Dorothea Schlechte Memorial Purchase Award
Presented by John and Konnie Schlechte
Thelma Karges Memorial Purchase Award
Caroline Karges Memorial Purchase Award
Gail Cook Karges Memorial Purchase Award
Presented by a Friend of the Museum
Jim and Ana Ward Memorial Purchase Award
Presented by Margaret Dennis
Museum Members Purchase Award
Presented by
Steve and Susan Worthington
Mary S. and David A. Bower
Les and JoAnne Miley
Museum Members Merit Award
Presented by
Patricia Mitsos
Mary S. and David A. Bower
Regional exhibitions highlighting artistic talent, fostering community, and promoting exchange with the larger art world are essential as artists increasingly choose to practice peripheral to the art centers. Many curators, including myself, work to democratize access to the curatorial process and diversify art dialogues by engaging artists in communities and regions across the US. The opportunity to act as the juror for Evansville Museum’s 62nd Mid-States Art Exhibition is a great pleasure and a form of research that exposes me to a new network of artists.
The artists selected express the diversity of medium, subject matter, and positionality in this expansive region. The paintings range from magical realism to unsettling landscapes, like Sarah Williams’ hyper-realistic paintings of northern Missouri homes lit up from within during the hazy hours before dark, like an apparition from childhood frozen in time. Natalie Baldeon’s paintings embody the psychological isolation experienced as a first-generation American and new parent. In greys and browns, Alexandra Sophia Franz’s miniature paintings capture the banality of daily life with intoxicatingly loose brushstrokes. The drawings capture life on a micro and macro scale, such as Brigid O’Kane’s microscopic networks and Laurin Notheisen’s park landscapes. The prints take on a contemporary perspective of mythological scenes, like in Brett Anderson’s Riddles of the Sphinx. The sculpture is architectural to absurd, like CJ Escobar Rodgers’ abstract orange ceramic figure with a nose, ears, piercings, and feet topped with troll fur.
The talent abounds in the mid-states, and I am excited by what the region offers. My gratitude goes to Cheyenne Miller, curator of art, and the generous donors of the numerous artist awards. Supporting the arts is critical to building culture, which is central to humanity. Most of all, I’m grateful to the artists who offered me a glimpse into the thriving creativity of mid-America.
Lauren R. O’Connell
Curator of Contemporary Art
Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Lauren R. O’Connell is a curator, writer, and educator focusing on contemporary art. O’Connell received her B.A. in Classics and Art History from the University of Arizona and her M.A. in Curatorial Practice from the California College of the Arts. She is currently the curator of contemporary art at Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art (SMoCA) in Arizona. O’Connell previously held positions at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in the Architecture and Design Department and UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive. Her curatorial practice is rooted in artist-centric projects that expand and challenge artistic medium, critical dialogue, relational experiences, and art historical cannons. She has worked on special projects with artists including Tarek Atoui, Kristin Bauer, Diedrick Brackens, York Chang, Mimi O Chun, Martin Soto Climent, Otobong Nkanga, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Jean Shin, Anna Tsouhlarakis, and Qiu Zhijie. O'Connell's research positions contemporary art as an avenue to examine social reality through epistemological examination, speculative and historical (re)formations, mythology, and constructed environments.
Dorothea Schlechte Memorial Purchase Award
Thelma Karges Memorial Purchase Award
Caroline Karges Memorial Purchase Award
Gail Cook Karges Memorial Purchase Award
Museum Members Purchase Award
Jim and Ana Ward Memorial Purchase Award
Museum Members Merit Award
