Congratulations to each artist whose work was accepted into Wild Heart Gallery's 1st Annual Animal Artivism Open international juried art exhibition! Artists were asked to submit their best art about conservation and ecological concerns, featuring animals.
It is the goal of Wild Heart Gallery to support and promote animal and wildlife artwork in a wide range of genres and styles. The range of mediums submitted here was wonderful!
Artwork for this exhibition was selected by jury based on theme, originality, technique, skill, and quality of work. Jurors were Sarah Soward, Sharon Eisley, and Ashli Kingfisher.
Awards: Best in Show, Overall Runner Up, Artivism Award, Overall Honorable Mentions, Best in Category, and Special Merit Awards. More award details below.
This is our second time giving out an Artivism Award. Seeing and reading about the conservation and ecological-awareness themes in various pieces was enlightening and fulfilling
Click on an image to enlarge it.
BEST IN SHOW
& ARTIVISM AWARD
Losing my Life for Cocaine of the Sea: Vaquita & Totoaba, by Miyuki Akai Cook
48 x 48 in, Rug; yarn
The artist describes this piece as, "Vaquita and Totoaba both live only in the northern Gulf of California. Because Totoaba's swim bladder is a rare delicacy in China, poaching Totoaba threats the Totoaba population also Vaquita. The swim bladder is so expensive that it's called cocaine of the sea."
We were surprised and delighted to receive rug art entries for this virtual exhibition. This piece also won Best in Category: Drawing and Pastels due to the artist's use of line and technique in creating shape and form. Drawing can be accomplished with any number of tools. Here, it's accomplished with yarn.
It is a bold move to create a piece with this subject matter and imagery in the form of a rug.
OVERALL RUNNER UP
The Garden Caravan, by Ashley Wittling
8 x 10 in, Watercolor and Oil on 140lb hot press paper
From the artist, "Every living organism plays a vital role in sustaining life on earth no matter how small they are."
Delicacy and beauty meet strength in this painting of a snail carrying a microcosm on its back. We love the visual message of this piece as well as how that message is conveyed. The choice and execution of medium tell this story as much as the imagery and color theory do.
OVERALL HONORABLE MENTIONS
Congratulations to our Overall Honorable Mention winners, Toni DeBiasi, Andrew Frank, Miyuki Akai Cook, Meegan Painter, Caroline Slovensky, and Sheldon Goldman.
BEST IN CATEGORY
Congratulations to our Best in Category winners
Digital Art: Khephra Husser
Drawing and Pastels: Miyuki Akai Cook
Mixed Media: Ashley Wittling
Painting: Toni DeBiasi
Printmaking: Michael Putorti
Sculpture: Andrew Frank
SPECIAL MERIT AWARDS
Congratulations to our Special Merit Award winners, Sheldon Goldman, Meegan Painter, Elizabeth MacFarland, Khephra Husser, Michael Putorti, Caroline Slovensky,Ember Livingston Emmons, and Norm Ellis.
Best in Show receives $75 cash award and promotion on the following: Art Base, Art Week, Wild Heart Gallery’s (WHG's) growing social media and other online media channels, WHG's eNewsletter, and WHG's home page (for duration of the exhibition).
Overall Runner Up receives $25 cash award and promotion Wild Heart Gallery’s (WHG's) growing social media/other online media channels and WHG's eNewsletter and inclusion in a virtual group exhibition that lasts at least one month.
All award recipients receive promotion on Wild Heart Gallery’s (WHG's) growing social media/other online media channels and WHG's eNewsletter and inclusion in a virtual group exhibition that lasts at least one month.
This art exhibition was juried by Sarah Soward, Sharon Eisley, and Ashli Kingfisher.