ART EXHIBITION

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The connections between the arts and nature are numerous.

The shapes, the textures, the colors… all aspects of nature can be inspiring. With this in mind, Wesselman Woods sought a new way to connect our community with the ecology of our region and it resulted in the creation of the Annual Juried Art Exhibition.

Each year, we put out a call for artists to submit work that showcases what they love or what they are concerned about within our bioregion through a visual medium.

Our bioregion hosts a wide variety of flora and fauna as well as a variety of socio-cultural, ecological, and environmental issues; any of these topics can be seen represented in the artwork of our past two shows.

If you would like to sponsor the Annual Art Exhibition, please contact Kristina Arwood for additional information.

2024 Entries Due May 10

All artists will be informed of selections for the show by Friday, May 17.

In 2024, entries for this exhibit will be open to ages 18 and older. One “Best in Show” winner will be selected from the chosen entries as well as at least four Honorable Mentions (per the Jurors’ discretion).

Selected artwork will be on display at the Wesselman Woods Nature Center during three of our busiest months (mid-June to September).

In addition to the physical display, images of artwork and links to the artist portfolios are shared online through our newsletter, website, and social media (artists are not required to have an online portfolio to enter the contest or be considered for an award).

• Themes: Wildlife, nature, and environmental issues of the Ohio River Valley bioregion.

• Accepted Media: 2-D (photography, painting, drawing, printmaking, graphic design) and 3-D (sculpture, fiber, and mixed media)

Please read the full prospectus (guidelines) for the show before you apply.

Awards

We are grateful to our friends at Inman’s Picture Framing for sponsoring the awards and reception for 2024!

• Inman Award for Best in Show: This winner will receive a monetary prize ($350) and a one-year individual membership to Wesselman Woods (WW).

• Honorable Mentions will also receive a monetary prize ($50 each) and a one-year individual membership to Wesselman Woods (WW).

2024 IMPORTANT DATES

• Contest announced to the public: January 16

• Contest entry deadline: May 10

  • Filling out the application does not guarantee acceptance into the exhibit.

  • NEW: All submitted art must have been completed within the last 5 years and cannot have been displayed in the Wesselman Woods exhibition previously. (Because the Jurors change each year, artwork that has been entered in previous shows may be re-entered if it was not previously selected for display.)

• Exhibit pieces juried/chosen: Week of May 13

  • The actual date of completion is dependent on Juror’s schedule. ALL artists (whether they are selected for the show or not) will be contacted AFTER we have a final list from the Juror.

  • Artwork should NOT be dropped off at the Nature Center until your acceptance to the show is confirmed.

  • Artists informed of selections by May 17

• Artwork drop off: May 22 – May 31 from 9 AM to 5 PM

• Reception: 5:30 PM on Saturday, June 15 at the Wesselman Woods Nature Center

• Wesselman Woods Exhibition: June 15 - September 16

• Artwork pickup begins September 17, 2024

• Award winners on display until March 4, 2025

About the Jurors

This year, Wesselman Woods welcomes two jurors to select artwork!

Billy Twymon

Local artist and Twymon Art Gallery owner, Billy Twymon. His gallery showcases local artwork completed from the late 1990s to the present. 

In 2016, William “Billy” Twymon II established Twymon Art Gallery to fill a gap in the tri-state art community and showcase the artwork of emerging and established artists. There are not many spaces where emerging artists can develop their craft and get exposure for their work. Other spaces are closed to edgy or controversial established artists. Billy saw a need to educate and provide a space for local artists to prepare and exhibit their artwork as well as develop as artists in a community. Twymon Art Gallery is more than a gallery; the gallery space was established to develop a community of artists from all walks of life. The gallery was created as a space to empower and support artistic and creative expression.

Randy Lientz

Randy Lientz (pronounced “Lents”) is the founder of Axiom Marketing, a full-service marketing, advertising, and interactive agency in Evansville, Indiana. Their award-winning team has some of the best strategic thinkers, graphic designers, copywriters, interactive specialists, media planners and buyers.

He is Axiom’s guiding light, an incredible marketing strategist, plays a mean bass, and rides a restored Triumph.

Second Annual Art Exhibition (2023)

Click on any photo in the gallery to find out more about each piece. For inquiries on purchasing a piece, please contact Wesselman Woods to be connected with the artist.

Featured Artists in 2023

About the 2023 Juror - Mary McNamee Bower

Mary McNamee Bower is the John Streetman Executive Director of the Evansville Museum of Arts, History & Science. A graduate of Illinois State University, Bower began her work with the museum in 1978, serving as the Virginia G. Schroeder Curator of Collections and Chief Curator.

She is a member of the Evansville Commission for Public Art and the Advisory Council for University of Southern Indiana’s College of Liberal Arts. Bower received the 2014 Mayor’s Art Award for her service to the community in promoting the arts and was named one of Evansville’s Top 20 Women in Business by the Junior League of Evansville in 2020.

First Annual Art Exhibition (2022)

Congratulations to our accepted artists for the first-ever Wesselman Woods Art Exhibition! Click on any photo for more information.

About the 2022 Juror: Katie Waters

Katie Waters taught painting and drawing at the University of Southern Indiana from the fall of 1981 until her retirement in 2019.

Waters earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in painting from Ohio University and a bachelor’s degree in art education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. A recipient of many fellowships and artist residencies, she was honored with the USI’s Distinguished Professor Award in 2015.

Her work has been exhibited widely at the national and regional levels, including Mind, Spirit: 12 Contemporary Indiana Women Artists at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C. Her drawings and paintings also appear in many corporate, university, museum and private collections, including The Evansville Museum.