2012 New College Juried Student Art Exhibition Announces Winners

The winners of the fourth annual New College Juried Student Art Exhibition were announced at the opening reception on February 9.

The exhibit, open through March 2, features sculpture, painting, drawing and printmaking work by 16 New College of Florida students in the Isermann Gallery in the Caples Fine Arts Complex, 5313 Bay Shore Road. It is free and open to the public weekdays from 9 am to 5 pm.

Juror Kim Russo, head of the fine arts department at Ringling College of Art and Design, made the award selections, which were announced by New College art professor Kim Anderson.

The first place winner with a $300 cash prize was Ben Sims for his work “Group Performance” in acrylic on board. Originally from Liverpool, England, Sims completed his bachelor’s degree in December 2011 and now works for the National Park Service at DeSoto Memorial Park in Bradenton.

He has also set up a studio in downtown Sarasota to continue his artwork. His piece will become part of the campus collection to be displayed in the new Academic Center at the corner of U.S. 41 and College Drive. 

“Our judge felt that Ben’s work exemplified a level of professionalism on par with the top talent at other institutions,” said Anderson in making the award. “In fact, she was quite impressed with all of the talent here at New College.”

Sims said that his three years at New College were terrific. “It’s a great school, with a lot of freedom, small, just right,” he said.

Second place with a $100 cash award went to Eugenie Fortier, a fourth-year thesis student originally from Québec, Canada. Her piece, titled “Roof,” was assembled from wood, asphalt, shingles and fabric. She is studying art and art history at New College.

Third place with a $50 prize went to Sherry Haber for her two oil portraits, “Burst” and “Tremble.” Haber is a fourth-year thesis student in art from Brooksville, Fla.

“I was shocked and very excited, honored to be selected,” Haber said.

Honorable mentions for the show went to Coral Chepren-Moore (North Port, Fla.), Melinda Thackrah (Largo, Fla.) and Lily Carbone (Annapolis, Md.)

The other students participating in the 2012 show are Leah Duncan, Kyra Berman-Gestring, Emily Martin, Alexandra Miranda, Suzanne Olvey, Spencer Riolo, Analeah Rosen, Richard Sampson, Lace Jayne Spencer and Alexander Wyllie.