Trawick Prize Finalists Announced

Eight finalists have been announced for the 2012 Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, a regional visual art competition established in 2003 by Bethesda community activist and philanthropist Carol Trawick.

The and the Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District will unveil the work of the finalists, hailing from Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, DC, during a September group exhibition at

The winners are set to be announced on Sept. 5. The top prize winner will receive $10,000, with the second place winner receiving $2,000 and the third place winner receiving $1,000. Another $1,000 prize may be awarded to a young artist.

And the finalists are:

• Lillian Bayley Hoover, Baltimore
• David D’Orio, Mt. Rainier
• Skye Gilkerson, Baltimore
• Dean Kessmann, Washington, DC
• Nate Larson, Baltimore
• Joshua Wade Smith, Baltimore
• Diane Szczepaniak, Potomac
• Hannah Walsh, Richmond

The Trawick Prize has awarded more than $126,000 and has exhibited the work of over 100 visual artists since its inception, according to the . The jury for this year’s awards includes Dawn Gavin, associate professor in drawing and foundations at the University of Maryland, College Park; B. Kelly Gordon, associate curator at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC; and N. Elizabeth Schlatter, deputy director and curator of exhibitions at the University of Richmond Museums, Virginia.

You can check out the finalists’ artwork at Gallery B from Sept. 1 through Sept. 29. A public reception will be held there from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 14, in conjunction with Bethesda Art Walk.

Congratulations to the finalists!