FSU Grads Honored by Art Association
The Morgantown Art Association announced winners for its 51stExhibit 60 Art Show. This year's best of show was awarded to Fairmont State University graduate Lauren Adams and an honorable mention was awarded to FSU graduate Derek Overfield.
Other award winners are the following: second place, Charlotte Swisher; third place, Judith Raese; best photograph, Rev. Dick Hepler; West Virginia Watercolor Society Award, Monica Wilkins; merit awards, Nell Milne and Rob Haining; honorable mentions, Dr. Serena Morrison and Lorna Vincent Venter.
The art show runs until June 2 at the MAA Gallery, located at the Mountaineer Mall on Green Bag Road in Morgantown. Gallery hours are Wednesday thru Friday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, call (304) 291-5900.
Exhibit 60 invites artists within a 60 mile radius of Morgantown and Morgantown Art Association members to compete for awards. The art work is juried in by an artist, usually someone from outside the area or someone not familiar with any of participants' work. This year's juror was Phil Salvato from Carnegie, Pa., who runs and owns the 3rd Street Gallery.
Lauren Adams is an oil painter who focuses on capturing the authentic feeling and nature of the state's terrain through abstraction. She graduated from FSU with a B.A. Interdisciplinary Degree in Studio Art/French in 2006. She earned a B.F.A. in Painting from West Virginia University in 2008. She has recently been juried into Tamarack's David L. Dickirson Gallery. Her landscapes are created en plein aire, painted rapidly on location with various palette knives.
"My process involves smearing, scraping and thickly layering paint, until the essence of the landscape is found. When people view my work, I would like them to revel in the application, trace and enjoy the experience presented before them," Adams said.
Her solo show, titled "Paths: Landscapes in Oil," will be on display at Serenity Café in downtown Fairmont May 21 through June 14 with an opening reception May 21 from 7- 9 p.m. and also in July at Gallery 62 in Grafton. For more information about Adams, visit http://www.laurenadamsart.com/.
Derek Overfield is a figure painter living in Fairmont. He graduated from Fairmont State in 2003 with a B.S. degree in Graphics/Fine Arts and received many honors as a student. Professionally, he has exhibited his work in several competitions and exhibitions. His work was included in the show Creative Drive at the Hammond Harkin Gallery in Columbus, Ohio. His exhibit, titled "New Paintings in Enamel" will be on display in the fall 2009 semester at the James Brooks Memorial Gallery at FSU. He will host a silent auction of the works to benefit the Kappa Pi Art Fraternity. For more information about Overfield, visit http://www.derekoverfield.com/about.html
Pictured from left to right are Dr. Serena Morrison, Judith Raese, Rob Haining, Charlotte Swisher, Derek Overfield, Lauren Adams and Monica Wilkins.
