The shops and boutiques brought together at Union Square held their first annual art exhibit on Saturday, November 19th. Despite the chilly temperatures, there was a nice crowd for the event with exhibitors, family members, guests, and the general public perusing the artwork on display from the start of the event at 1 pm all the way through the ending of the Ladies Night event that wrapped up at 8 pm that evening.
Submissions for entry into the exhibit started back in July of 2022, with 27 total people responding to the call and creating artworks of various types for the event that was themed “Welcome Home”. Artworks of various mediums were accepted into the exhibit with a prize of $300 for the top art or painting, $100 for the top photography piece, and honorable mentions.
Nancy Simmons received an honorable mention for her artwork “First Light” featuring multiple mediums including sheet music and book pages stained by tea leaves and watercolor paint to create an image of a woodland area.
Britni Ross garnered an honorable mention for her depiction of a fuzzy character holding a heart-shaped balloon on its journey home titled “Welcome Home” done with watercolor and graphite.
Gregorio Biolcat Rinaldi submitted a kirigami artwork of the Rialto bridge in Venice Italy near his home that he titled “Home Sweet Home” and it received an honorable mention.
“Waiting” was an oil painting that grabbed the judge’s attention for an honorable mention done by Abby Longshore and it depicted an old Amish woman relaxing in her rocking chair on the front porch.
Matt Fox submitted a stained glass artwork with circles of varying colors called “Circle Back Home” which also received an honorable mention.
The winner for the photography portion of the exhibit was submitted by Jim Bigham and called “Going Home” the picture showed an Amish family riding home in their buggy.
The overall “Best In Show” award was given to Debbie Lutz for her acrylic painting of a group of Amish men gathered on a wagon after a seemingly long day of work titled “Hats Going Home”.
Other artworks included a mixed media painting featuring pictures from family members who immigrated to the United States and tells the story of becoming a cement mason union member, a pencil drawing of the old Suspension Bridge on the edge of town, a variety of acrylic paintings and photography, as well as an artwork made of string crochet on canvas.
Union Square will be host to a “Christmas Backyard Market” on Thursday, December 15th from 5 pm to 8 pm featuring vendors, entertainment, and the Lazy Armadillo food truck.
