More people submitted works of art for the 2012 Grundy County Corn Festival Art Show than for last year’s Art Show.
“We have about two dozen more entries than we did last year,” said Art Show Co-Chair Sherry Lewis Miller Thursday.
The show was divided into three age-related categories — adults, high schoolers and youth. There were 34 youth entries, 99 high school entries, and 129 adult entries, totaling 262 pieces submitted, Lewis Miller said.
“The youngest (artist) we have is 2 1/2 years old ... my granddaughter,” Lewis Miller said proudly pointing out her granddaughter’s fingerpainting pieces.
The show, sponsored by the Morris Watercolor Guild and the Morris Community High School Delta Phi Art Club, opened in the lower level of the Morris Area Public Library Thursday morning, following artwork judging and a gallery walk the previous day.
“It was open to anyone who wanted to come and listen to the judge talk about how she picked things,” Lewis Miller said about the gallery walk. “It’s something new we’re trying.”
Morris resident and art therapist Amy Davis judged the pieces and chose five “Best in Show” winners and first-, second- and third-place winners in the various categories and age-ranges.
This year’s show featured drawings, paintings, computer-generated art, sculptures, jewelry and more. Lewis Miller described one of her entries as a doodle. It was a black and white design that only took her a few evenings to create.
Art Show Co-Chair Ginny Bellamy submitted some of her own pieces, as well.
“This is a place down in Missouri called Tecumseh,” Bellamy said. She painted the waterfront scene from a photo she had taken while in Tecumseh.
Bellamy also submitted paintings of a sunflower, a storefront, and a prairie just south of Morris owned by a friend of hers.
“There’s a lot of pride in being a member of the Watercolor Guild and being able to sponsor this,” Bellamy said. “We have the gallery over at the church, but we see that every week and not all of the community can see that ... Here, we show our best work and everybody gets to see it.”
She said seeing the entries in the Art Show has inspired people to join the Watercolor Guild in the past and she hopes more will feel the same this year.
The group meets Friday afternoons from 1 to 4 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Morris. A new four-week class will begin in October.
Other eye-catching pieces throughout the art show included pieces made from melted crayons, a photo-like painting of a dog lying in a field, and a tea set made by a high school student in ceramics class.
The Art Show will be open Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the library. People’s Choice Award voting for each age level will be going on throughout Corn Fest. Winners will be announced Saturday.
