Eight regional artists have been selected as finalists for The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, a juried competition and exhibition produced by the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District. More than 300 artists from Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., submitted work to the 21st annual competition.
As usual, I will review the artwork and predict the winner - over the years since this great prize was institutionalized by the great Carol Trawick, I've been batting about 75% in being able to predict the prizewinner once I "study" what the jurors produce themselves! As usual, Baltimore dominates the finalists with 30% of the finalists being from Baltimore!
The artwork will be exhibited at Gallery B from Sept. 7 – October 1, 2023, located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E. Gallery hours are Thursday-Sunday, 12 – 5pm. A public opening reception will be held on Friday, Sept. 8th, from 6-8pm.
2023 Trawick Prize Finalists
Rush Baker IV, Riverdale Park, MD
Rex Delafkaran, Washington, D.C.
Stephanie Garon, Clarksville, MD
Kei Ito, Baltimore MD
Megan Koeppel, Hyattsville, MD
Giulia Livi, Baltimore, MD
Charles Mason III, Baltimore, MD
Fanxi Sun, Richmond, VA
The 2023 jurors were:
Brandon Morse, Associate Professor and Chair of the Art Department at the University of Maryland College of Arts & Humanities
Brandon Morse is a Washington, D.C.-based artist who works with generative systems to examine how physical phenomena such as entropy and emergence can function in poetic and metaphorical ways. Through the use of code and the creation of custom computer software, he creates simulations of seemingly complex systems to create video and video installations that seek to draw parallels between how these systems work and how we, individually and collectively, navigate the world around us. Morse received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point and his Master of Fine Arts in Art & Technology from The Ohio State University. He has exhibited his work in digital video and sound exhibitions nationally and internationally, including the Corcoran Museum of Art in Washington, D.C., the Nanjing Museum in China, the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, and Kunsthalle Detroit. Morse is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Art Department at the University of Maryland.
Jon-Phillip Sheridan, Chair of the Photography and Film Department at Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Arts
Jon-Phillip Sheridan is the Department Chair of Photography and Film at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Arts in Richmond, Virginia. He received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in photography from the Maryland Institute College of Art and his Master of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University. In 2014, Sheridan curated “Expecting Reality,” an exhibition at Second Street Gallery in Charlottesville, VA. Sheridan has been exhibited in many solo and group shows, including Anti-Grand: Contemporary Perspectives on Landscape at The University of Richmond Museums. His work was used on the catalog cover. His work has been included in the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts collections, Markel Corporation, Capital One, and the Federal Reserve Bank.
Naoco Wowsugi, Associate Professor of Art at American University
Naoco Wowsugi is a community-engaged artist and Associate Professor of Art at American University. Wowsugi’s cross-disciplinary projects range from portrait photography and participatory performance to horticulture, exploring the nature of belonging and inclusive community building; while also highlighting and fortifying everyday communal and interpersonal identities. She has been included in exhibits at Redux Contemporary Art Center, Charleston, SC; Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center in Honolulu, HI and Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. Wowsugi earned her Master of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Kansas City Art Institute and Osaka University of Arts in Japan.
