NEW CANAAN - Silvermine Arts Center recently announced the award winners and finalists in the 67th annual Art of the Northeast Exhibition (AoNE), Silvermine's signature show, and two Newtown artists were included in this year's statement.

Rachel Morris and DeAnn Prosia were both chosen as finalists by David Kiehl, a curator at Whitney Museum of American Art.

Ms Morris is represented with a fine silver necklace from her Chained Collection. It was crafted in 2015, according to her Facebook page.

Ms Prosia is represented by "Undercover," a 12-inch by 12-inch line etching, also done in 2015.

Silvermine Gallery Director Jeffrey Mueller said there was a shift in the type of work received for the 2017 AoNE presentation.

"This year, we saw more work in the realm of Realism," Mr Mueller said. "In fact, there is narrative in some of the abstract works as well as in the realistic ones.

"Sculpture is also well represented," he added. "We have some ambitious works, including one that looks like a submarine, done in an Orson Welles steampunk style - a repurposed, industrial, sci-fi look. Gene Hracho's 'Aquatic in Nature' so charmed David Kiehl that he gave the Reading, Penn., resident's work the Curator's Smile Award. Kiehl's sensibilities have brought us a dynamic exhibition, quirky in the best sense of the word, with a complex and lush use of materials."

"Art of the Northeast" is open to artists from Maine to DC. It is an annual competition and exhibition meant to highlight the diversity of work currently being done in the Northeast by emerging and established artists.

Mr Kiehl's Best in Show selection was Fairfield resident Rick Shaefer's large scale drawing "Sugar Maple," done in charcoal on vellum. Honorable Mention went to Claudia Renfro of Pound Ridge, N.Y., for "White Cat," done in mixed media.

The Best in Show Prize is a solo exhibition at Silvermine along with a $3,000 stipend for show-related expenses.

The Patricia Warfield Jinishian Award in Painting went to Ellen Hopkins of Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., for "Rockets."

The Andy and Marsha Glazer Award for Painting was awarded to Barbara Marks of Stony Creek for "Recollection #88, Wyoming."

Two prizes were dedicated to sculpture. Corinne Chase of Orange, Mass., received the Mollie and Albert Jacobson Award for Sculpture for her sand-cast bronze work, and June Ahrens of Stamford won the Carole Eisner Award for Sculpture for her mixed-media wall piece, "Hidden Promises."

Mr Kiehl, currently the Nancy and Fred Poses curator at the Whitney, was previously associate curator of prints and illustrated books at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and a consultant curator at the Wolfsonian Foundation in Miami Beach. While at the Whitney, Mr Kiehl organized exhibitions of work by Edward Hopper, Richard Tuttle, Charles Burchfield, Ellen Gallagher, Christian Marclay, Kiki Smith, Jenny Holzer, Yayoi Kusama, and David Wojnarowicz.

In addition to his curation, Mr Kiehl has served as faculty for Yale University, School of Art, Critical Practice, and contributed to Art News, Art on Paper, and various university, gallery, and museum publications.

"Art of the Northeast" is on view through August 20.

Silvermine Arts Center is at 1037 Silvermine Road. For further information, call 203-966-9700 or visit silvermineart.org.

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