2011 PSoA Conference ReCap - Day 3 The Awards Banquet

Grand Prize Winner Jesus Villarreal (l.) being congratulated by Chairman Gordon Wetmore

A few minutes before 7:00 PM the doors to the ballroom opened, allowing ticket holders to claim their seats for this year's Awards Banquet.  After eating our Southern-flair gourmet dinner and a dessert which literally was smoking - it was served in a double-glass with sublimating dry ice in the outer sphere - it was time to get down to business.   There were many awards to hand out, and two more presentations left to give before the evening ended, so Chairman Gordon Wetmore took to the stage as our plates were being cleared to begin handing out the 2011 International Portrait Competition Awards.

Gordon Wetmore thanking the event sponsors.

Amy Lind accepting her portfolio award.

The first to receive congratulations were those individuals whose portrait portfolios on display were recognized for their overall masterful quality.  It seemed that the names went by so quickly in the excitement of the event, that I had little time to record those who received Honorable Mentions for their portfolios, but I am happy that I was at least able to record the top 5 winners.  In fifth place was Garth Herrick; fourth, Amy Lind; third, Leslie Adams; second, Jennifer Welty; and in first place was 2011 finalist, Thomas Reis.

Thomas Reis receiving First Place for his portfolio of work.

Wende Caporale announcing the Certificate of Excellence Winners

Next to receive accolades were the winners of the Certificate of Excellence Award, those artists whose portraits were in the first tier just outside of the contention for the top prize.  These winners were:  Carol Arnold, John Michael Carter, Michael Chelich, Marina Dieul, Nancy Fletcher, Seth Haverkamp, Olga Krimon, Joshua LaRock, Holly Metzger, Tony Pro, Rob Rey, Clete Shields, Alexandra Tyng, Jennifer Welty, and Lea Colie Wight.

Certificate of Excellence Winners (from l. to r.)  Pro, Carter, LaRock, Metzger, Rey, Shields, Tyng, Welty, and Wight.

 From there, we continued with the placements of the Finalists, as judged earlier, over the first few days of the conference.  The artists who received the award for Exceptional Merit were David Bowers, for his painting The Collector ;  Scott Burdick for Undercover ; James Hill for his sculpture Contemplation ; Amy Kann for her bas-relief Berkely ; Juan Martinez for Robin ; Will Nathans for Sean ; Thomas Reis for The Twilight Hour ; Joel Spector for his portrait of O. Aldon James ; Ardith Starostka for The Bishop ; and John Seibles Walker for his portrait of Mary Rinehart.  The next five to place each received an Honor Award, and consisted of : Patricia Watwood for Fate ; HongNian Zhang for A Hero of Nanjing: The Courage of Minnie Vautrin ; Jeremy Lipking for Skylar in Blue ; Alicia Ponzio for her sculpture Claudia Regina Del Fiume ; and Rose Frantzen for her portrait of Mrs. Zimmerman.  First Honors went to Casey Childs for his painting Biangle (A Portrait of Lauren and Everett), and Second Place went to Teresa Oaxaca for the portrait of her grandfather, titled, Father Time. Taking two awards, First Place and the People's Choice Award, was Ellen Cooper for her painting Defiance of Erebus.  Next came Australian Evert Ploeg for his Self Portrait in Bathroom, which won Best in Show.  And finally, winning the William F. Draper Grand Prize, a feature article in a prominent art magazine, and a $5,000.00 cash award from conference sponsor Jack Richieson & Co., was Jesus Villarreal for his self-portrait, The Mirror.

David Bowers accepting his Exceptional Merit Award from the Portrait Society's very own 'Lady in Red, 'Kim Azzarito.

Scott Burdick

James Hill

Amy Kann

Juan Martinez

William Nathans

Thomas Reis

Joel Spector

Ardith Starostka

John S. Walker

Patricia Watwood

HongNian Zhang

Jeremy Lipking

Rose Frantzen

Alicia Ponzio

First Honor Award Winner Casey Childs

Second Place Award Winner Teresa Oaxaca

First Place and People's Choice Award Winner Ellen Cooper

Best of Show Evert Ploeg

William F. Draper Grand Prize Winner Jesus Villarreal

Jesus Villarreal - The Mirror - 68 X 42 in., oil

The 2011 International Portrait Competition Finalists

Sherrie McGraw

Taking to the podium next was Sherrie McGraw, who was there to introduce this year's Excellence in Fine Arts Education Award Winner, The Scottsdale Artists' School.  Founded in 1983 by a small group of Arizonians who were dismayed by the lack of Representational Art training available in their state and the nation in general, The Scottsdale Artists' School has been dedicated to its mission of bringing top working artists together with students of all levels in need of learning the processes of traditional art.  The list of past and present teachers at the school includes Portrait Society of America faculty members and award winners, as well as other important figures in realist art.  Among those talented artists offering classes and workshops through the group have been such names as Kevin MacPherson, Harley Brown, Scott Christiansen, Scott Burdick, Matt Smith, Casey Baugh, John Michael Carter, Romel de la Torre, Ron Hicks, David Kassan, Milt Kobayashi, Gregg Kreutz, David Leffel, Mike Malm, Sherrie McGraw, C.W. Mundy, Tony Pro, William Schneider, and Rose Frantzen, to name but a few.  Present to receive the honor was Audrey Lemler, the Education Director of the school.

Sherrie McGraw and Audrey Lemler

Vice Chairman Edward Jonas presenting the Gold Medal to Philip Pearlstein

Philip Pearlstein was the next person to be honored by the Portrait Society, who bestowed upon the icon the 2011 Gold Medal Award for his career in the arts.  Pearlstein was an artist who, in the 1960's, was a rarity, painting portraits from life while those around him were mired in the prevalent movement of the day, Abstract Expressionism.  His representational style, with its unusual cropping, perspective, and compositions paved the way for modern figurative art.

What was most enjoyable about Pearlstein's presentation was his intelligence, humility, and humor when it came to his own work.  Two stories he told were particularly funny, and as is typical of portrait artists, revolved around poorly received commissions.  The first story Pearlstein related was about a his portrait of Philadelphia's John Cardinal Krol, who hated Pearlstein's painting so much, that the good Cardnal promised not to keep the finished work, but to donate it to his favorite charity - The Society for the Blind.  In the second humorous story, Pearlstein had painted the portrait of a female, university president.  She loved the painting, but a militant, campus, women's rights group, stole the painting from the school deeming the work an offense to all womenkind.  Eventually it was returned, but was soon kidnapped by another campus group who refused to return the painting until their demands were met.  When the university would not give in, the kidnappers began taking pictures of the painting in various locations, including a dumpster.  They too eventually returned the portrait, but not unscarred;  across its back was a poem written with a Sharpie® marker and which will eventually bleed through to the front of the painting in time.

Dr. John Cederlund

The final presentation of the evening was given by keynote speaker Dr. John Cederlund, director of the Zorn Museum in Sweden.  Cederlund gave a wonderful lecture discussing Anders Zorn's career, his travels, and the legacy which he left to the people of Sweden, including the property and 60 buildings donated to his government and which now make up the Zorn Museum.  At the end of his speech Dr. Cederlund invited the entire audience to a personal tour of the museum, and without a doubt, the charming director, so justly proud of his institution, was sincere in his offer.

Just before the banquet concluded, Jack Richieson was invited onstage to draw for the winner of  the Best double-masted easel his company had donated for the conference.  From the jar containing the names of the portrait competitions, Richieson picked Jesus Villarreal.  First the Grand Prize, then a studio easel;  it was definitely Villarreal's night!

Jack Richieson pulling a name at random from among the finalists to see
who won the Best Easel used in mainstage demonstrations.

Though the official events were over for the night, the social camaraderie of the artists prevented most members from bidding "good night."  Once again, a large group of celebrants stayed awake to the wee hours of Sunday morning.