Changes planned for Peninsula Arts Association Spring Art Show

Published 4:53 am Wednesday, April 24, 2013

OCEAN?PARK, Wash. Everything evolves. After 43 years of producing art shows, the Peninsula Arts Association has decided to give the upcoming 22nd annual Spring Art Show held 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday to Sunday, April 26 to 28 at the World Kite Museum in Long Beach, Wash. a fresh face with an eye on creativity.

We slowly began to realize that by having so many distinct and restrictive categories, we were actually tying the hands of our artists instead of opening the lanes of creativity, said PAA President and art show co-chair Bonnie Cozby. Artists wanting to experiment found they were penalized in the judging process because their work did not fall (cleanly) into one of the 23 categories. Judges were frustrated as well by having to work with categories that sometimes included only a single entry. It was time for a change.

This year, gone are the multi-categories. In their place are only five: wet, dry, 3-D, mixed media and photography. Artists now have the restraints broken. The opportunity to experiment with materials and technique has been addressed without losing the more traditional forms of art the show has built its reputation on. Subject matter will still be venue and membership appropriate and quality of presentation is expected to be as high as ever. The show remains an exhibition of fine art, but it has been given wings to fly.

Another change is the deletion of the Best in Show Ribbon. In its place, the popular Peoples Choice Award will be the highest accolade.

We noticed visitors to the show were taking more and more time deciding on their vote for Peoples Choice, said art show co-chair and PAA Director Myrna Kay Thompson. We also realized the artists were very excited by the prospect of winning that ribbon, so we made it top dog, so to speak.

A beefed up version of the Peoples Choice ballot and brief instructions on the process will be given to visitors to the show by an artist stationed at the ballot box. The winner of this top award will be announced at the artists reception 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, April 28. The public is invited to attend the ceremony which also includes ribbons for the next three top vote getters, the drawing of tickets for the raffle of donated art prizes (benefiting PAAs Scholarship and Art Enrichment programs) and cake and punch!

One area that has not been changed is Inspired Creations, said PAA Vice President and art show co-chair Vickie Branch. We expect the same quality of smaller art inspired work to be offered by artists in the show along with surprise additions that show up every time.

There is no admission fee and parking is plentiful. The International World Kite Museum is located at 303 Sid Snyder Drive in Long Beach, Wash. PAA is a non-profit organization. For more information check their Facebook page Peninsula Arts Association, visit www.beachartist.org or email penart321@gmail.com.