MERIDIAN, Miss. (Queen City Newsfeed) – The 50th Annual Bi-State Competition and Exhibit wrapped up Saturday at the Meridian Museum of Art.
The event was from 1 pm to 3:30 pm and featured 71 pieces of artwork from 52 area artists as well as an award ceremony and free food.
Jackson artist Kathleen Varnell took home best in show for her piece titled “From the Beginning.”
“Exciting, exhilarating, proud, pride, you know, for myself, I’ve been working in this area since 1986, so, anytime it’s seen and recognized and awarded, oh my God,” said Varnell.
Artist Judy Rayner was given the Award of Distinction for her work with textiles.
“It’s not just quilted, it’s thread painted, and what i’ll do is I’ll paint, like I painted the crows, and then I go back over it with my sewing machine kind of like free-hand embroidery, and give everything dimension,” said Rayner. “I don’t know how many people know about crows, but when they have a crow member die, they all fly down and circle and have a wake. This piece not only is celebrating their loss of their friend, but also the loss of the forrest. The trees are kind of going away. The parking lot’s not used anymore, so the whole essence of the piece is a wake.”
Highest Distinction went to Amie Oliver
Highest Achievement went to Michael Swann
the Achievement award went to Gail Morton
Merit awards went to Julie Plasketes and John Mark Pinter.
