Radford Art Show draws big crowd

On June 9, the Radford Art Show, formerly known as the Radford City Art Show, returned after a hiatus during the pandemic with a packed reception for artists and art lovers from around the region.

The show, hosted by Radford University Art Museum’s Tyler Gallery, features 73 works of 2D and 3D art chosen from 160 entries. The juried show was open to any artist in southwest Virginia and judged by Virginia Tech Assistant Professor of Studio Art, Travis Head.

Nine prizes were awarded in three categories: 2D Painting, Drawing and Graphic Artwork; 3D Sculpture and Fibers; and Photography. There were also three additional awards across all categories: a Merit Award, Honorable Mention and Best of Show.

Best in Show went to Karin Tauber for Life Jacket Graveyard of Lesvos, a large fiber artwork featuring life jackets spilling out of a landscape image.

In her artist’s statement, Tauber explains that during the 2015 refugee crisis in Europe, desperate families undertook dangerous and often deadly trips across the Aegean Sea.  As the title suggests, the work depicts the “life jacket graveyards” where thousands of discarded items were dumped in pastures with nowhere else to store them.

Several other unique and dramatic works were honored.

Matt Gentry’s sketchbook of watercolors, Wonderful Walks with Toby, documents his journeys around the region with his canine companion. This took second prize in its category.

Dan Van Tassell’s Wishes Flow Like Fluid and Break Like Bone features 3D printed wishbones and large jars of black and white liquid that seem to spill out onto the floor.

The show, which is sponsored by Long Way Brewing, the Blacksburg Art Association, the City of Radford, and the Mary Draper Ingles Festival, runs through August 5 and is open to the public.

The Tyler Gallery is located at 214 Tyler Avenue next to BTs in downtown Radford and can be visited Tuesday through Saturday from noon until 4 p.m. 

List of Winners:

Best in Show:

Karin Tauber, Life Jacket Graveyard of Lesvos.

2D Painting, Drawing & Graphic Artwork:

1^st Place: Elaine Fleck, The Sun, the Moon and Me

2^nd Place: Matt Gentry, Wonderful Walks with Toby

3^rd Place: Annamarie Williams-Buchanan, “Roses are red / They're beat black and blue / Roses are sold / Where you live too.”

3D Sculpture & Fibers

1^st Place: Eric Cowan, Peptide

2^nd Place: Martha Olson, Catherine

3^rd Place: Dan Van Tassell, Wishes Flow Like Fluid and Break Like Bone

Photography

1^st Place: Pippi Miller, Exaltedly Lost

2^nd Place: Robert Sulkin, Past/Present #10

3^rd Place: L.S.King, Maybe Smith’s Imaginarium: Foster Falls 2

Honorable Mention

Emily Freudenberg, Mrs. Holly

Merit Award

Isabella Linkous, Two-Headed Calf