The Florence County Museum is proud to present the 2020 Pee Dee Regional Art Competition sponsored by Chick-fil-A of Florence. The competition highlights the best contemporary art in the Pee Dee region. One of the state's oldest juried art competitions, the first Pee Dee Regional dates back to 1954 where the competition was held at the former Florence Museum on Spruce Street in Florence, South Carolina.
This year's exhibit is now open to the public and will remain on display through Friday, April 3, 2020 in the FCM Waters Gallery. Visitors are invited to inspect this year's selection and cast their vote for the Jo Ann Fender Scarborough People's Choice Award. Voting for the People's Choice Award will be open through Friday, March 27 with the winner being announced on Monday, March 30 via a press release and the museum's social media.
FCM Waters Gallery
135 South Dargan Street
Florence, South Carolina
Gallery Hours:
Monday - Friday
10:00am - 5:00pm
This year’s competition juror overseeing the selection of works and awards was South Carolina artist and paintings conservator Jeff Donovan of Columbia. First place in this year’s competition was awarded to Ashley Arakas of Myrtle Beach for her watercolor painting Bore. The other award winners include second place oil painting by Effingham resident Kevin Spaulding titled Requiem and third place Memento Morididdle Movement #502 by Conway artist, Charles Clary. The honorable mention was awarded to the mixed media sculpture titled, Stockpile by Alexandra Knox of Loris.
The exhibit this year is composed of 36 works of art selected from over 150 online submissions by 74 artists representing northeastern South Carolina. This year’s exhibit is comprised from a balanced variety of paintings, mixed media, prints, drawings, photography and three-dimensional works.
Ashley Arakas
Bore
Watercolor on paper
Myrtle Beach, SC
Kevin Spaulding
Requiem
Oil on canvas
Effingham, SC
Charles Clary
Memento Morididdle Movement #502
Hand cut paper and wallpaper on distressed drywall and found frame
Conway, SC
Alexandra Knox
Stockpile
Found pallet, plaster cast breast milk storage bags
Loris, SC
Kevin Spaulding
Requiem
Oil on canvas
Effingham, SC
To jury an art competition is a challenging and problematic honor. The selection process produces winners and losers, an outcome that seems incongruent with the organic and intuitive nature of art-making. Unlike contests which reward more quantifiable skills, how one wins at art is not always straightforward.
Personal biases and preferences of the critic cannot be fully suspended or eliminated, therefore the fairness of a juror’s review relies upon their experience, and a working knowledge of the fundamental elements and principles of design.
It is the juror’s role to recognize the inherent subjectivity of an artwork while measuring its success by objective criteria. These tools of observation form the basis by which a juror is able to choose between two equally strong, though dissimilar, works.
This year’s award winners were selected not only for their formal merits but for their respective uniqueness of concept. In each case, the strength of artistic vision was reinforced by the artist’s technical mastery of media and materials, and appropriate preparation for presentation.
It is unavoidable that some works go unacknowledged. I encourage those artists whose works were juried in but did not receive an award to please ignore the man behind the curtain (a.k.a., yours truly), as he is in the position temporarily and will be replaced next year, possibly by someone more astute.
It is an honor to have been invited to jury the 2020 Pee Dee Regional Art Competition and I would like to thank all of the artists, and also Stephen Motte of the Florence County Museum, for giving me the opportunity to do so.
Jeff Donovan
January 2020
Victoria Alger
Old But Not Forgotten
Watercolor on paper
Myrtle Beach, SC
Ashley Arakas
Bore
Watercolor on paper
Myrtle Beach, SC
Carolyn Atkinson
Never Let Go
Mixed media
McBee, SC
Debanjana Bhattacharjee
(Un)Said
Acrylic on canvas
Myrtle Beach, SC
Jim Boden
Leap of Faith
Oil on canvas
Hartsville, SC
Jim Boden
Blimp
Oil on canvas
Hartsville, SC
Charles Clary
Memento Morididdle Movement #501
Hand cut paper and wallpaper on distressed drywall and found frame
Conway, SC
Charles Clary
Memento Morididdle Movement #502
Hand cut paper and wallpaper on distressed drywall and found frame
Conway, SC
Colleen Critcher
Devouring Her T-Rex
Oil on panel
Florence, SC
Lynda English
Moving Along Together
Oil on canvas
Florence, SC
Gregory Fry
Losing One’s Mind
Serigraph
Florence, SC
Robert Garey
Platonic Solids
Oil on linen
Florence, SC
Donna Goodman
Walk
Photography
Florence, SC
Douglas Gray
Nest Form
Ceramic stoneware
Florence, SC
Denise Greer
Tempest
Mixed media collage
Rembert, SC
Jean Grosser
Deported
Rubber stamp, red ink, graphite, and colored pencil on paper
Hartsville, SC
Victoria Hagner
Five Years
Mixed media mosaic
Sumter, SC
Philip Jeffcoat
A Light in the Dark
Digital photography
Florence, SC
Uschi Jeffcoat
Kentucky Warbler’s Song
Watercolor with gold leaf on paper
Florence, SC
Mary Ellen Judge
I Love Me
Mixed media collage
Florence, SC
Alexandra Knox
Stockpile
Found pallet, plaster cast breast milk storage bags
Loris, SC
Treelee MacAnn
A Walk in the Woods
Woodcut
Myrtle Beach, SC
Julie Mixon
Cyclical Patterns: Beginnings #2
Van Dyke brown and inkjet print
Florence, SC
Christopher Neal
The Pier
Photograph
Florence, SC
Alyssa Pack
Growth
Documentation of performance
Longs, SC
Alyssa Reiser Prince
And Back Again
Acrylic and oil on paper
Hartsville, SC
Walter Sallenger
Water Colors
Photograph
Florence, SC
Jasna Shannon
Infinite Summers I
Oil on canvas
Hartsville, SC
Ada Smolen-Morton
Memento Mori
Oil on canvas
Florence, SC
Kevin Spaulding
Requiem
Oil on canvas
Effingham, SC
James Stratton
Reflections in the Mist II
Oil on canvas
Florence, SC
Kim Truesdale
Stirrin’ the Pot
Polymer clay, acrylic, pastel, resin, wood, stain, and pewter on found photograph
Athens, GA
Kim Truesdale
Fed Up #26
Polymer clay, pastel, acrylic, and pewter on found photograph
Athens, GA
Genia Tyson
The Overseer
Acrylic on canvas
Florence, SC
Dale Weatherford
Andrew
Charcoal on paper
Darlington, SC
Patricia Witherington
Vanna
Lithograph
Florence, SC
Printed copies of the catalog are available in the exhibit. You may also view and download a PDF of the catalog.
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| This project is funded in part by the South Carolina Arts Commission which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts as part of the American Rescue Plan. |
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