Silvermine Hosting National Photography Competition And Exhibit Of Artist-Made Holiday Ornaments

NEW CANAAN — Silvermine Guild Galleries is celebrating the holiday season with three new exhibitions. All three are on view until December 22.

“Spectra 2004, The National Photography Triennial Competition” is being presented in Silvermine’s two major galleries.

A special Director’s Choice exhibition, “Icons of 20th Century Photography,” curated by Helen Klisser During, features images by classic masters including Diane Arbus, Richard Avedon, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Alfred Stieglitz.

A third exhibit, “An Enchanted Forest of Artist Ornaments,” presents handmade holiday ornaments created by Guild members in a variety of media. The ornaments are available for purchase and the gallery will be open late on Wednesday, December 22, for last-minute holiday shopping.

“Spectra” attracted over 330 entries, from which 114 were selected for exhibition by juror Barbara Hitchcock, the curator and cultural affairs director for the Polaroid Corporation. She is responsible for acquiring fine art photographs for the company and managing its multi-million dollar art collection and traveling exhibitions.

In jurying “Spectra,” Ms Hitchcock praised the quality and sophistication of the artwork, saying, “What intrigued me the most were the many ideas that photographers were working to express visually and the varying processes they used to create their final prints.

Big issues were addressed: family relationships, sexual identity, health, war, memory. And imagination found its voice in the works of photographers who presented their ideas metaphorically…

“In the end, this is all about how we see things and how we interpret what we see both to satisfy ourselves and to communicate our vision to others. The participants in ‘Spectra ’04’ have certainly successfully achieved this goal.”

The Silvermine Board of Trustees Best in Show Award of $1,000 was won by Sarah Corbin of New York City for her digital photomontage, “Kin-escape.”

The Jeniam Foundation Award of $700 was won by Avery Danziger of Columbia, Mo., for “K9 Dreams,” an ultra chrome photograph. Susan Scafati of Manhattan received the $500 Barbara Lans Award for “Descent,” part of a digital archival print series on Italy.

Richard Binhammer of Midlothian, Va., received the Design Monsters Award for “Hillside,” an infrared silver gelatin print. The Silvermine Mortgage Award went to Alan Shulik of Westbrook for his silver gelatin print “Dordogne, France.” Two Westport artists made the winner’s circle. Ron Lake won the Camera Wholesaler Award for his photo “Verso La Ca, Solare”, and Nina Bentley received the Kew Professional Photo Lab Award for “Cutting Edge,” a mixed media assemblage incorporating photographs.

Twenty-seven residents of Fairfield County are also represented in Spectra.

Silvermine Guild Galleries are open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 am to 5 pm and Sunday from 1 to 5 pm. The galleries are part of the Silvermine Guild Arts Center, which includes a Guild of 325 professional artists, a school of art for all ages and a wide range of cultural and educational programs for the region.

The galleries are at 1037 Silvermine Road. For further information, call 203-966-9700 or visit www.SilvermineArt.org