DVAC presents 21st Annual Open Members’ Show: No Borders

The Dayton Visual Arts Center (DVAC) presents the 21st Annual Open Members’ Show: No Borders. Over 170 artist members (including Kollar Anderson, whose work was featured on DMM a couple years ago) will be represented by one work of art each in this exhibition that celebrates the Dayton Region’s diverse community of visual artists.  The opening reception is Friday July 13th 5-8pm and the exhibit runs through August 18th, with a Gallery Talk on Friday August 3rd.

This year’s theme is No Borders, a title that implies far-reaching concepts and out-of-the-box thinking. DVAC hopes this theme will encourage their member artists to delve deeply into their work to explore new ideas that are relevant and complex, reflective of contemporary art-making practices and that push the boundaries of creative thought and discovery.

While the show is open to all members, it is juried for $1,000 in prizes, including The Lombard Prize for best interpretation of the theme. Charlotte Gordon will be the prize juror. She is currently the Curator of the Springfield Museum of Art, Springfield, Ohio. Presentation of awards will take place at DVAC’s Annual Meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 21.

DVAC is located at 118 N. Jefferson Street in Downtown Dayton.  Gallery hours are 11am-6pm Tuesday through Saturday.

UPDATE (7/17/2012 2:12pm)

The winners of the DVAC 21st Annual Open Members’ Show have been announced:

Lombard Award–Best Interpretation of the Theme

Joseph Karlovec (Centerville), Round Up, 2011, xylene transfer collage

Awards of Distinction

Mark Martel (Oakwood), Portal, 2007, oil on board

Daniel McInnis (St. Marys), Clay, 2010, 2010, chromogenic print

Sherraid Scott (Yellow Springs), Broken Border, 2012, lithograph from stone

Bruce Soifer (Dayton), Of Heaven and Earth, 2011, archival pigment print

Awards of Merit

Jon Barlow Hudson (Yellow Springs), Continuum Uncarved Block XXI:

Mountain, 2012, New Hampshire granite

Scott Dooley (Springfield), Industrial Amphorae, 2009, ceramic

Christina Pereyma (Troy), Remnant, 2012, satin

Stephanie Slowinski (Dayton), Untitled, 2012, charcoal

Andy Snow (Dayton), Dancing Soul, 2011, archival inkjet print

Sharon Stolzenberger (Kettering), New Horizons, 2012, watercolor

Juror’s Statement

This is the first time I have had the opportunity to jury the DVAC Annual Members’ Show. It proved to be a task both gratifying and daunting. This gallery is filled with the creativity and talent of 172 area artists whose originality, quality, and craftsmanship are something to celebrate. I am glad I had the occasion to get lost in every object here.  No Borders is an appropriate theme, as the daily news is filled with border disputes—political, geographical, emotional, and physical. The interpretations of this theme are vast and varied. There are literal interpretations found in Joseph Karlovec’s Round Up and Sherraid Scott’s Broken Border. Christina Pereyma’s Remnant questions interior/exterior borders in the way that the architectural lines outside are continued and repeated in yellow satin hanging just inside the window.

Amy Kollar Anderson’s Map of Ilak transports you to a place of the unfamiliar, while Barb Weinert-McBee takes you back to the tenderly familiar. Ed Charney’s and Bruce Soifer’s landscapes explore the borders of earth and sky. The craftsmanship in the sculpture, glass and ceramics is exceptional. The patterning in Susan Cannon’s glass vessel Diaspora implies different borders all together. The members in this exhibition reflect vitality, ability, and a sense of wonder in their art. The exhibition offers a rich visual experience, adding depth and breadth to the entire Dayton community.

—Charlotte Gordon

Curator, Springfield Museum of Art