The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, a juried art competition produced by the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, announced the 2021 prize winners during tonight’s awards reception. Video artist Cecilia Kim of Richmond, VA was awarded the prestigious “Best in Show” title and received the $10,000 top prize. Abigail Lucien from Baltimore, MD was named second place and given $2,000; Sobia Ahmad from Silver Spring, MD was bestowed third place and received $1,000; and Monsieur Zohore from Potomac, MD was awarded the Young Artist Award and received $1,000.
Cecilia Kim, a Korean video artist, has traveled extensively and called several different countries home, including Australia, England, Singapore and the United States. Kim’s work has been shown both nationally and internationally in solo and group shows including The Immigrant Artist Biennale (virtual), 0 GALLERY (Seoul, Korea), Openarts Space MERGE (Busan, Korea), W36 Art Space (Nanjing, China), Target Gallery (Alexandria, VA) and Hume Gallery (Chicago, IL). Her short films have been selected at film festivals and screenings including the NoFlash Video Show, The Anderson Gallery, Around International Film Festival Amsterdam and Student Experimental Film Festival Binghamton. She was awarded a scholarship at Oxbow School of Art and Artists’ Residency and was a resident artist at the Busan International OpenArts Residence. Kim is a Master of Fine Arts candidate at Virginia Commonwealth University. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago where she was a UWC-Davis scholar.
2021 Trawick Prize Finalists
Sobia Ahmad, Silver Spring, MD
Stephanie Garmey, Baltimore, MD
Cecilia Kim, Richmond, VA
Abigail Lucien, Baltimore, MD
Mojdeh Rezaeipour, Washington, D.C.
John Ruppert, Towson, MD
Ernest Shaw, Baltimore, MD
Monsieur Zohore, Potomac, 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 work of the finalists will be on exhibit at Gallery B, 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E, until October 3. Gallery hours for the duration of the exhibit will be Thursday-Saturday, 12 – 5pm and Sunday, 11am – 4pm.
Entries were juried by Mark Cooley, Director of New Media Arts & Associate Professor, George Mason University; Oletha DeVane, Director, Tuttle Gallery at McDonogh School and 2019 Trawick Prize Winner; and Betsy Johnson, Assistant Curator, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.