Artists of Texas Show of HeART draws crowd, awards prizes

art1 — Art lovers flock to Uptown Downtown Art Gallery, where the 7th annual show continues through Dec. 20.

(ROCKWALL, TX – Nov. 17, 2015) Art lovers showed up in droves at the Uptown Downtown Art Gallery to view beautiful photography and art masterpieces belonging to some of the finest artists across the state, during the Artists of Texas Rural Texas Photography and Open HeART Exhibitions on Nov. 6.

Photographers from across the state submitted their most alluring images for the Rural Texas exhibit, which included the top 100 of those images presented in an online gallery, with the top 25 being featured in a catalog.

Stephen Fisher took the $1,000 grand prize with his image titled “The Barn.”

Beckey Zajicek received the first place prize of $500 with her image “Storm’s Comin’.”

Ricky Neil’s image called “Cindy” received second place and $250.

Artists of Texas Juror Dion McInnis – the president and founder of The Empowered Creativity Institute, spoke of the striking way the photographs submitted in the exhibit portrayed rural life in Texas in a variety of ways.

“I was impressed with the quality of the work submitted for this competition, and the various ways that people interpret rural life, particularly as it relates to Texas,” he said. “Kudos to all who created images to submit to this competition. Well done. Never stop creating!”

With nearly 150 entries in the Show of HeART Exhibition, Juror of Selections Julie Ptero certainly had her work cut out for her in having to select the top 25 images.

Ken MacFarlane nabbed the grand prize of $1,000 with his work, “Cold Blue,” Judy Wilder Dalton won first place and $750 with her work titled “Falls,” and Travis Erxleben took home second place and $350 with “Wall Platter.”

Honorable Mentions go to Nancy Hines for “Gatherings” and Barbara Jones for “Blue Willow and Lemons.”

Founded by three artists in Spring 2009 – Laurie Justus Pace, Debbie Grayson Lincoln and Vernita Bridges Hoyt – the Artists of Texas organization brings together artists from across Texas to promote fine art within the state. It hosts several exhibitions each year in galleries and museums across Texas as well as online exhibits. While a majority of the organization’s exhibitions are member shows, a few of its exhibits are open to non-members, such as the “Rural Texas” Photography Exhibition and “Open HeART” Exhibition.

For more information on the Artists of Texas organization, visit artistsoftexas.org. For more about the Uptown Downtown Art Gallery and Studio, visit its website at uptowndowntowngallery.com.

Story and photos by Austin Wells, Blue Ribbon News staff writer.

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