February Happenings & Inspirations
There is a lot happening at the Mill these days, and we could not be more delighted. In this issue, you will meet this year's Youth Art "Best in Show" winner, view the entire collection of 150 works (the exhibit is just a click away), learn the winners of the Beyond the Frame exhibit, and enjoy some amazing photography. We are sharing all the love and a special edition of ArtTalk, too. Don't miss Bob Krist, internationally acclaimed photographer and juror for the 2022 Phillips' Mill Photographic Exhibition, tomorrow night, February 10, starting at 7 p.m.
Now Online
This year’s show features more than 150 works of art from students from 23 area high schools.
If you are looking for something to inspire you, touch your heart, amaze your senses and just make you feel good in the dead of winter, you are just one click away!
Phillips’ Mill is proud to present the works of some incredibly talented high school students in our 9th Annual Youth Art Exhibition, online now through February 27.
“All the entrants (in this year’s show) deserve praise, and all the art teachers who taught them should get applause,” says acclaimed filmmaker and painter Bill Jersey, who juried the show.
The Youth Art Exhibition was launched in 2014 to give aspiring artists in our region the chance to gain exposure and experience exhibiting with a prestigious arts organization.
Each year, art teachers from around the region are invited to submit works from their students to appear in the show. This year a record number of 23 area public and private high schools participated. All of the submitted works were presented to a juror, who selected winners in four categories: Painting, Works on Paper, Digital Art & Photography, and 3-Dimensional Works.
2022 “Best in Show” Winner:
Annika Crawford, George School, “Alton.”
2022 First Place Winners:
Painting: Madison Talbert, Ewing High School, “Luck in Boldness”
Works on Paper: Caroline Colman, Central Bucks High School West, “Repetitive Mornings”
Digital Art & Photography: Dongfang Qu, Princeton Day School, “Lost in Paradise”
3-Dimensional Work: Anna Williamson, Council Rock High School North, “Nest”
Students are awarded cash prizes thanks to the generous support of Phillips’ Mill community members and sponsors. If you would like to support the show, the only one of its kind in the area, please email youth-art@phillipsmill.org.
For as long as she can remember, Annika Crawford has communicated through her art. “Even before I could write, I was drawing,” says the George School senior whose work, “Alton,” won “Best in Show” in this year’s Youth Art Exhibition. “I wasn’t a talkative kid. I would spend a lot of time reading and drawing. It was through my art that I found I could express myself.”
The self-taught young artist is fascinated with nature, passionate about art and compelled to serve her community. When she isn’t drawing, you might find her exploring the wilderness, biking along the Delaware River canal path or volunteering at the Upper Makefield fire station.
She might not have been talkative as a kid, but she certainly has a lot to say—and offer others—about the world around her.
Her winning piece is a provocative work of fan art, whose subject is Alton Mason, considered one of the top male models in the world today. In Annika’s piece, we find Alton surrounded by a forest.
“Alton has this relaxed posture in the photo. He looks confident and serene, and he has a curious look on his face, as he is surrounded by nature,” Annika explains. “The image reminded me of a forest in Pennsylvania that I walk through a lot, where I find all sorts of things: bones, magazines, little pieces of vines. In the painting, you can see that the wooden vines are choking out everything. I wanted to put those vines in as a frame around the portrait of Alton, to show the presence of nature.”
Renowned National Geographic and Smithsonian travel photographer Bob Krist has said that a perfect picture is made up of three components: great composition, great light and a sense of the moment. His search for the perfect picture has taken him around the world. We were able to catch him at home to be our guest on a very special ArtTalk. Please note this special edition of ArtTalk airs live this Thursday at 7 p.m., and not on Sunday.
Join us as Laura Womack interviews the master photographer from Bucks County, who is also the juror for the 2022 Phillips’ Mill Photographic Exhibition, opening April 2, 2022. Be sure to bring your own questions!
Painting, sculpture, photography, digital art are all together in one show at Phillips’ Mill. The Phillips’ Mill Youth Art Exhibition is always innovative, always expressive. On the next Art Talk the show Chairs, Susan Brussock and Kathy Schroeher, discuss putting the show together and what it means to the community. We’ll also hear from some of the artists participating.
The youth art program was established in 2014 to give young artists in our region the chance to display their work through Phillips’ Mill and to be awarded for their achievements. It showcases the works of students from 23 area high schools. Artist and film maker Bill Jersey is this year’s juror.
Visit our ArtTalk page to watch this conversation on February 13th.
Artist Chee Bravo exactingly builds up layers of color to create energetic, motion-filled prints of musicians playing. Her carefully planned work nevertheless conveys a sense of carefree action. You can almost hear the music. Chee will show us her process for creating her many-layered screen prints.
But the layers aren’t just in Chee’s printing process. Her’s is a very personal body of work that stems from her life experiences. The people who populate her prints are friends from her favorite jazz club in Trenton. We’ll take a look at Chee’s paintings of the people she met on a trip to her husband’s native Cuba, paintings filled with all the character, color and energy of her screen prints.
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The Phillips’ Mill Photographic Exhibition is a prestigious show, with national and international reach, made possible by the members of the Phillips’ Mill Photo Committee. Last year, Phillips’ Mill Photo introduced the “Not Your Run of the Mill” Members’ Photo Committee Show, the start of a wonderful new tradition!
Earlier this year, Phillips’ Mill invited artists to submit their work in the form of a short video or animation to be displayed online. This unique, digital show, juried by Lambertville artist Kelly Sullivan, asked that artists go “beyond the frame” and express their artistic self in a fresh, new way.
“In this digital age, there are many ways to express your artwork,” says Amanda Penecale, who curated the show along with Haley Manchon and Martha Wirkijowski. “Personally, I enjoyed the excitement of creating videos and learning new skills.”
And the results are definitely as exciting as the process! And the winners are...
Best in Show: Anabel Bouza, “Small Wonders”
- Chee Bravo
- Tracy Everly
- Ponder Goembel
- Catherine Kerr
- Carol Nussbaum
- Jane Ramsey
- Cindy Roesinger
- Timothy Stanford
- Eugene Underwood
“This is a really cool way to display and experience art,” says juror Kelly Sullivan, a renowned fine artist known for her collaborative art projects, workshops and traditional oil paintings. “They asked artists to share their favorite pieces in a short, moving retrospective.” Click here to watch an interview with Kelly.
It's hard to believe, but our team of volunteers is already at work on the 93rd Phillips' Mill Juried Art Exhibition. This year's show will run from September 24 through October 30.
This annual event is supported by more than 60 volunteers, a team that devotes untold hours to plan and implement the show. The work includes everything from scheduling and manning events to receiving, cataloging and hanging hundreds of works of art. It includes assembling a panel of jurors, designing marketing and publicity materials, and organizing receptions for our patrons and artists on opening night. Our volunteers produce our online show and staff the gallery and sales desk at the Mill, welcoming visitors seven days a week. If you'd like to join the art committee, we promise, there is a job for you. Let us know by emailing artshow@phillipsmill.org.
Our donors, many of whom are also volunteers, provide the financial support needed to get the job done. Some of these donors provide funds for awards named in honor, or in memory, of special people in their lives and in the arts. This has become a time-honored tradition at Phillips' Mill. Awards are presented for still life paintings, interior views, and landscapes; for printmaking, oils, watercolors, and pastels; for traditional Bucks County scenes, bridge views, and depictions of African American life and culture. If you can imagine it and fund it, we can present it.
Please consider supporting such an award this year. Create a legacy by naming an award for someone special and by honoring one of the hundreds of artists who submit their work to the Phillips' Mill show each year. Our jurors especially enjoy selecting the works to be honored in this very personal way.
If you'd like to discuss how you can support an award of this type, please contact us at awards@phillipsmill.org. We welcome your creativity as well as your generous dedication to the arts.
We’re getting ready to light up the stage once again at Phillips’ Mill! And what could be a better way to shake the winter doldrums and welcome spring?
The Phillips’ Mill Players are already in rehearsal for our spring show, “Marriage: What’s Love Got to Do with It?” The show, a musical comedy presented cabaret-style, with one-act plays and lots of song and dance, is sure to brighten your spirits!
Our stage has been dark for too long. So save the date. Reservations will be available online in March.
Phillips' Mill Photo member Samuel Vovsi was born in St. Petersburg (formerly Leningrad, USSR) and lived most of his life in Riga, Latvia, before immigrating to the United States in 1989. In addition to his career as a math professor and computer programmer, he has been doing photography most of his adult life. What was once a hobby has evolved into a serious passion. He has won many photography awards at juried shows and competitions, both domestic and international. His work has been represented in the Phillips' Mill Photographic Exhibition several times over the past decade.
