Trawick Prize Winners Announced - $10,000 Best in Show Prize Awarded

Artist Caroline Hatfield Awarded $10,000; Exhibit Open Through Sept. 29

The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, a juried art competition produced by the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, announced the 2018 prize winners during last night’s exhibit opening reception. Caroline Hatfield from Baltimore, MD was awarded “Best in Show” and received the $10,000 top prize; Nicole Salimbene from Takoma Park, MD was named second place and given $2,000; and Timothy Makepeace from Washington, D.C. was bestowed third place and received $1,000.

Caroline Hatfield explores concepts of utopia and science fiction through her interdisciplinary practice. Her studio practice utilizes methods of sculpture, installation, photography and drawing to investigate landscape. Hatfield’s sculptural landscapes are composed of industrial relics, geological formations and mutable material which obscure boundaries and accumulate into form. She has had solo exhibits at Towson University in Towson, MD, Mount Saint Mary’s University in Emmitsburg, MD, La Bodega Gallery in Baltimore, MD and Small Hall Gallery, Knoxville, TN. Most recently she had a solo exhibit at The Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, VA. Now based in Baltimore, Hatfield earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture from the University of Tennessee and her Master of Fine Arts in interdisciplinary studio art from Towson University. 

2018 Trawick Prize Finalists

Lori Anne Boocks, Germantown, MD

Clay Dunklin, Laurel, MD

Mary Early, Washington, D.C.

Jay Gould, Baltimore, MD

Caroline Hatfield, Baltimore, MD

Phaan Howng, Baltimore, MD

Timothy Makepeace, Washington, D.C.

Nicole Salimbene, Takoma Park, MD

The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, established by Carol Trawick in 2003, is one of the first regional competitions and largest prizes to annually honor visual artists. A longtime community activist in downtown Bethesda, Ms. Trawick has served as the Chair of the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, Bethesda Urban Partnership, Strathmore and the Maryland State Arts Council. The Jim and Carol Trawick Foundation was established in 2007 after the Trawicks sold their successful information technology company. A former teacher and entrepreneur, Ms. Trawick remains engaged in a range of philanthropic causes through the Foundation, which was established to assist health and human services and arts non-profits in Montgomery County. The Jim and Carol Trawick Foundation has awarded grants to more than 90 nonprofits.

The work of the finalists will be on exhibit at Gallery B, 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E, until September 29. The public opening reception will be Friday, September 14 from 6-8pm. Gallery hours for the duration of the exhibit are Wednesday through Saturday, 12 – 6pm.

Entries were juried by Christopher Bedford, Director of The Baltimore Museum of Art; Sukjin Choi, Head of Ceramics and Associate Professor of Art at James Madison University; and Valerie Fletcher, Independent Art Historian and Senior Curator Emerita at the Hirshhorn Museum.

To date, The Trawick Prize has awarded $220,000 in prize monies and has exhibited the work of more than 135 regional artists. Previous Best in Show recipients include Richard Cleaver, 2003; David Page, 2004; Jiha Moon, 2005; James Rieck, 2006; Jo Smail, 2007; Maggie Michael, 2008; Rene Trevino, 2009; Sara Pomerance, 2010; Mia Feuer, 2011; Lillian Bayley Hoover, 2012; Gary Kachadourian, 2013; Neil Feather, 2014; Jonathan Monaghan, 2015; Lauren Adams, 2016 and Larry Cook, 2017.