Twelve Camden County residents have won top honors in the 54th Annual New Jersey State Senior Citizen Art Show. The winners were selected by jury from more than 300 submissions from throughout the state. First place winning artists from Camden County are: Carol Gooberman (Haddonfield), Professional Oil Painting; Gerard Iannelli (Haddon Heights), Non Professional Oil Painting; Annette Rinker (Winslow Township), Professional Print; and William Lane (Haddonfield), Non Professional Watercolor.
State second place winners include: Robin Brownfield (Collingswood), Non Professional Craft; Bonnie Burbank (Cherry Hill), Non Professional Mixed Media; Henry J. Cummings (Laurel Springs), Professional Sculpture; and Peter Ehlinger (Haddonfield), Professional Watercolor.
Richard Montemurro (Runnemede) won third place in the Professional Digital Art category, and three artists received honorable mentions: Howard Shivers (Haddonfield), Non Professional Pastel; Rita Wood (Winslow Township), Non Professional Photography; and Michael Leathem (Cherry Hill), Non Professional Works on Paper.
Like the Camden County show, the State show is taking place virtually. The State show may be viewed by visiting http://njseniorarts.com/.
Open to citizens age 60 and older, the Annual Senior Art Show begins at the county level, with the Senior Citizens Juried Art Contest and Exhibition. Artists at any level of skill or experience are invited to participate, including amateurs and non-professionals as well as working artists. Artists may submit one entry that has been created within the past three years, is an original creation of the artist, and has not been submitted previously to a county or state art show. The Camden County contest is sponsored by the Camden County Cultural and Heritage Commission at Camden County College. The state exhibit is a co-sponsored project of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and Mercer County’s Division of Culture & Heritage.
This year, undaunted by the virtual format of the county show, 56 Camden County senior artists submitted original works to the Camden County contest. Works were submitted in 11 different categories of competition, including acrylic painting, craft, digital art, drawing, mixed media, oil painting, pastel, print photography, sculpture, and watercolor. Artwork was judged by an independent panel of artists. Seventeen first-place county winners advanced to compete at the state level.
