A professional juror has selected the winners from 136 entries in this year’s Mercer County Senior Art Show, which is being held through Sept. 9 at The Conference Center at Mercer County Community College’s West Windsor campus. The exhibition also can be viewed on the County of Mercer website, www.mercercounty.org.
Each year, the Mercer County Office on Aging and the Division of Culture and Heritage partner to produce the Mercer County Senior Art Show. All first-place winners from the county show will advance to the New Jersey Senior Citizen Art Show, which will be held in October.
Each year, Mercer County residents age 60 or older may submit artwork to this show. There is never a fee to enter. Submissions must be the original work of the applicant, created within the last three years, and not previously entered in a Mercer County Senior Art Show or the State Senior Art Show. This year, artwork was entered in the following categories: acrylic, craft, digital imagery, mixed media, oil, pastel, photography, sculpture, watercolor, and works on paper.
The winners were selected by professional juror Tricia Fagan, who has served in the arts and cultural heritage fields for more than 30 years as an administrator, curator, and writer. Fagan’s extensive experience in the visual arts includes her time as coordinator for the state’s Senior Citizen Art Show while at the Mercer County Division of Culture and Heritage; 14 years managing and curating exhibits at The Gallery at Mercer County Community College; and her time as executive director of Artworks/Trenton.
Twenty artists from the Mercer County Senior Art show — one “non-professional” winner and one “professional” winner in each of the 10 categories — will move on to the State Show. Pictured, from top, are the Best in Show selections: “Abstract Trilogy” by Maia Reim of West Windsor, Digital, Professional; and “Angel of the Grassland” by Rebecca DePorte of Princeton, Photography, Non-Professional.
Listed below are the individuals who were awarded first, second, and third place, as well as honorable mention (HM) in their respective categories.
NON-PROFESSIONAL
Acrylic
1st – Charles Fox, Hamilton
2nd – Janis Sawicke, Lawrenceville
3rd – Rochelle Clerkin, Hamilton
HM – Judy Kolpack, Hamilton; Edie Multop, Hamilton; Frank Redondo, Hamilton
Craft
1st – Frank Castellana, Princeton
2nd – Ted Sikorski, Hamilton
3rd – Douglas Watt, Hamilton
HM – Loreta Macaraig, Hamilton; Josephine O’Halloran, Ewing
Digital
1st – Stephen Heringes, Hamilton
2nd – Joel Finger, Pennington
Mixed Media
1st – Eugenia Travers, Trenton
2nd – Andrea Pitluk, Princeton
3rd – Alison Young, East Windsor
HM – Joseph Kvarta, Trenton; Eleni Litt, Princeton
Oil
1st – Claude Herzberg, Hopewell
2nd – Andrew O’Connor, Trenton
3rd – Ramani Dahanayake, Princeton Junction
HM – Eileen Galton, Princeton; Meera Pradhan, Princeton
Pastel
1st – Susan Tsui, Hightstown
2nd – Barbara Brown, Ewing
3rd – Sandra Acosta, Ewing
HM – Doris Dopkin, East Windsor
Photography
1st – Rebecca DePorte, BEST IN SHOW, NON-PRO, Princeton
2nd – Patrick Compagnucci, Trenton
3rd – Holly McDonald, Robbinsville
HM – Sari DeCesare, Pennington; Elliot Gordon, Princeton; Ellen Mondschein, East Windsor
Sculpture
1st – Kay Chen, East Windsor
2nd – Stephen Brown, Hamilton
Watercolor
1st – Cecilia Hetzer, East Windsor
2nd – Katie Hammer, East Windsor
3rd – Rita Cleary, Ewing
HM – Victoria Mark, Ewing; Michele Martin, Robbinsville; C Wyluda, Pennington
Works on Paper
1st – Barbara Bingham, Pennington
2nd – Sulhiniso Rahmatullaeva, Lawrenceville
3rd – Samita Bhatia, Princeton
HM – Earl Brancolino, Hamilton
PROFESSIONAL
Acrylic
1st – Jane Conlon Goble, Lawrenceville
2nd – Arcelio Brignoni, East Windsor
3rd – William Plank, Lawrenceville
HM – Ruben Macaraig, Hamilton
Craft
1st – Deb Brockway, Hamilton
2nd – Barry Hantman, Ewing
3rd – Sue Chiu, Lawrenceville
Digital
1. Maia Reim, BEST IN SHOW, PRO, West Windsor
Mixed Media
1st – James Dashcund, Hopewell
2nd – Helene Plank, Lawrenceville
3rd – Sheran Boddie, Lawrenceville
Oil
1st – Karen Brodsky, Princeton
2nd – Lori Langsner, Princeton
3rd – Zakia Ahmed, Princeton
HM – Nora Ananos, Princeton; Younghee Chung, Princeton; Robert Lowe, Trenton
Pastel
1st – Margaret Kalvar-Bushnell, Princeton Junction
Photography
1st – Diana Frost, Princeton
2nd – JJ Raia, West Windsor
3rd – Jill Mudge, Pennington
HM – Jack Kosowsky, Hamilton
Sculpture
1st – Leslie Binswanger Siegel, Lawrenceville
2nd – Caryn Newman, Ewing
Watercolor
1st – Margaret Simpson, Hamilton
2nd – Alexandra Indara, Hamilton
3rd – Sara Hendrickson, Ewing
HM – Lynn Cheng Varga, Hamilton
Works on Paper
1st – Terry Goldstein, East Windsor
2nd – Eleanor Dock, Ewing
3rd – Frank Pastore, Hightstown
HM – Orlando Loaiza, Hightstown
HM – David Potts, Hamilton
