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Farm Island Anthology

The Farm Island Anthology Exhibition is the result of a nationwide call to artists of all disciplines to create new artwork in response to a series of poems by freelance writer Penny Niemi.

The imagery in this exhibition by 37 artists comes together to begin to express what these “farm islanders” internalize as their identity and way of life. Viewers of this exhibition partake in the experience of a visual presentation combined with the internalization of the poetry.

Guest juror Molly Hobson Vaida, owner of the Landmark Gallery in Omaha, presented awards and cash prizes to some exhibitors at a reception on Saturday, April 29, 2023.

Congratulations to all the participants and the following award winners: 

Best of Show: Ruth Hamill, No Sameness Marks Her Days
 
Award of Excellence: Kathleen Lohr, Thelma’s Hands 
 
Award of Merit: Beth Cole, The Test of Time
 
Juror’s Award: Victoria Hammond, Grandmother’s Farm 
 
Honorable Mentions: Michael Favagrossa, How to Skin a Calf  
and Patrick Gauthier, The Sower
 

The People’s Choice Award will be announced at the end of the exhibition. 

Penny Niemi summarizes the overarching theme as this, “The Farm Island story is America’s story. Farm Islands are the bedrock of American culture and values. It’s a story that small town folks already live, as well as one that will connect right-now city dwellers to both the Farm Island generation and to the new, independent pioneers who are slowly claiming their place growing organic crops, sheep/goats/beef, raising poultry and supplying fresh eggs, planting hops and vineyards, and staking their claim on family, non-corporate farms across America.”

The Tubac Arts Center in Tubac, Ariz., has partnered with Bone Creek Museum to issue the same call to artists in their local area. That exhibition runs April 7- May 23, 2023.

View the Tubac Exhibition

Support for this exhibition has been made possible in part by a grant from the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment. 

 

V....Vaughan, Whispers and Wisdom, Oil on canvas, 18 x 18
V....Vaughan, Whispers and Wisdom, Oil on canvas, 18 x 18
Gary E. Smith, Turned Earth, Oil on canvas, 24 x 20" Image courtesy of the artist.
Eileen Rooney, Water from the Well, 11.75 x 11.75 x 1.75, stoneware

People's Choice Award

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