The art showed up last week, the artists and friends came last night to see the latest round of winning works in the Beaufort County Arts Council’s 48th annual Fine Arts Show.
PotashCorp-Aurora hosted the Gala Preview Party for arts council members, artists and guests at the Washington Civic Center, where a guaranteed-sales hour gave art patrons the opportunity to choose and purchase work prior to the reception.
“It’s a wonderful show,” said Joey Toler, executive director of the arts council.
Toler said entrees were down by about 50 pieces this year, but the quality of work submitted was outstanding. Professor Alexis Joyner, chair of the Art Department at Elizabeth City State University, acted as juror for the show.
Every year, the Fine Arts Show is held in conjunction with the Smoke on the Water barbecue festival, which will take over downtown Washington Friday night and Saturday. The show actually predates the arts council itself, said Toler.
“What began as the creation of a Fine Arts category at the Beaufort County Fair in the early 60s has become one of the region’s most anticipated art exhibits,” Toler explained, adding that in the past 50 years, the show has exhibited outdoors near Havens Wharf, at Washington Square Mall and at the Atlantic Coastline Warehouse before its renovation in the mid 1980s.
The exhibit is open to the public from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. through Saturday. Admission is free and Toler encouraged visitors to the show to register to win an original work by local artist Carol Mann titled “Lilies In The Moonlight,” valued at $400. Money raised through ticket sales will be used to support the arts council.
For more information about the Fine Arts Show, call 252-946-2504 or visit www.beaufortcountyartscouncil.org.

Presented by the Beaufort County Arts Council
Best In Show
(Frances M. and William R. Roberson, Jr. Award)
“Mophead” by Dorothy McLennan

Best Entry from Beaufort County
(Margaret Hodges Hackney Award)
“Contemplative” by Jeffrey A. Jakub

Best Landscape in Watercolor
(Richard W. Tripp Award)
“Winter Moon Ring” by Curwood Harrison

Best Entry that Expresses the River as a Valuable Asset
(PTRF Award)
“Half Shell Treats” by Pat Holscher

The Young Ones Award
(Best Entry from an Emerging Artist age 35 and under, given by Richard and Judy Young)
“Self-Portrait” by Shenavery Cherry

Pottery Award
(Irene Glover Forbes Award)
“Light Up The World” by Janie Floyd

Textile Award
(Franke K. Rumley Award)
“The Villa” by Valerie P. Lynch

The Garden World
(Washington Garden Club Members’ Memorial Award — presented by the Washington Garden Club)
“Nature’s Beauties” by Brenda Bennett

The People Prize
(Best Entry in any media depicting a person or people — presented by Harold and Louise Lane)
“Peace Corps Memories” by Terry Rosenfelder

East Carolina Wildfowl Guild Award
(Best entry depicting Eastern North Carolina Wildlife)
“Fraiser In Gar Gut” by Marcia Fischer

The Mark and Suzette Bardill Puchase Award
“Goose Creek State Park Tree Series #11” by Dan Wilson

Three Dimensional
First Place: “Core” by Heea Crownfield
Second Place: “Light Up The World” by Janie Floyd
Third Place: “The Villa” by Valerie P. Lynch
Honorable Mentions: “Flower” by Heather Baldwin; “Patterned Raku Vase” by Milton Bland; “Evan (My Grandson)” by Pat Carlson; “Gullah Doll – Saida” by Barbara Geesey; “American Visionary” by Valerie MacEwan; “King Fish Jar” by Carolyn R. Sleeper; “Stool” by Sam Taylor and Dottie Anne Walker; “Untitled” by Dottie Anne Walker; “Zebra Wave” by Pamela Zimmerman.

Watercolors
First Place: “Contemplative” by Jeffrey A. Jakub
Second Place: “Allure” by Verena J. Murvin
Third Place: “Winter Moon Ring” by Curwood Harrison
Honorable Mentions: “Apples” by Van Bunch; “The Family” by Betty Christian; “2 Portraits” by Holly Cook; “Eastern Shore Wildlife Sanctuary” by Ray Hershberger; “Killarney” by Linda Griffin; “Iris Implosion” by Carol Mann; “Simply Pears” by Carol Mann; “Honey I’m Home” by Robert Taylor; “Goose Creek State Park Tree Series #11” by Dan Wilson.

Oils and acrylics
First Place: ”Mop Head” by Dorothy McLean
Second Place: “Long Term Parking” by Terry Rosenfelder
Third Place: “Fairwind” by Karen Van Gamper
Honorable Mentions: “Formal Portrait:  White Perch” by Billy Carter; “Naptime In The Barnyard” by Dodi Groesser; “Silver Pee Dee” by Ray M. Hershberger; “Coming In” by Ruth Heppler; “Bird In the Hand, Series #1” by Rebecca Ives; “Distant Shore” by Don Miller; “Wait A Minute, There’s a Minnow” by Susan Owens.

Graphics/Open mixed
First Place: “Nailed It” by Elizabeth Darrow
Second Place: “DJ Magic” by Michelle Connolly
Third Place: “Sea-Aire on the Pamlico” by Diana L. Coidan
Honorable Mentions: “Homebody” by Elizabeth Darrow; “In Red” by Jon Derby; “After T.S. Eliottt – The Wasteland” by Pete Hickey; “St. Charles Royalty” by Pat Holscher; “July 4th” by Robert L. Jones, Jr.; “Lila I” by Robert L. Jones, Jr.; “Earthlyric” by Georgia Mason; “Reading” by Andrew Oberle; “Town Series IV” by Kay Williams.