Joshua Tree National Park Art Expo 2022 – Awards Announced
Several hundred art appreciators and artists attended the festivities at 29 Palms Art Gallery on Saturday, Nov. 5, for the 10th annual Joshua Tree National Park Art Expo. Art awards were announced for the Expo’s juried exhibition during a reception at the gallery Saturday evening.
Eleven artists received awards for their artwork, with awards totaling $4,000.
Elisabeth Pollnow of 29 Palms won the Best of Show award for her bronze sculpture, “Bright New Day,” featuring a juvenile desert tortoise climbing toward a poppy.
Other 3-Dimensional awards went to Linda Shrader of Yucca Valley, who received first place for her Joshua Tree wall sculpture. Second place went to a fabric art piece by Laurie Schafer of Yucca Valley, and third place was a clay sculpture of desert critters by Cher Townsend of Yucca Valley.
In the Photography category, first place was awarded to Dawn Anderson of 29 Palms. Second place went to Casey Kiernan of Joshua Tree. Third place went to Delphine Bordas of Palm Desert.
In the 2-Dimensional category, first place was an oasis oil painting by Stephanie Britt of Bellingham, Washington. Second place was “Lilly and Josh,” an acrylic painting by Dollar Davis of Los Angeles. Third place went to Liv Stofko of Santa Ana for her drawing titled “Yucca Brevifolia.”
The Superintendent’s Award, an honor selected by Joshua Tree National Park Superintendent David Smith, went to “Morning,” an oil painting by David Fairrington of Cherry Valley, CA.
Sixty artists from the desert region and across California and the U.S. were juried into the exhibition, out of 123 artist entries. The exhibition were on display at the Joshua Tree National Park Art Expo 2022 – Awards Announced gallery through November 27 and features artwork inspired by Joshua Tree National Park.
The 29 Palms Art Gallery is open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, at 74055 Cottonwood Drive on the corner of National Park Drive in Twentynine Palms. The artwork can also be viewed online at jtnpARTS.org.
Judges for this year’s awards were: Artist Naomi Brown, sculptor Ed Keesling, and photographer Marilyn McFarlin.
The Art Expo is presented by Joshua Tree National Park Council for the Arts, in partnership with Twentynine Palms Artists’ Guild, both 501(c)(3) organizations based in Twentynine Palms.
Photos Courtesy of 29 Palms Art Gallery, Photographer Tatjana Kudla
