With 90 panhandle artists submitting artwork for the 5th Annual Western Nebraska Community College Art Exhibit this year, the public had a wide range of artist genres to consider as they cast their ballots for the People's Choice Award.
The exhibit opened with an Artist's Reception and Business After Hours on October
20 at the John N. Harms Center on the WNCC Scottsbluff Campus.
The People's Choice Award winner is "In His Domain," a four-panel oil by Randall May
of Scottsbluff. This piece of artwork depicts a bear, and was so large that it needed
to be assembled once the four panels were transported to the John N. Harms Center.
The piece is located at the front entrance of the facility.
The winner of the Honorable Mention Award is "A Kintsugi Heart - Strength from Within,"
a washi paper piece by Joni Sakurada-Hotz of Scottsbluff. Kintsugi is a Japanese term
that means "to repair with gold," and is the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery
with lacquer mixed with gold. Rather than throwing an object away when it is broken,
the object is repaired and made stronger, more beautiful, and more valuable.
Sakurada-Hotz and her fellow artist and friend Michael Leach, took this concept one
step further, and applied it to the human heart. Said Sakurada-Hotz, "A heart that
has been broken through whatever means - love, loss, death, abuse, war, natural disaster
- can be healed, and the person can be stronger, more beautiful and more valuable
from the experience."
The winning entry from the Youth Division is "Heaven's Horse," a watercolor by 8th grader Taia Rude of Scottsbluff.
Although a number of pieces have already sold, the public is invited to view the art
on any day and evening the Harms Center is open. With nearly 200 pieces of artwork
in the exhibit, most of which is for sale, this is an excellent opportunity for the
public to support area artists. For more information, please contact Judy Amoo at amooj@wncc.edu or
308-635-6702.