STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — The Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts has announced the prize winners in “Images 2016,” the festival’s annual juried gallery exhibition of fine art. The show’s juror, G. Daniel Massad, a pastel artist and the artist-in-residence at Lebanon Valley College, made the award decisions.
The 50th Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts will take place on the streets of State College and on Penn State’s University Park campus July 13 to 17. Children and Youth Day is July 13, and the Sidewalk Sale and Exhibition opens on July 14 and continues through July 17.The Best in Show was awarded to State College's Tina Hay, editor of The Penn Stater, Penn State's alumni magazine, for her photograph “Bhutanese Monk.” The award is worth $400 and was sponsored by the Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania.“Seeing the work in person made me sharply aware of the rare opportunity the Arts Festival audience now has of seeing some of the best work by some of the best artists — artists deeply involved in their craft — living and working in Pennsylvania,” said Massad.“I could easily have given out 20 Awards of Merit. As happy as I was to give the awards I gave, I was just as unhappy saying no to the rest of my long list of deserving entries. This exhibition is rich with superb work, and the competition was keen.”Massad chose 48 pieces from the 230 pieces submitted by 87 artists from across Pennsylvania. The images may be viewed online at http://arts-festival.com/images-exhibition-gallery.The William D. Davis Award in Drawing was awarded to Mary Deutsch, of State College, for her work “Odd Man Out.” The Davis Award includes a $300 honorarium from the Sturtz-Davis Family in William’s memory.The Central Pennsylvania Pastel Society sponsored a new award for Best Pastel to draw more attention to the pastel medium. The Best Pastel Award was presented to Susan Nicholas Gephart, of Bellefonte, for her pastel “Santa Fe Cloudscape” along with a $200 honorarium.The following works were chosen as Award of Merit winners, each with a $150 honorarium. “Master Gardener”Marty Edmunds, Boalsburg“Exit Route”Michele Randall, State College“Guardian”Cazia Bradley, Port Matilda“Blocked”Gloria Plosky Scaltz, State CollegeIn addition to the prize decisions made by the juror, the Viewers’ Choice Award will be chosen by ballots cast by exhibition visitors. This year’s winner will receive a $200 honorarium sponsored by Joyce Robinson & Norman Spivey.“Images 2016” hangs in the Woskob Family Gallery of the Penn State Downtown Theatre Center and in the Betsy Rodgers Allen Gallery and Downsbrough Room of the Schlow Centre Region Library during the month of July.An awards reception will be held during the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, July 14, at Schlow Centre Region Library. The reception is hosted by the Schlow Library Foundation and sponsored by the Bellefonte Arts Museum for Centre County. The public is invited to attend.The festival receives state arts funding support through a grant from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, a state agency funded by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.Additional funding is provided through a grant made possible by the Central Pennsylvania Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Centre County Commissioners.