319 artists compete at festival

Grant Silverstein of Mansfield, Pa., wins the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts top prize with his drawing A Convocation of Muses.

By LINDA GIBSON

© St. Petersburg Times, published March 5, 2000

TAMPA -- A $275 drawing won Best of Show at the Gasparilla Festival of the Arts on Saturday afternoon.

Artist Grant Silverstein of Mansfield, Penn., will take home $15,000 as his prize for A Convocation of Muses. The black-and-white drawing on sepia-toned paper depicts nude females in a forest setting, some playing instruments.

This year, 319 artists from all over the country competed in various categories. All entries are screened for quality before the artists are allowed to participate.

The high quality of the art and the richness of the prize money makes the Gasparilla show one of the most important in the country for artists.

There was some grumbling among artists whose booths were set up along the side of the Poe garage that they got short shrift from the two judges, who this year were David McFadden, 52, chief curator of the American Craft Museum in New York City and Susan Lubowsky Talbott, 51, director of the Des Moines Art Museum.

McFadden and Talbott began their judging stroll through the tents about 9 a.m. at the tents farthest from the garage. They finished at 3:30 p.m.

"They seemed really exhausted. She put one foot in and left. It wasn't even a second," said Amie Davis, 37, a photographer from Lake Helen who showed photographs of graveyards.

"Who cares if you don't get a prize? They should at least have the courtesy to look at it," said Suzanne Roth, 54, a mixed-media artist from Lakeland.

Talbott and McFadden acknowledged they didn't look closely at every work. The pieces that aroused their admiration were the ones they spent most time on.

"You don't give the same amount of time to every booth," said Talbott.

One of the criteria the two judges used was the presence of a personal voice or individual insight in each piece, she said, rather than work that just followed trends.

Gasparilla Festival winners

Here are the winners of the 30th annual Gasparilla Festival of the Arts. Individual prizes ranged from $1,000 for merit awards to $15,000 for the best of show. The following artists won:

Grant Silverstein, Mansfield, Pa., $15,000 for Best of Show.

Fong Choo, Lou, Kentucky, $7,500 for Board of Director's Award.

Mariko Swisher, Oxford, Pa., $3,500 for Mayor's Award.

Jill Bedford, Wisconsin, $2,500 for Anniversary Award.

Charles Gatewood, Phenix City, Ala., $2,000 for Friends of the Arts Award.

Larry Allen, Birmingham, Ala., $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Bert Beirne, Flowery Branch, Ga., $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Catherine Bergmann, Dunedin, $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Richard Currier, Micco, $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Nicolas Freres-Zaytceva, Plainsboro, N.J., $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Debra Fritts, Atlanta, Ga., $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Marvin Hill, Johnson Creek, Wis., $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Doreen Horn, St. Petersburg, $1,000 for Emerging Artist.

Kenneth Huff, Orlando, $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Larry Humphrey, Brooksville, $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Dale Jarrett, Mission, Kan., $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Nicario Jimenez, Naples, $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Nels Johnson, Largo, $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Michael Kahn, Albany, Calif., $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Patricia Karnes, Winter Park, $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Maryann Katke, Janesville, Wis., $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Jill Kline, Marquette, Mich., $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Janet Long, Naples, $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Duncan McClellan, Tampa, $1,000 for Award of Merit.

David McKirdy, Tampa, $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Lawrence Oliverson, Sullivan, Wis., $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Madonna Phillips, Raleigh, N.C., $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Roddy Reed, Tampa, $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Jenny Lou, Gulfport, $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Gael and Howard Silverblatt, Lake Worth, $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Les Slesnick, Orlando, $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Randall Smith, Winter Park, $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Greg Souther, Crosslake, Minn., $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Adam Steckley, Miami, $1,000 for Award of Merit.

Sue Vogen, Two Harbors, Minn., $1,000 for Award of Merit.

William Russell Walker, Clearwater, $1,000 for Award of Merit.

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