Published: June 27, 2009 09:21 pm      

Margaret Morrison to judge Festival 2009

Margaret Morrison, acclaimed artist and arts educator, has been selected as the judge for the Creative Arts Guild’s Festival 2009 juried exhibit and artist market.

“We are simply thrilled to have an artist of Margaret Morrison’s caliber as our judge this year,” said Terry Tomasello, executive director of the Creative Arts Guild. “Her recent exhibit in New York City received national media attention and pieces were sold to several international collectors.”

Morrison currently serves as senior lecturer at the University of Georgia’s Lamar Dodd School of Art, where she has taught since 2001. She has previously taught at the University of Utah, the University of Texas and West Virginia University. She earned her bachelor’s in fine arts and master’s in fine arts at the University of Utah.

Her 2009 show at the Woodward Gallery (www.woodwardgallery.net) in New York, “Larger Than Life,” attracted national attention for its oversized images of comfort foods. The work was hailed as a strong artistic response to the most basic sources of comfort during a time of economic recession. Galleries have presented more than 25 solo exhibitions of Morrison’s works, and she has participated in more than 30 group exhibitions around the country.

“I am fascinated by the strength of Morrison’s technique and her ability to re-energize the still life genre by giving it a totally contemporary spin,” said Robert Webb, chair of the 2009 Festival indoor exhibit. “Her work enjoys such broad appeal because of the vibrancy of her colors and the incredibly realistic detail of her subject matter.”

Morrison’s work has been featured or reviewed in The New York Times, ARTNews, Smithsonian Magazine, Art & Antiques, New York Arts, Oxford American, Soho Journal, New York Press, Art Now Gallery Guide, Georgia Review, ArtSpeak and NY Arts.

Artists’ work is still being accepted for the Festival 2009 indoor show and for the open air artist market. Applications can be found at www.creativeartsguild.org and digital images may be submitted in lieu of slides.

“We have been very excited to see several new entries for this year’s indoor show,” said Webb. “I was also delighted to see some local artists submitting work for the first time. That’s just a testament to the talent in our area.”

Artists from Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Ohio and Texas have already submitted entries, and Tomasello believes that the show’s reputation is attracting a broader range of artists.

“We’re seeing a significant interest from new artists,” said Tomasello. “I think that this year’s decision to have realistic work (landscape, still life, figurative) has added focus to the show, and it clearly has brought us new attention. The work is really strong, too, and that’s always gratifying. We want to offer this community the best possible artwork.”

For more information please call the Creative Arts Guild at (706) 278-0168.