Movie film sculptor wins best of show

Gulfport’s Nancy Cervenka-McLaughlin tops the list of winners at the Mainsail Arts Festival.

[Times photo: Michael Rondou] Reflected in a mirror, Judith Bartera, left, of St. Petersburg, and Gini Duke of Gulfport look at art by Darlene Pearse of Naples at the Mainsail Arts Festival. The event continues from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. today at Straub Park in downtown St. Peterburg.

By MARY ANN MARGER

© St. Petersburg Times, published April 22, 2001

ST. PETERSBURG -- Gulfport sculptor Nancy Cervenka-McLaughlin is on a roll -- and it's more than a roll of movie film, the kind she fashions into sculpture. The artist won the $10,000 best of show prize Saturday night at the Mainsail Arts Festival.

The prize added to her recent honors, which include best of show at Dunedin's Art Harvest in November, and an exhibition in "underCURRENT/overVIEW4," an annual show of leading area artists at the Tampa Museum of Art last summer.

Cervenka-McLaughlin twists strips of film into sculpture. Fascinated by the tactile nature of the material rather than its more functional use, she bleaches, scrapes and draws on it before forming a spiral to work into an endless variety of arrangements.

Goran Tomcic, curator of modern and contemporary art at the Allen Memorial Art Museum at Oberlin College in Ohio, who judged the show, found Cervenka-McLaughlin's work "unique."

"Whatever she produces is the only one," he said.

He was less complimentary about the show's originality.

"I make a distinction between craft and art," he said, "and I think Mainsail is more about craft than art."

He said he thought too many artists addressed the same issues: too many photos of Venice, for example, or too many balconies with flowers.

"I was really looking for innovative works," he said. "I felt there were too many jewelry booths in the park, but that's up to the organizers."

Judging aside, he and more than 200 artists and tens of thousands of visitors enjoyed the day in St. Petersburg's Straub Park downtown.

Artists generally reported sales and crowds to be consistent with last year.

Winners of $1,500 Awards of Excellence included: Bill Kwok Tchui of Alta Loma, Calif., whose photography, including composites, echoed his Chinese heritage through misty landscapes or branches suggesting calligraphy; and David Hunter of Winter Park, whose etchings, reminiscent of Rembrandt, were updated with acrylic wash.

Tomcic also selected for Awards of Excellence: Michael Merriman of Tahoe City, Calif., mixed media; Barbara Guthrie of Virginia Beach, Va., mixed media; John Mascoll of Safety Harbor, wood; Nicario Jimenez of Naples, Fla., mixed media; Jean Yao of Fort Lauderdale, fiber; James Mosier of Boston Lake, N.Y., mixed media; Steve and Zoe Terlizzese of Oklawaha, mixed media; and Annette Nina of Key Largo, photography.

Awards of Distinction, $750 each, went to: Donna Arnold of Delray Beach, fiber; Kyle Pearce of Henry, Va., sculpture; Katheren Parker of St. Augustine, graphics; Laura Deanna Davis of Medina, Ohio, mixed media; Loyd and Lee Jones of Oldsmar, metal; Roger Chase of Farwell, Mich., photography; Scott Coulter of Ithaca, N.Y., oil and acrylic; Greg Deslattes of Dalton, Ga., photography; Charles Gatewood of Phenix City, Ala., egg tempera; Dennis Weller of Silver City, N.M., photography; Jan Wunsch of St. Petersburg, jewelry; Kerry Hudson of Gainesville, wood; Charles Chrisco of Rural Hall, N.C., ceramic; Joseph DiGangi of Santa Cruz, N.M., metal; Ummarid Eitharong of Orlando, mixed media; Les Slesnick of Orlando, photography; and Gregory Jones of Lakeland, oil and acrylic.

Awards of Merit, $500 each, went to: Edward Walters of Mateo, jewelry; Matthew Popielarz of Fort Lauderdale, oil and acrylic; Roddy Reed of Tampa, ceramic; Jason Izumi of Kealakekua, Hawaii, mixed media; Carol and Bud Sloan of Southport, fiber; Jeff Ripple of Gainesville, photography; Lin and Will Christopher of Roswell, Ga., wood; Anthony Grigas of Belleair Bluffs, oil and acrylic; Betty Neubauer of Jensen Beach, oil and acrylic; John Galbo of Saginaw, Mich., photography; Stanley Budge Mead of Miami, photography; Stephen Bach of Orlando, oil and acrylic; Scott Lynch of Pensacola, mixed media; Joseph Ferris of Boca Raton, metal; Darren Plante of Grosse Point, Mich., photography; James Michaels of Palm Harbor, oil and acrylic; Barbara Laffal of St. Augustine, jewelry; Terry Andrews of Ocala, glass; Larry Roff of Palmetto, glass; and Michele Ginouves of Brooksville, ceramic.

The show continues today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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