Bloomfield Residents Capture Awards In Senior Art Contest

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Two artists from Bloomfield captured awards in Essex County’s annual Senior Citizens Juried Art Show, officials announced Thursday.

The Essex County Senior Art Show and Exhibit was open to all professional and non-professional artists ages 60 and older. Artwork was judged on “originality, composition, style, quality and creativity.” Judging was done by Heather Carter, founder of Carter Fine Art Services.

In Bloomfield, the winners included:

• Joan Park was awarded first place in the non-professional acrylic category for “Holiday at the Circle” and first place in the non-professional watercolor category for “Firefly Distillery.”
• Irma M. Perez was awarded first place in the non-professional drawing category for “Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. Makes Essex County Great.”

Winners from other towns and cities included:

Cedar Grove

• Jane Ballinger was awarded second place in the professional watercolor category for “On Their Way.”
• Richard Hanifan was awarded first place in the professional drawing category for “Paul’s Porch.”
• Marie Matarazzo was awarded first place in the non-professional pastels category for “Autumn Snowfall.”
• Bill Oswald was awarded first place in the non-professional sculpture category for “Swan Song.”
• John Shiever was awarded first place in the non-professional photography category for “Empty Green House.”

East Orange

• Carol Jenkins was awarded second place in the professional mixed media category for “Nature’s Best.”
• Glendora Simonson was awarded first place in the professional craft category for “Self Portrait.”

Fairfield

• Liliane Biasucci was awarded second place in the non-professional oil category for “Peonies.”
• Robert Szpila was awarded first place in the professional photography category for “On Wing.”
• Louise Woodcox was awarded second place in the professional pastels category for “Flying Home.”

Glen Ridge

• Judyann Affronti was awarded first place in the professional mixed media category for “Ophelia.”

Livingston

• Marilyn Posner was awarded first place in the non-professional craft category for “Friendship.”
• Angela Wang was awarded an honorable mention in the non-professional oil category for “The Orchid.”

Maplewood

• Mary Franklin was awarded second place in the non-professional mixed media category for “Tropical Paradise.”
• Nila M. Pusin was awarded first place in the professional sculpture category for “Lady in the Waiting” and second place in the non-professional craft category for “Howl (Human Owl).”

Newark

• Glenn Hamilton was awarded second place in the professional acrylic category for “Steppin’.”

North Caldwell

• Sara Shapiro was awarded first place in the non-professional mixed media category for “Antarctica.”

Roseland

• Evan Stuart Marshall was awarded first place in the professional acrylic category for “Leaving Home.”
• Robin Vitullo was awarded first place in the non-professional oil category for “Elizabeth” and second place in the non-professional acrylic category for “The Future is Bright.”

South Orange

• Gail Gardella was awarded second place in the professional oil category for “The Empty Bench.”
• Cindy Wolf was awarded second place in the professional sculpture category for “Keep Them All in the Air.”

West Caldwell

• Christine Mayer Elvin was awarded first place in the professional oil category for “Bumper to Bumper II.”
• Lynne Palmer was awarded first place in the professional watercolor category for “Retired.”

West Orange

• Lois Condon was awarded an honorable mention in the professional watercolor category for “Spenser Grubbing.”
• Martta Kelly was awarded second place in the non-professional photography category for “Swallowtail.”
• Juanita Megaro was awarded second place in the non-professional watercolor category for “Stone from the Sky.”

“The talent displayed by our senior artists is truly amazing and the artwork is inspiring,” Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo Jr. said.

“Essex County has a thriving fine arts community and our Senior Art Show enables our older residents, both professionals and non-professionals, to display their original creations where the public can see them,” he added. “This is an excellent event for us to promote the arts and inspire our residents to use their talents.”

The 29 winning artists were recognized during an awards ceremony on Thursday in the Robert O’Toole Community Center in Essex County Cedar Grove Park in Cedar Grove. Seniors whose artwork was awarded first place are automatically entered into the NJ Senior Citizens Art Show.

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