Out & About: Greensburg Art Center opens 2021 Biennial with in-person outdoor party
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Artist Harold Miller and his wife, Susan, spent a lot of time in the car during the pandemic.
“We spent the whole pandemic driving around taking photos, and then I’d paint (the scenes),” said Miller of Homer City, Indiana County. “That’s how we kept our sanity.”
The pastime paid off in another way, too. Miller’s painting of an abandoned barn, “45 MPH,” was named Best in Show for the Greensburg Art Center’s 2021 Biennial.
The awards were announced during a May 15 opening reception on the grounds of the art center in Hempfield. Other honors included: first place, “SheScape,” acrylic on canvas by Joe Schildkamp; second place, “The Garden,” acrylic and pressed flowers by Stacey Pydynkowski; and third place, “The Spoon Dress,” mixed media with plastic spoons by Stephanie Oplinger.
Awards of merit went to Michael Walter, Karen Zueger, Brian McCall, Jeffrey Carroll and Polly Whitehorn.
The show was juried by Kurt Shaw, a Pittsburgh-based artist; appraiser of art, antiques, furniture and other valuables; and former owner of Shaw Galleries in downtown Pittsburgh. Shaw said his judging criteria included “good design, good composition and works that made a sociopolitical statement.”
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Reception attendees were treated to music by Zen Strings, an acoustic quartet comprised of Micah Nagel, Ryan Kantner, Ray Sneed and Brandon Miller.
In the warm May evening, guests browsed the long buffet table for delectables and finished with sweet treats from an ice cream truck. They donned masks to step inside the gallery to view the show.
Co-chairs for the biennial, which runs through June 25, were Pat Majcher and Marcia Koynok.
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Seen at the reception: Sue Pollins, Bob Majcher, Lee Kim, Josh and Kary Milan with daughter Mila, Keith and Shirleah Kelly, Tom Niggel, Paul, Mandy and Clair Sirofchuck, Gary Henzler-Allen and Darcy Huffman, Thomas Tolen, Sarah Hunter, Joanna Moyar, Diane Shrader, Erin Shrader, Samuel Oplinger, Curt and Debbie Nichols and Pat Parsons.