By Staff
Special to The Star
March 10, 2002
Dazzling works by artists from all across Mississippi and Alabama are being gathered together for the 29th Bi-State Art Competition at the Meridian Museum of Art.
Artists from our area include Meridian native Alex Loeb, Jamie Tate of Stoneville, Sandra Halat of Ocean Springs, Pieter Favier of Mobile, Ala., Mickey S. Luck of Tuscaloosa, Ala., Lucy Gaines of Tupelo, Zdenko Krtic of Auburn, Mary Secrest of York, Ala., and Vicksburg resident Janet Akers.
The Bi-State is the Museum's annual program that recognizes and celebrates outstanding artistic achievement by artists in Mississippi and Alabama. It begins Saturday from 6 p.m.-8 p.m. with the opening reception and awards announcements. Award winners will be announced by juror Michael Crespo at the presentation ceremony beginning at 6:40 p.m.
The 62 works featured in the exhibit were chosen from 263 submissions by the juror, Michael Crespo, who will also choose the award winners from the accepted works.
Crespo is an award-winning artist and author who earned his master's of fine art from the City University of New York, and an alumni professor of painting and drawing. He is the former director of the School of Art at Louisiana State University.
The Bi-State, open to current and past residents of Mississippi and Alabama, is the oldest juried art competition in the region. The Bi-State offers more than $3,000 in awards and prizes, including a $1,000 Best of Show Award.
Sponsors for the 2002 Bi-State include the Meridian Council for the Arts, Inc., Meridian Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Mississippi Arts Commission and Trustmark National Bank.
Other artists with work in the exhibit include, C.K.R. Alford, Jeffrey A. Allen, Collin Asmus, Neubern Atkinson, Jason Baldwin, Saradel Berry, Lyn S. Brown, Shu H. Chang, Ann Daniel, S.L. Dickey, Ann Durrett, Michael Eble, Daniel C. Ethridge, Russell Everett, Marita Gootee, Chris Higginbotham, Martha Hopkins, David Howell, Sue Ann Hoyt, Michelle Jones, Edward Lowther, Kathy Maxey, George Ann McCullough, Patt Odom, Elizabeth Mitchell Pajerski, Christopher Payne, Larry Percy, Susie Ranager, Beth Ann Reckdenwald, T.R. Reed, Lisa Riley, Paulette M. Riley, Daniel L. Saucier, Elizabeth D. Schafer, Norma Seward, Charlotte Smith, Patricia Tenpenny, Brian Thompson, Susan Woodard and Andrew Cary Young.