Moore, Gibson Take Top Awards in Belton Juried Show

The 2020 Juried Art Show opened at the Belton Center for the Arts with a reception on Sept. 26 and runs through Nov. 6. Nineteen Anderson Artists Guild (AAG) members were among the 47 artists in the show. A total of 70 works were presented.

Six AAG members won awards, including the top two prizes. Kathy Moore won the $750 first place award for her assemblage She Had Holes in Her Memory. Carolyn Gibson won the $500 second place award for her photograph Outside In. Evelyn Beck won a $500 purchase award for her fiber piece Times Square. Yvonne Park won a $350 purchase award for her oil painting Backyard Retreat. Two members won $250 merit awards: Matthew Brophy for The Dreamcatchers Bowl (ceramic pottery) and Hamed Mahmoodi for Selfie with Mask (acrylic on masonite). (The $250 third-place award went to nonmember Erin Spainhour for N. Charleston, Shop 623 (photography).) The top three prize-winning pieces are pictured above.

Other AAG members in the show were Jo Anne Anderson, Debbie Bzdyl, Barbara Ervin, Jane Friedman, Myrl Garment, Ann Heard, Laurie King, Kate Krause, Mary Cooper McDonough, Rosemary Moore, Lou Rainey, Diann Simms, and Diana Walter.

Here are reflections from the top two award winners on their pieces:

Kathy Moore’s She Had Holes in Her Memory:

"This piece is a story about a dear friend of mine that died a couple of years ago. Her name was Patricia Price—we called her Pat. She taught Latin at T.L. Hanna High School for over 30 years. She was truly loved by her students and the faculty.

"She struggled in her last few years with health problems. Along with the physical health issues, she was diagnosed with dementia. Since she had no family, her friends took care of her. I had never experienced dementia with anyone I was close to. Some days she would talk about her parents as if she had just spent the day with them—there would be such joy in her voice. A few days later she would be sobbing realizing that her parents had passed away years ago. As the dementia progressed her memory deteriorated. Pat died in 2017. As we were organizing her estate, I came across buckets of her old photos. I found that I had an emotional attachment to the photos and knew that I wanted to tell a story. She Had Holes in Her Memory proved to be the story that I needed to tell.

"I used the photos and old canvas/muslin strips as symbols of her memories. The placement and manipulation of the photos and fabric strips was an intuitive process."

Carolyn Gibson’s Outside In:

“I've lived in my neighborhood off of Centerville for over thirty years. There is a large white house there that dates back to the 1800's. This property and the surrounding acreage has changed hands several times since I've lived here. Across the street from my house is this red barn. It has been overgrown all this time. The new owners have cleared the land around it and are cleaning it up. They even poured a cement driveway and floor. I started out one afternoon taking photos to show my friends when I realized it was a great photo opportunity. I ventured in and was surprised that it was so structurally sound. I enjoyed putting together some compositions from my photos, opening up what has been a mystery for so long. I hope that I have given this structure the dignity and respect that it deserves.”

For a complete list of accepted entries in the show, visit https://www.beltoncenterforthearts.org/exhibits.