2009 Southern Tier Biennial
Who Will Be Named Best of Show?
By Eva Potter

There’s only one way to find out who has won the prestigious Best of Show award for the 2009 Southern Tier Biennial—go to the show! Well, you could do some research to find out, but you will be guaranteed a lot more fun by attending. The Cattaraugus County Arts Council (CCAC) is rolling out the red carpet on the third Southern Tier Biennial, a juried contemporary art competition and exhibition, featuring artists from the eight counties of New York State’s Southern Tier.
This exciting, must-see event will showcase 36 works featuring three-dimensional media, drawings and prints, watercolor and oil paintings, mixed and new media, photography, digital video and ceramics. The event showcases the contemporary art of 28 artists (five local) including Normandy Alden, Maria Alianello, Victoria Bradbury, Undine Brod, Wayne Claypatch, Robin Zefers Clark, Kathy Connery, Alexander Contino, Thomasine Crawford, Barbara Fox, Tim Frerichs, Jon Gilroy, Chanda Glendinning, Hall Groat II, Theresa Heinz, David Higgins, Susan Kendrot, Mark Kirsch, Joel Kushke, Mellie Mae Lonnemann, Stephanie McMahon, Melissa Meyers, Theodore Morgan, Shawn Murrey, Dan Reidy, Lori Tiller, Rhys Wescott, and Hope Zaccagni.

Kim Driscoll, grants and program manager, states, “This show is a great way for our communities to really get a sense of the diversity of our region’s artists. While we produce many shows honoring the spirit of art grounded in a rural tradition, this show features works moving in a contemporary direction.”

Over the past few months, CCAC has received entries for over 300 unique pieces of art. Through careful deliberation by judges Leonard Urso, School for American Crafts at Rochester Institute of Technology, and Holly E. Hughes, associate curator at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, these entries were then narrowed down to 36 accepted pieces. As Hughes puts it, “For me, the most successful art is that which invites the viewer in, yet often poses more questions than answers. I am attracted to images that blur boundaries between the familiar and the unconventional.”

Each selected artist was provided with a $100 stipend to cover personal show expenses. In addition, cash awards totaling $3,000 will be presented including $500 for Best of Category in each of four categories; and $1,000 will be awarded to the Best of Show winner. Works by accepted artists will also be featured in a four-color catalog. Visitors can pick up free catalogs at both exhibition sites. The Best of Show title comes with additional perks including the coveted opportunity to present a solo show in spring 2010 at the Olean Public Library, and usually includes a $1,000 honorarium, up to $1,000 for professional development workshops and up to $1,000 for show expenses.

Anne Conroy-Baiter, director of the Cattaraugus County Arts Council, is thankful that she and her staff were able to bring this year’s event to fruition. “After such a tumultuous few months securing funding for this event, it’s enormously gratifying to see the artwork hung in both galleries, ready for our opening on Saturday. The 2009 Biennial features everything from beautiful watercolors to tactile ceramics to photographs that make you step back and ask questions. Our Best of Show winner this year is well deserving of the title, and the artist has agreed to continue with a solo show next spring despite the lack of funding. That alone demonstrates the level of importance of this experience to our region’s artists. I’ll definitely look forward to feedback from the public as they visit the exhibitions.”

Previous shows in 2005 and 2007 were highly successful events with hundreds of artists entering to compete for the coveted title of Best of Show and other awards, making this a valuable recognition venue for area artists. Since October 2008, the CCAC staff has been working diligently to save this year’s competition. Funding cuts created difficult challenges, but none that could not be overcome thanks to collaborative efforts with Jamestown Community College, sponsorship by the Olean Public Library, as well as many generous donations of time and money.

The opening reception and awards ceremony, complete with light refreshments, will take place on May 9, 2009, at 3 p.m. at the Olean Public Library Gallery. An additional reception and celebration, replete with wine, cheese and the guitar stylings of Bill Capozzi, will be hosted the same day at Jamestown Community College’s College Center on North Union Street at 5 p.m. The public is invited to attend free of charge.

Impressed, Judge Urso notes, “These works are representational, symbolic, abstracted and shaped in such a way that they clearly reveal the current trends in art being created in the Southern Tier.” This collection of powerful contemporary art will be on display until June 20, 2009, in both galleries. It’s truly an affair you will not want to miss!

The Cattaraugus County Arts Council (CCAC) is an independent non-profit dedicated to promoting the creation, presentation, and appreciation of the arts, by making cultural opportunities available through our services surrounding the artistic side of life. They rely on support from grants, along with the generosity of benefactors. Online, tax-deductible donations, that will go directly to funding support of the arts in Cattaraugus County, can be made at http://www.myartscouncil.net/.

(Eva Potter, a SpecialEfects freelance writer, can be reached at potterprose@gmail.com)