For the second year, the Arts Council of Midland held its First Quarter Open Show.
The exhibit contains works from over 35 local visual artists and will be on display until Feb. 26.
“This is our second year doing the open show,” Arts Council of Midland Executive Director Danny Holeva said. “We are really excited. We had close to 40 artists apply. We’re exhibiting about 87 works. Most of them 2D but we have some 3D works too from a variety of artists and people from around the Midland-Odessa area. There were a couple of college students thrown in there as well.”
The exhibit contains paintings, drawings as well as photographs and watercolors.
There are about 90 total works of art in the exhibit.
“There’s some print making in there as well,” Holeva said. “We have several pieces that were made from clay. Some are functional pieces like a vase or teapot. Others are sculptural and they’re not utilitarian. It’s something you can watch and enjoy. Not in your kitchen. It’s a wide variety of media and technique. There are some interesting things that are done with mixed media. Some of the water colors are very traditional water color paintings. Others are done by artists who used ink for detailed works. They’re a little bit more traditional than watercolor work.”
Some art exhibitions might have a theme or message to go with them but this exhibit was left opened to the artists.
“We did not have a theme with this,” Holeva said. “We just opened it up for the artists and whatever subject matter they’re working on. There are some are very traditional and recognizable subjects. Others are less subject-oriented and more about design elements.”
However, prizes were given out for the top three places as well as best in show.
Best in Show was awarded to Sharon Navage for her intaglio collage “Travel Through Europe.”
“She did a book and it has so many pages with some traditional art, historical references and unusual printing,” Holeva said. “It has several interesting design elements. It’s quite unique. It was a challenge displaying it but it’s very unique and the juror considered that best in show.”
First place was awarded to Connie Lee for her watercolor and ink titled “Stolen Canoe” while second place was awarded to Leslie Klay for her stoneware with clear glaze piece “Duality.”
Jim Geitgey received third for his photo titled “Exfoliation.”
A couple of photos received honorable mentions that Holeva also thinks really stand out in the show.
“If I was thinking of one myself that stood out, there are three photographs from Richard Acosta and they’re landscapes from three different perspectives between the distance from the mountains and the sky,” Holeva said. “They’re quite beautiful as well.”
Arts Council of Midland will have a few activities coming up in the next few months.
On Feb. 22, they will host Conversations in Fine Art: Sculpture which is a part of a talk series with Holeva.
“We have a new thing we’re doing called Conversations in Fine Art,” Holeva said. “I’m hosting it here at the Arts Council. We’re doing a noon talk. It’ll be on Feb. 22 from 12-1 p.m. here. The first topic will be sculpture. They’re all conversations about fine art. This one will be about sculptures from all different periods. We’ll do one on cave paintings and modern and living artists. That will be monthly. They’re all on the last Tuesday of the month.”
The next quarterly Exhibit will be titled “A Trio Showcase” and will take place on March 23.
That exhibit will feature the artworks of Richard Acosta, Rebecca Dodge and Mike Richardson.
If you go
>> What: The Open Show.
>> Where: Arts Council of Midland 1506 W. Illinois Ave.
>> When: Now-Feb. 26.
