At the opening of the Artists of Rubber City’s 28th Annual Juried Show, artist Mark Giangaspero was awarded the first place prize for his pastel portrait ‘Artificial Identity.’ The show is on display through March 31 on the third floor of Summit Artspace in downtown Akron.
Artist Mark Giangaspero was awarded the first place prize for his pastel portrait “Artificial Identity” at the Artists of Rubber City’s 28th Annual Juried Show, which is now on display at the BOX Gallery, on the third floor of Summit Artspace.
Second place was awarded to Christopher Darling for his body of work, three digital prints with graphite: “Cumberland Park, 33,” “The Cleveland Orchestra Plays Respighi” and “East Cleveland Bus Stop.” Third place was awarded to Melissa Markwald for her work “Van,” an oil on panel portrait. Honorable mentions were given to Charles Felzen Johnson, Ibojka M. Toth, James Leslie, John Freiman, Kevin Paul Hudak, and Shannon Fee.
Guest juror for the show is Ellen Rudolph, chief curator at the Akron Art Museum, who chose 58 artworks of various media out of over 170 submissions. Rudolph awarded cash prizes to first, second and third place winners along with six honorable mentions at the exhibit’s opening last Friday. The show will be on view through March 31.
In her juror’s statement, Rudolph said, “I am extremely impressed with the wide array of artistic impulses represented in Artists of Rubber City. Inventive and skilled use of materials, nuanced expression of ideas and sensitive handling of the tiniest of details are among the aspects of the artwork I particularly admired. The artists’ evident openness to sources of inspiration both internal and external, beautiful, broken, imperfect and unexpected–is truly exciting to see.”
Christopher Darling was awarded second place in the Artists of Rubber City’s 28th annual show for his body of work: three digital prints with graphite.
The BOX Gallery is open on Fridays and Saturdays from noon to 5 p.m. Additionally, the gallery will be open Thursday, March 15, 5 to 9 p.m. for Third Thursday. Admission is to the BOX is free and open to the public. Summit Artspace is located at 140 E. Market St. in downtown Akron.
In 1978, Artists of Rubber City (AoRC) was founded by a group of University of Akron art students looking for places to display their work and for a way to stay connected. AoRC is a member-based visual arts nonprofit with the mission to advocate for contemporary artists and Ohio art.
The BOX Gallery is an artist-run gallery owned by the Artists of Rubber City. It opened in October 2009, on the third floor of Summit Artspace. Gallery exhibition proposals are open to the public and can be acquired at the gallery or at ArtistsofRubberCity.org.
At the Artists of Rubber City’s 28th annual show, Melissa Markwald was awarded third place for her work “Van,” an oil on panel portrait.
