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Greencastle Arts Council announces Putnam Visual Arts Exhibit winners
Now in its second year, the Putnam County Adult Visual Arts Exhibit, organized by the Greencastle Arts Council in collaboration with the Putnam County Museum, has come to a close. The culmination of the display was a Meet-the-Artist reception at the museum at which the 2021 award winners were named.
Among the goals of the exhibition organizers was to increase the amount of funds awarded this year, which, with the assistance of an Indiana Arts Commission grant, totaled more than $1,000, including the addition of a new, jointly funded Purchase Prize for the Putnam County Museum.
The inaugural Purchase Prize, presented by PCM director Lisa Mock, was awarded to David Berg for his 20-sided ceramic “T4 Bacteriophage Virus Particle.”
Berg’s interest and experience in ceramic art began at a young age with an extracurricular elementary school class led by the renowned local potter and DePauw professor Richard Peeler. Since retiring from a career in molecular biology, Berg has been keeping busy at his ceramics studio in Brown County, Berg’s Stoneware Pottery.
The first prize of $350 went to “War Horse” by sculptor Troy Fiechter, a native Hoosier and veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Owner of the Clinton Falls Weld Shop in Putnam County, Fiechter specializes in custom artwork and machine fabrication. His creation of a horse in motion made from found objects embodies his belief that “creating art is much more about the journey than the destination.”
Second prize of $250 was awarded to “Hike to Kitchen Mesa” by painter Hannah Buchanan of Rockville. A senior at DePauw University majoring in studio art, Buchanan previously won first place in the 2020 Putnam County Visual Arts Exhibit and the Klein Merit Award for the National Society of Arts and Letters art competition. Buchanan often builds her artwork on the spirituality of landscapes, creation and world-building. She hopes to further explore her mixed heritage and dual interests in geoscience and music in future works, while pursuing a master’s degree in higher education.
The 2021 People’s Choice Award went to John Garrison for his “Sculpted Rocker,” a work made all the more special by the fact that it was created entirely with locally sourced woods. As John was in the hospital on the day of the reception, the award was accepted on his behalf by his friend and fellow woodworker Jerry Bates.
“We hope that learning that he won the People’s Choice Award helps to lift John’s spirits and speed his recovery,” said Suzanne Hassler, GAC vice president, who presented the award.
This year’s exhibit, co-chaired by Lavinia Hale, Matt Rees and Toni Ridgway-Woodall, explored a diversity of talent and creative mediums and included works submitted by more than 40 artists, all of whom live, worked, studied or were born in Putnam County. It was reviewed by a panel of three guest adjudicators: Anna Tragesser, artist and community services manager with the Indiana Arts Commission; Johnson Simon, a professional painter and MFA graduate from IUPUI Herron School of Art and Design; and JinMan Jo, a sculptor and member of the studio arts faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
The activities were made possible in part by Arts Illiana and the Indiana Arts Commission, which receives support from the State of Indiana and the National Endowment for the Arts. The Greencastle Arts Council was one of five nonprofit organizations in the Greater Terre Haute area awarded an Arts Project Support grant this fiscal year. It is the local group’s first IAC award.