Prizewinners: Greenville's Artisphere

6a00e54fba8a73883301901e4ee3f3970b-100wi?width=150Artisphere, Greenville, SC - May 9-11, 2014

Over $15,000 Distributed to Winning Artists

One of the nation's best shows, that really knows "what artists want" and that also excels at PR just sent me this:

Best of Show winner was Aaron Hequembourg (2D Mixed Media)
2nd place winner was Tai Taeoalii(2D Mixed Media)
3rd place winner was Paveen “Beer” Chunhaswasdikul (Ceramics)

The four merit award winners were:

Suzy Shultz (Oil/Acrylic Painting)
Chris Coffey (Photography)
Amber Mahler (Precious Jewelry)
Santiago Gutierrez (Ceramics)

The Mayors Choice Award, sponsored Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A. was given to Greenville’s own Kent Ambler (Printmaking), designer of this year’s commemorative 10th Anniversary poster.

This year’s 10th Anniversary Artisphere festival features 125 artists from across the country that were selected from a record-breaking 934 submissions.  On Friday, artist booths were judged by jurors Angela Bubash (jeweler and professor of jewelry/metalsmithing at Appalachian State University, Boone, NC) and Stacy Huggins (executive director at Redux Contemporary Art Center, Charleston). Seven prizes totaling over $15,000 were distributed on Saturday morning at the Artists Awards Breakfast.

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Comments

  • I'll bet he doesn't show up at any shows where your name is on the list again, Marie-Helene.

  • Thanks for this input Marie-Helene.  The Chinese are the bane of the art world.  Anything they can steal and copy.....Glad you clued the show into the problem

  • I am new to your group but I exhibited at Artisphere and thought I would pass along something that happened. I am a Swiss-German style papercutter - pretty high priced work since this is very time consuming. There was another papercutter
    in the show. He had buy/sell work, either bought in China or on EBay. The Chinese have been selling Swiss designs they have stolen from exhibition catalogs. When my daughter asked him if the work in his booth was his design (she knew it was not), he said, yes it was. When she told him she knew this was not true because her mother had the exhibition catalog pictures, he then removed the work. I wrote to the staff, told them, and this guy pulled out Friday night. I was in a Michigan show with him last year and that is when I first saw this work for sale by him. It was the last day if the show so I could not do anything then.
  • I agree with you Geri including work that was not made solely, if at all, by the person winning the award? Does work have to made in this country to be legitimate? Is it legal to take the "made in" stickers off the work if it is made in another country?

  • Edgier graphic stuff? I dunno about that. It's still a very southern city and also home to Bob Jones University. Everyone should investigate the BJU Museum & Gallery since it is one of the best museums I've ever visited. Simply stunning.

  • Additionally, it is very clear to me that I need to get over there next year to see this show.  I know many, many artists who would like to get into it, and they are artists who are doing major national shows -- so everyone wonders what it takes to make it.  A trip to Greenville is in order!

  • Haha...Geri, I'm with you....

    The second place winner is in the style that is getting all the attention now in galleries in your neck of the woods, especially. 

    I have tried to get into this show for years and was told they only choose 13 painters.  Maybe I should try with mixed media!

    I agree with Connie that the area can probably only support this one great show, and the edgier graphic stuff is probably popular with the university element up there near Columbia.  Kerry Murphy has clearly done a terrific job because it is in the top group of shows on all lists, and it isn't more than ten years old.

  • Geri, I'm trying to read between the lines. If you had been a judge, maybe the show would have a little different artist roster and consequently some different winners?

    I did this show in 2010 and 2011 and liked it better the first year. The show gets crowded and is super festive. I just didn't do as well there as I had hoped and thus gave up on it for now. Maybe my more recent work could suss a big spender? Maybe we'll get a report about this year from James Parker...

    But doing the show put Greenville on the map for me and I love that town! WOOHOO!

  • Well, I know why I am not a judge.

  • As I said above, Geoff, this show does amazing PR. This announcement was in my mailbox by 11 am today. They'd hardly passed out the ribbons!

    Kerry Murphy runs a great show and she has a PR machine that keeps their show in the news and the local community buys in. S. Carolina doesn't have many shows and probably couldn't support many either, so this very nice quality one in Greenville is something that is a big draw.

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