Chester Youth Grabs Top Spot In Highlands Art Exhibit (Photo)

CHESTER, NJ — Chester’s Sophia Kissling placed first among young photographers in New Jersey Highlands juried art exhibit, for her photo “Feasting Mantis.”

Winners of the eighth annual contest hosted by the New Jersey Highlands Coalition, who were announced on Thursday, competed with their photos, paintings and sculptures to capture the essence of the New Jersey Highlands.

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Kissling was first among three youth contestants, part of the Morris County 4-H “Shutterbugs Club,” along with Mya McConoughey of Califon’s “Inchworm” and Holt Englander of Morristown’s “Chipmunk Great Swamp.”

Ellen Denuto, Vice President of the NJ Chapter of American Society of Media Photographers, was the judge who picked the winners in the youth, as well as fine art and photography categories, the organization said, with the contest juried “by a panel of prominent local artists and gallery owners.”

Other winners included:

• First Place - Susan Roth, Morristown, for “Sunrise Sunset”
• Second Place - Jack Quinn, Parsippany, for “Poppies on the Rocks”
• Third Place - Doris Ettinger, Hampton, for “Three Owlets”
• Honorable Mention - Lisa Madson, Whitehouse Station for “By a Thread”
• Honorable Mention - Denise Cocchiaro, Sparta, “A Day to Remember”
• Honorable Mention - Keith Vogrin, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, “Mountain Pond in Morning Fog, Pike County
• Honorable Mention - Laurie Harden, Boonton, “After the Storm”
• Honorable Mention - Judith Lieberman, Whitehouse Station, “Winter Twilight”

• First Place - Angelo Marcialis, Chester, New York, “Foggy Crossings”
• Second Place - Dennis Maida, Lincoln Park, “Star Trail”
• Third Place - Miroslav Vrzala, “Autumn Splendor”
• Honorable Mention - Edward Fausty, Boonton, “Tourne Rock Smile 2, 1-8-21”
• Honorable Mention - Debra Wallace, New City, New York, “Iona Valley Marsh, Hudson Valley”
• Honorable Mention - Dennis Romano, Dingman’s Ferry, Pennsylvania, “Eagle, Stokes State Forest”
• Honorable Mention - Renelle Lorray, Warwick, New York, “Autumn Dress”
• Honorable Mention - Dennis Maida, Lincoln Park, “Destination Pink Moon”

All of the works are on display and can be viewed at the gallery on 613 Main Street in Boonton through Nov. 28, with art for sale to benefit the group’s “mission to protect, enhance and promote the vital water and other natural and cultural resources of the New Jersey Highlands,” according to the gallery’s website.

For more information to visit the gallery, go to www.highlandsart.org.

Questions or comments about this story? Have a news tip? Contact me at: jennifer.miller@patch.com.