Retinol Cream

Roger Finch of Evans, GA was selected to win a Juror’s Award in the 29^th annual juried fine art competition and exhibition A Sense of Place at the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art.  Finch’s aluminum, brass, and stainless steel sculpture, Reuleaux Triangle, was one of three pieces selected by this year’s juror Philip Brookman to receive a merit award.  Brookman is the Chief Curator and Head of Research at Washington D.C.’s Corcoran Gallery of Art.  The pieces were selected from 33 works included in this year’s exhibition, originally chosen from 224 entries from throughout the United States. 

“The Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art is committed to showing the best contemporary work and part of that commitment is reflected in its advocacy for displaying some of the finest examples of modern art.  The Central Savannah River Area is ripe with creativity and talent, and we are delighted that Roger Finch, who serves as a sculpture and welding instructor for the Gertrude Herbert, was selected to receive a merit award.  Finch exemplifies the incredible quality of art instructors at the Institute”, said Rebekah Henry, Executive Director.

The complete list of award winners is:

Best of Show

Maricela Sanchez, Corpus Christi, TX

Out of Many, One, 2008, Oil, enamel, charcoal, glitter, paper, resin on wood

Juror’s Award

Roger Finch, Evans, GA

Reuleaux Triangle, 2009, Aluminum, brass, stainless steel

Art Werger, Athens, OH

McMansions, 2008, Etching

Honorable Mention

Judy Hiramoto, San Francisco, CA

Devonwood, 2007, Digital print on Hahnemule paper

Vaughn Wascovich, Commerce, TX

Marathon, TX, 2009, Photography

Margi Weir, Detroit, MI

Of the Garden, 2009, Digital ink on rag paper

Now in its 29^th year, A Sense of Place seeks to recognize the outstanding quality and diversity of work being generated by contemporary American artists.  This annual national juried fine art competition and exhibition reinforces the Institutes’ seventy-two year legacy, providing professional exhibition opportunities for emerging and professional artists alike, and reveals a provocative glimpse of the state of art today. 

About Juror Philip Brookman

Philip Brookman serves as Chief Curator and Head of Research at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.  Mr. Brookman’s area of interest is the history of 20th-century photography, specifically documentary photography and film.  His recent exhibitions include Sally Mann: What Remains; Robert Frank: London/Wales; Emmet Gowin: Changing the Earth; Media/Metaphor: The 46th Biennial Exhibition; Half Past Autumn: The Art of Gordon Parks; Raised by Wolves: Photographs and Documents by Jim Goldberg; Hospice: A Photographic Inquiry; The Way Home: Ending Homelessness in America; Arnold Newman: Breaking Ground; and Arthur Tress: Fantastic Voyage, Photographs 1956-2000.

A writer, editor, filmmaker and photographer, he has recently written essays on artists Henri Cartier-Bresson and William Christenberry for The Washington Post Magazine, a script for a feature film with Jim Goldberg, and numerous catalogue essays.  Mr. Brookman received degrees in 20th Century Art History and Fine Arts from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

For additional information and images, contact the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art at 706.722.5495.  The Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art is located at 506 Telfair Street in historic downtown Augusta.

Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art

Founded in 1937, and housed in historic Ware’s Folly (c. 1818) and the Walker-Mackenzie Studio (c. 1907), the mission of the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art has been to provide opportunities for visual arts education and to develop visual arts awareness and appreciation throughout the greater Augusta community.  Gertrude Hebert Institute of Art serves as the only independent non-profit visual art school and contemporary art gallery in the Central Savannah River Area, offering studio art classes and workshops on an ongoing basis for art enthusiasts of all ages, from beginners to professionals.  As a contemporary art gallery, the Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art presents over 20 exhibitions each year, spotlighting regional, national, and international artists in a variety of styles.

WALKER-MACKENZIE STUDIO AND WARE’S FOLLY GALLERY HOURS: Tuesday – Friday, 10am – 5 pm, Saturday by appointment.  Free Admission!