West Point’s annual Prairie Arts Festival Fine Arts Competition traditionally attracts some of the South’s many talented artists. The 2016 event Sept. 3 will be no exception, organizers say. More than 25 applications have already been accepted, and additional entries are expected, according to Kathy Dyess of the West Point-Clay County Arts Festival which sponsors the Fine Arts competition.
Festival attendees will find paintings, sculptures, photographs and handmade jewelry and pottery, as well as a variety of objects made from glass, fiber and wood in the festival’s Fine Arts section located in Sally Kate Winters Park in downtown West Point.
The competition awards $5,000 in cash and purchase prizes in the following categories: Painting (oil, acrylic, watercolor); Mixed Media, Graphics, Drawing; Photography; Sculpture and Pottery; and Handmade Jewelry, Wood, Glass, Fiber. All Fine Arts vendors are juried into the festival. Artworks are originals.
Entries and winners of the Fine Arts Competition will be displayed the morning of Sept. 3 in the gazebo at Sally Kate Winters Park. Awards will be presented at 11:30 a.m., emceed by Lee Stafford, longtime supporter and former chair of the event.
Jonathan Cumberland, assistant professor at Mississippi University for Women, serves as judge for this year’s competition. Cumberland teaches classes in the graphic design emphasis within the department of art and design. He received his BFA with emphasis in graphic design at The W in 2009 and his MFA in illustration from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2011. He has worked on projects with Famous Amos Cookies, Charleston magazine, Rolling Stone magazine, Catfish Alley magazine, Omnibus Publishing and more. In 2010 he received a gold medal from the Parenting Publications of America for the category of “Original Illustration” for Bay State Parents Magazine.
Festival overview
The Prairie Arts Festival is held each year on the Saturday before Labor Day from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. It is a celebration of community, local food, fun for all ages, a 5K run, classic car show, stages with live music and the best artists and craftsmen the South has to offer, Dyess says. With more than 400 exhibitors and attracting crowds of more than 25,000 people, Prairie Arts has been a tradition since 1978. It has received numerous awards by the Southeast Tourism Society and has been recognized for 12 consecutive years as one of the Top 20 Events in the Southeast.
Get vendor applications and information at westpointms.org, or call 662-494-5121.
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