Thorney Lieberman’s “Coy & Carissa Daniels” won a $5,000 award in the 2007 W.Va. Juried Exhibition To see all the major award winners , click here. To see a complete list of artists in the show, click here.

Sweet: “Speaking of supporting West Virginia artistry (see post below), you could purchase some art at The Parkersburg Art Center from the 2007 W.Va. Juried Exhibition in that city through Feb 8.”
Sour: “You could purchase some that hasn’t already been purchased by the W.Va. Cultural Center as an award winner for their permanent collection. IF, that is, they ever have an art exhibition space again over there at the state capitol grounds.”
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Sweet: “The Collection with No Place to Show. I wonder if there will be enough exhibition space for art in the new renovation.”
Sour: “We keep hearing about the whiz-bang, gizmo-techno Culture and History museum coming our way in the basement of the Cultural Center… we’ll see. So far, we have ugly escalators going to nowhere.”
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Sweet: “Well, Parkersburg did a good job of showcasing the show. Parkersburg Art Center has really been hopping the past few years. Good for them — one of the few mid-sized arts organizations doing interesting things of late. Or anything at all for that matter. The Martinsburg Art Center has really been struggling lately. (Hey, Topper Sherwood, blog back in and tell us how things are going up in Martinsburg). Carnegie Hall and Parkersburg Art Center have come through some major difficulties and are shining through. I hope they all stabilize.”
Sour: “The saga of the mid-size arts organization struggles is an epic in itself. We’ll have to take it up some day. It’s like Whac-a-Mole in terms of which ones of them are actually functioning. Anyway, I agree Parkersburg is really looking good.”
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Sweet: “Actually, it’s also thanks to a community that cares… Parkersburg Art Center isn’t the oldest continually functioning arts organization around for nothing and they have a great new administration. Speaking of people who should be paid a big salary to run an arts center, Abby Hayhurst is one. People, she’s serving as a volunteer director. She deserves a halo at the next Governor’s Awards for the Arts.
Sour: “Good of P-berg to step in and show the Juried Show since the Cultural Center is still in shambles. Seems like Joe and Gayle Manchin are going to be in office long enough for their administration to Get R’ Done, in terms of the WV State Museum renovation. Yes, it’s been a study in what not to do through the various administrations. Hope when they unveil this thing, it’s going to be good. They should give Parkersburg just one of the millions they’ve wasted over there so far and see what they can do with it.”
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Sweet: “Back to the Juried Show. The big winners were Thorney Lieberman, Michael C. Mendez and Susan Poffenbarger. $5,000 Governor’s Award Purchases each. Did you agree?”
Sour: “Oh, sure. They were fine choices. I think Thorny hit pay dirt so to speak with his Coal Miner series. It’s like what he did with great acclaim with American Indians in previous years, now focusing on coal miners. It works.”
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Sweet: “You don’t think it’s exploitative of the coal miners?”
Sour: “No, not at all, I know some people who were present at the shoot and they were impressed with his respect for the miners and their families. Plus the end product is touching — heroic but touching. You really get the kindness and dignity of the people he
shoots here. Don’t you agree?”
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Sweet: “Yes, I do, I was just wondering what you thought. And Susan Poffenbarger always lives up to her reputation. She wins prizes consistently and there is a reason for it.”
Sour: “Susan manages to present great art that yet looks fantastic in the most conservative person’s living room. Loved by both the critics and the masses. More power to her.”
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Martinsburg artist Michael C. Mendez’ “Ten Year Chip,” a toned silver gelatin print won a $5,000 award in the 2007 W.Va. Juried Show

Sweet: “What about the Mendez piece, “Ten Year Chip”?” I’m not familiar with him. I liked it, but maybe not as much as the jurors.”
Sour: “He’s a new one to me, also, from Martinsburg. Interesting technique. Metallic. You could put it in The Vault and it might fit right in.”
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Sweet: “As for the other winners, some new names and some familiar ones. The Awards of Excellence at $2,000 each are: Susan Carney, Guy Gelner, Young Kim, Linda Schweitzer and Robert Villamagna.”
Sour: “I see Guy Gellner — glad to see him back at it, I haven’t seen his stuff for years. His stuff is great. Detailed, elegant.”
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Sweet: “I heard there was some minor scandal about purchasing Young Kim’s installation, made of salt, red clay, a bowl and cotton. Officials griping about spending $2,000 for a pile of salt.”
Sour: “I know. I heard it also. It’s one of those times when if you purchase a site-specific installation, how are you going to re-display it? Pay the artist to reinstall it every few years? Hey, that’s not a bad idea for an artist. They have to buy it AND then pay you to keep setting it up.”
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Sweet: “If, that is, they have space to set it up at all in the future in among the promised Disney-esque thrill of the new techno “museum”at the Division of Culture and History.
Sour: “Which, of course, will be immediately out of date once they open it. They better put in a lot of money for future upkeep if they stick to what’s been promised. Maybe they should just scale back and do something that can be changed out every few years to keep it fresh. Oh, but nobody in government thinks beyond the next four or eight years or however long you can stretch your political term before you land another job in the political machine.”
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Sweet: “Or working for one of the lobbyists who helped fund your campaign. I do like this series of Young Kim’s. It’s been around for a couple of years, tho. But new to widespread West Virginia and appropriate for the W.Va. Juried Show.”
Sour: “Robert Villamagna’s piece, “Coal Mine Queen” — keeping with the Coal Mine theme this year — was another deserving “Award of Excellence. ” I think this is one of his better pieces. And Thorney wins yet another award with a photographic portrait of Anita Cecil, a woman coal miner. Thorney scored two big awards this year.”
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Sweet: “And Villamagna’s pieces are always wildly inventive and really good. Merit Awards of Note ($500 each) included Susan Feller’s excellent rug hooking/mixed media piece — she really takes that traditional non-fine-art form and takes it to a great
level. Betty McMullen also does wonderful stuff with fabric and natural materials — it’s another one of those both craft and fine art moments. Caryl Toth is another familiar name on the awards lists.”
Sour: “Again, like Susan Poffenbarger, Caryl Toth tops the awards lists with good reason. An ABSTRACT artist that is loved, like Susan P., by both the critics and the masses. Naijgun Zhang is also becoming a regular name in the awards circles, also for good reason, although I have to admit, I don’t like this piece as well as some of his others. I’m not sure I understand this new direction he’s going. When his pieces glow, they work best for me. And Norm Sartorius always submits great work.”
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Sweet: “And is another familiar name in the awards categories of the regional juried shows. I see Clay McNearney and Jamie Miller won. Glad to see them charting in the Awards sections. Any drawbacks that you see?”
Sour: “Yes, I don’t take much issue with the award winners, but I think there was more crap juried in than usual. Like, most of the stuff was either really good or really bad. Not a whole lot of mid-range. I have to wonder what the jurors were thinking on some of these.”
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Sweet: “But isn’t that the case in most juried shows? The ‘What was the juror thinking?!’ section?”
Sour: “This show has a bigger ‘What where the jurors thinking?!’ section.”
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