Sondheim Semifinalists Announced

Twenty-six visual artists or groups from Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and the District of Columbia were named semifinalists a few days ago for Baltimore's fourth annual Janet & Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize.

The 26 (dominated by Baltimore area artists) are:

• Seth Adelsberger, Baltimore

• "Alzaruba," also known as Al Zaruba, Baltimore

•The Baltimore Development Cooperative, Baltimore. The cooperative includes Scott Berzofsky, Dane Nester and Nicholas Wisniewski, who are working on a community farm/art project in East Baltimore. Berzofsky and Wisniewski are former founding members of the artist collective known as Camp Baltimore.

•Lisa Blas, Washington, D.C.

• Rachel Bone, Baltimore

• Jessica Braiterman, Beltsville

• Travis Childers, Fairfax, Va.

• Mary Coble, Washington, D.C.

• R.L. Croft, Manassas, Va.

• Alyssa Dennis, Baltimore

• Liz Ensz, Baltimore

• Leslie Furlong, Baltimore

• Ryan Hackett, Kensington, Md.

• Christian Herr, Lancaster, Pa.

• Jason Horowitz, Arlington, Va.

• Jessie Lehson, Baltimore

• Kim Manfredi, Baltimore

• Katherine Mann, Baltimore

• Baby Martinez, Washington, D.C.

• Sebastian Martorana, Baltimore

• Lisa Moren, Baltimore

• Ellen Nielsen, Baltimore

• Louie Palu, Washington, D.C.

• Molly Springfield, Washington, D.C.

• "TwoCan Collective," Baltimore. TwoCan Collective consists of two women, "Emily C-D" and Jessica Unterhalter, who often make work using recycled materials.

• Karen Yasinsky, Baltimore

My money is on either Mary Coble or Molly Springfield. Both of them are superbly loaded with talent, and both of them are perennial finalists in all of our area's top art prizes. The judges for this year's prize are Ellen Harvey, a New York-based artist; Valerie Cassel Oliver, curator of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston; and Elisabeth Sussman, a curator at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York.

The winner of the $25K prize will be announced July 11 at the Baltimore Museum of Art. This year's competition drew 334 entries.

Congrats to all 26!