The five finalists for the sixth annual Janet and Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize are Stephanie Barber, Louie Palu, Mark Parascandola, Matthew Porterfield and Rachel Rotenberg. The competition awards a $25,000 fellowship to a visual artist or visual artist collaborators living and working in the Greater Baltimore region.
The 2011 winner will be announced during an award ceremony on Saturday, July 9 at 7pm at The Baltimore Museum of Art, located at 10 Art Museum Drive. The Janet and Walter Sondheim Artscape Prize is held in conjunction with the annual Artscape juried exhibition and is produced by the Baltimore Office of Promotion and The Arts.
This year marks a smaller batch of artists than ever before – just five – and a surprising range of media – sculpture, two photographers, and two multi media / filmmakers. Every year I think I have the jurors figured out, and every year they throw a curveball. This year I have NO IDEA who will win and that’s okay with me. The exhibit of finalists at the BMA is academic, experimental, pretty, gritty, and interactive. If you come to see the exhibit, make sure you take a moment to sniff Rachel Rotenberg’s cedar sculptures, to pose in front of Stephanie Barber’s camera, to actually wear the headphones, and to look carefully at Palu and Parascandola’s photos – you’re not always seeing what you think you are seeing.
The formal review is available at the Urbanite Website: http://www.urbanitebaltimore.com/baltimore/visual-arts-cliffhanger/Content?oid=1451071
