Alums Earn Top Awards at ‘Joie de Vivre’
Westmont alumnus Keaton Hudson ’14 won the Lorry Hubbard Best in Show prize for his instant film piece, “Room,” in the annual Tri-County Juried Exhibition at the Westmont Ridley-Tree Museum of Art.
“Working with the photograph, I’m interested in how we interact with and perceive mundane objects in everyday life,” Hudson says. “There’s something to be said for elevating the mundane to the level of the sacred — giving these objects their own space to breathe, to shine in their own right. Exploring this relationship in the form of an instant film adds another layer of tangibility, of objectivity, that excites me.”
“Joie de Vivre,” which translates to exuberant enjoyment of life, runs through June 18. All works in the exhibition will be for sale with proceeds benefiting the artists and museum.
Leslie Lewis Sigler took first honorable mention for “Silver Spoon #110, The Honorable,” an oil painting on panel. Recent Westmont graduates Alexis Jean Moore ’16 and Katie Curry ’12 received second honorable mention and third art council award respectively. Moore featured an oil painting on canvas paper, “Specimen,” while Curry displayed “Conversations,” a mixed media on book covers.
Jennifer Frias, associate curator of the Sweeny Art Gallery, University of California, Riverside ARTSblock, juried the exhibition, selecting 32 pieces by 18 local artists out of 263 submissions by over 115 artists. “The entries in this year’s exhibition truly captured the spirit of its title, ‘Joie de Vivre,’” Frias says. “This opportunity presented artists with the means to convey their own unique interpretation of the theme while using multiple techniques and media to elevate the visual experience.”
The exhibition is sponsored by Peter and Becky Adams, Diane Dodds and David Reichert, and Lorry Hubbard.
The museum is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. It is closed Sundays and college holidays. For more information, please visit www.westmontmuseum.org or contact the museum at (805) 565-6162.