Artists compete for prizes at Waldron Center

Artist Martin Beach’s sculpture, “Grazing Arch,” was made of granite and limestone, some of which he actually found on the side of the road.

He said he saw the block of granite and simply picked it up to take with him. 100 hours of work later, his sculpture was complete, and the $1,000 Chapter Career Award was his.

“I take these stones ... and infuse life in them,” he said. “I work pretty quickly when I get in the zone.”

Beach’s piece was one of 12 that received awards from the National Society of Arts and Letters Visual Arts Competition this weekend.

The Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center, where the competition took place at 2 p.m. Saturday, is now home to 25 pieces of art that made it to the final round. Twelve pieces received prizes in the form of NSAL donations and gift cards supplied by Pygmalion’s Art Supplies.

IU students and alumni between the ages of 18 and 29 were invited to submit their artwork to the competition.

Though most of the contestants are from IU, several come from colleges across the state.

The competition has been hosted by the Bloomington chapter of the NSAL since 1966, and event coordinator Catherine Johnson-Roehr said the competition has become increasingly intense.

“With each year, we’ve been getting more submissions,” Johnson-Roehr said. “It’s a very mixed media.”

Even with the growing number of submissions, it is important for more artists to get involved, she said.

This is why they are continually trying to make people aware of the competition through email and word of mouth.

Reaching young people still in school is far easier than reaching those that have graduated, judge Robert Kingsley said. Professors often help to spread the word to their students.

Kingsley said it is really to the benefit of the young artists to submit their work to this competition because it allows them to showcase their talents to not only a different panel of judges every year, but also to an art-appreciating crowd that could help to advance their careers.

Johnson-Roehr said that about 50 applications came in this year, but only 25 entries were selected to proceed to the gallery to be judged.

According to Kingsley, this decision was made several months ago.

Johnson-Reohr said the compeition is a nice opportunity for NSAL members to get involved and help people.

“The idea of the NSAL is to support young artists,” she said.

Kingsley agreed, stressing the importance of helping the artists grow and learn how they want to present their work to the public. 

“It’s a step towards professionalism,” he said.

The awards were also meant to support the artist’s development. A total of $5,450 was divided among twelve awards, to help artists purchase art supplies and travel abroad, seeking inspiration.

“Artists need support,” judge Dale Enochs said. “This kind of venue allows artists to get their feet wet in a non-threatening environment.”

With no entry fee, the competition is accessible to artists of all backgrounds.

However, judges agreed that determining the winners was no easy task, but that it was definitely an exciting one.

What the judges are looking for is very concrete and easily identifiable, Kingsley said. It’s not one individual item or concept, though.

Kingsley said each judge will look for the intention of the artist and then decide how well they felt the artist reached that goal.

With three judges working together and comparing their thoughts, Kingsley and Enochs both said they had fun and were able to consider a variety of perspectives because of their varying backgrounds in art.

“I was really excited just to be in the show,” alumna Megan Posas, who has a BFA from IU, said.

Her two entries, “A Dazzling Manipulation” and “Portrait of a Pin Cushion,” were oil paintings inspired by traditional feminine crafts such as sewing and knitting.

Standing next to a painting that took her a month to complete, she said she loves to paint from still life.

Posas draws inspiration from these images as well as colors that reflect off each other to create different hues.

On April 13 in the Ivy Tech Waldron Auditorium, winners from this competition, as well as from a variety of performance arts, will receive their prize money and once again be able to showcase their artwork.

“Having it here at the Waldron is a huge benefit,” Johnson-Roehr said. “It’s really an amazing thing.”

Follow reporter Amanda Marino on Twitter @amandanmarin.