Digital Work Receives Highest Award in Multi-media Juried Show by Leslye Bloom August 1, 2003 Abingdon, Virginia (USA) was listed as one of the "100 Best Small Art Towns in America" (John Villani, 1997). With its roots in "old coal" money, Abingdon has a lively arts scene. The town is home to the nationally famous Barter Theatre, regional and local arts centers, and many independent galleries. Part of its annual Virginia Highlands Festival is the fine arts juried show. The juror of the 2003 fine arts show, Mary Alice Braukman (NWS signature member and Director of the Kanuga Watercolor Workshops of Hendersonville, NC) was presented with almost 200 paintings, drawings, etchings, and mixed media work by professional artists from four states. She selected 88 diverse works for the show, saying she looks for technical facility with a medium, artistic quality, and works that invite her to "crawl around in them. There were many strong entries, so it is a very strong show." Being accepted into the show is an honor. Beyond that, prizes are awarded in the categories of "Excellence" (3 awards in 2003), "Distinction" (4 awards), "Merit" (4 awards), and "Honorable Mention" (2 awards). The three "Awards of Excellence" were presented to an etching by Janet Warner, an oil by ZL Feng, and a computage [Ed. Note: the medium description is "Computage/Encaustic"] by Leslye Bloom. Ms. Bloom's "And Then We Were One" is the first digital work to win an Award of Excellence in the show's history. Leslye Bloom has been entering the show for six years, receiving an honorable mention in 1998 and an award of merit in 2001 before garnering the top honor this year. She has been working in computer graphics since 1967 and has seen dramatic changes in its acceptance in the fine art world. "Once, when I said I made computer art," Bloom relays, "an art faculty member broke into laughter. It's not a joke anymore." At the Abingdon show reception, Ed Chitwood (a prominent local artist) said: "Brushes, knives, oils, watercolor, computer--what's the difference? They're all tools. Creativity is beyond tools." The Virginia Highlands Festival Juried Fine Arts Exhibition is on display at the Arts Depot, in Abingdon, Virginia, July 25 through August 10, 2003. # # # Leslye Bloom holds a BS, MS, and Ph.D. in Art Education from Penn State and is a Certified Art Therapist. In 1990, she retired from consulting and teaching grad/undergraduate Art Education and Art Therapy courses at Virginia Tech, Universtity of Virginia, the University of Evansville (IN), and Penn State. 2002 marks her 35th year working in computer graphics. Her works are housed in private collections across North America and Europe. Her unique digital/traditional images have met with increasing critical and popular acceptance since she began full-time studio work. Not satisfied with technical solutions, she prefers to work through and beyond the computer. Leslye Bloom can be reached at: lbloom@vt.edu. For other Digital Acceptance stories on this site, click here. Home | About Us | Advertise | Contact Us News & Reviews | How-To's | Resources © 2002-2004 Harald Johnson Communications. All rights reserved.