as an artist in metal. Her last major interior design related project was to design and be the general contractor of her new 5000 square foot gallery and studio, and all of the landscaping. The gallery opened July 1, 1998.
In 1993, Rebecca and her dog, Pepper took morning walks and found all kinds of car parts and metal objects lying on the roadside. Wondering what to do with them, Pepper told Rebecca to take a welding course and create a piece of art. She did. What began as a hobby has turned into her profession. Rebecca owes a great deal of her creativity to both of her Grandmothers. One was very creative and shared that creativity, while the other taught college level art history and took Rebecca on several learning trips. They both just let Rebecca be Rebecca.
Most of Rebecca's art is just for fun and rarely philosophical. It tends to either appear off balance (a little like the artist) or it has motion or both. Rebecca will often use wind, water and/or fire to enhance her sculptures. Her works are constructed by using found objects that create an impressionistic style while the use of stainless, copper, aluminum, brass and steel tend to create a more realistic style. Sometimes pieces are left in their natural finish. Others, she paints in high-end automotive paints, because of their depth of color. Some works are powder coated, plated or a combination thereof. Most of Rebecca's sculptures are large, ranging from 3 feet to well over 20 feet. Virtually all of her art is one-of-a-kind and is ideal for either interior or exterior installations, and corporate or residential collections.
Awards Overview
Best of Show (1) receives a cash prize, award banner and statue, along with an invitation to return to next year’s show and waiver of application fee.
Merit Winners (7) receive a cash prize and award banner, along with an invitation to return to next year’s show and waiver of application fee.
Best Emerging Artist (1) receives a cash prize and award banner, along with an invitation to return to next year’s show and waiver of application fee.
Juror Awards (14) receive an award banner, along with an invitation to return to next year’s show and waiver of application fee.
Best of Show
Marvin Blackmore: Ceramics
Merit Winners
Marilyn Endres/Eucled Moore: Wood
Lewis Tardy: Sculpture
John Petrey: Sculpture
J D Hillberry: Drawing/Pastels
Anne London: Drawing/Pastels
John Charbonneau: Digital
Armando Lopez: Mixed Media
Best Emerging Artist
Kevin Peterson: Painting
Juror Awards
Pamela Summers: Ceramics
Stirling Barrett: Digital
Jeffrey Cannon: Drawing/Pastels
Leon Niehues: Fiber
Alexis Silk/ Andrew Noga: Glass
Steve Nowatzki: Graphics and Printmaking
William Bailey and Lisa Bailey: Jewelry
Carol Hearty: Leather
Jeffrey Zachmann: Metalwork
Steven Radtke and Beth Radtke: Mixed Media
M. Kemper: Painting
David Mayhew and Jennifer Mayhew: Photography
Andrew Carson: Sculpture
James Barnes: Wood