Finalists Selected for Trawick Prize

Ten artists (from nearly 400 submissions) have been unanimously selected as finalists for The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, a juried art competition produced by the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, funded by the generous Carol Trawick and chaired by the fair Catriona Fraser.

The top prize winners will be announced and honored on Sept 7 at 7PM at a special press event held at Creative Partners Gallery.

A total of $14,000 will be awarded, including $10,000 to the Best in Show winner. The jury members for the competition are Dr. Thom Collins, Executive Director of the Contemporary Museum in Baltimore, MD; Andrea Pollan, an independent curator, fine arts appraiser and art consultant and Olga Viso, the new Director of the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.

The finalists are:

Christine Buckton Tillman (Baltimore)
Bernhard Hildebradt (Baltimore)
Dean Kessmann (Washington, DC)
Michele Kong (Baltimore)
Gabriel Martinez (Washington, DC)
Maggie Michael (Washington, DC)
Jiha Moon (Annandale, VA)
Daniel Sullivan (Baltimore)
Sonia Denise Tassin (Baltimore)
Jason Zimmerman (Washington, DC)

Of these artists, I am only familiar with the work of Kessmann, Maggie Michael and Jiha Moon. All three of them are superb artists.

My bet: Jiha Moon, who has made me eat my words when I first saw her work at the Arlington Arts Center a few months ago; my recommendation to all of you? Buy Jiha Moon now!!! For more information call 301-215-6660 (ext 20 or 16).