Once again, the creative talents of Geauga, Lake and Portage County residents will be on full display as the Burton Public Library will host its 42nd annual Community Art show next week beginning on Tuesday and running through Saturday at 14588 West Park Street.
“I would say it is a way for the community to be able to showcase their art in an actual art show,” Burton Public Library Technical Services Supervisor Becky Wiegman told The Weekly Villager on Sep. 25. “It is meaningful because people get to have a smaller show which they are able to submit their work to. You get to see people around in the community and even surrounding counties. They are still local people, and they are still local artists.”
All submissions will be open to the public from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. from Tuesday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday.
All spectators are welcome to submit their vote for their favorite piece of art, as the winning artwork will receive the Popular Choice Award. There will also be two judges, one who judges art under the umbrella of traditional art which includes paintings, sculptures and three-dimensional works, while the other judge will select a winning piece from the photography category.
“It definitely shows community spirit and how many people like to come and be with the art,” said Adult Services Supervisor Colten Provens.
Provens spoke highly of the diversity of artwork that is submitted to the Library each year.
“We get all kinds of pieces from the local community whether that be sculptures or physical art of the Burton Square,” he added. “We get all kinds of unique pieces that represent Burton.”
He added that the list of participants is often comprised of a diversity of artists, some who are only just beginners, some who dabble in art as a hobby and even professional artists.
According to Library Director Katie Ringenbach, the community art show previously had only allowed entries from residents of Geauga and Lake County but recently allowed Portage County residents to have the opportunity to enter their work.
“I think the reason was not necessarily to increase participation numbers, but we have a lot of regular patrons who are artists that come from Portage County, and we wanted them to be able to enter,” she said.
Artists are allowed to submit multiple pieces to the art show but can only enter a maximum of three pieces. Previous winners are also allowed to enter the competition annually but cannot submit their previous winning pieces.
“There is definitely a lot of creativity in the show and then all of the artists bring their own design and skill to the projects,” Provens noted.
The Library will host a small ceremony for all participating artists and their families after the week of public viewing ends to award the prizes. Following the announcement of the winning pieces, the Library will return all artwork to its respective creators.
Throughout the Library’s 42 years of hosting the annual community art show, Provens said that it has tried to keep everything the same and not try to alter the competition too drastically.
“It is usually the same rules every year, there are no themes, and the guidelines don’t change very much so the artists can enter whatever they feel like and then it is judged by the judges,” Provens noted.
