Adult Award Recipients

Barbara Jane Elert of Milwaukee is a two-time award winner; this year, her honored textile piece is titled "Central Park Lake." She says, "Artistic sewing has captured my imagination." She has been sewing ever since she can remember and art has always been a pastime, so by combining the two, she has carved out what she calls a satisfying lifestyle for herself. Barbara says she is always looking for new ways to express herself in the field of textiles, trying different techniques and styles. She says she has moved out of the mechanics of sewing and has found a way to use the fabric as a means of artistic expression. Barbara says about this year's work that not every stitch is equal to another and not every building is exactly level. Just as in real life, she says, not everything has to be perfect. Barbara says Parkinsons has taught her to be creative in her lifestyle. Every day is a challenge and to meet that challenge, creativity plays an important role.

Ralph Sandler of Madison is a multiple award-winner; this year, his photograph "Misty Glacier-Iceland" is being honored. Ralph was born in Stockholm, Sweden, and moved to New York City with his family when he was a year and a half old. After beginning a college program in engineering, Ralph served for two years in the Army. After his discharge from the Army, Ralph went back to college to pursue a major in English and minor in Theater at New York University; he completed a master's degree in English and Theater at UW-Madison. While in grad school in Madison, he became an actor in the theater and taught English for five years at UW-Madison and Carlisle College.

After 20 years presenting the arts in Madison at the Wisconsin Union Theater and then as Executive Director of the Madison Civic Center, Ralph moved back to New York briefly and then to Washington, D.C., where he served as a consultant for the National Endowment for the Arts. It was in Washington that Ralph had an unexpected and devastating stroke that left him with a speech disability known as aphasia. Ralph then moved back to Madison to be near family and friends and begin his long rehabilitation process. It was at this time that Ralph turned to photography. As the son of an amateur photographer and nephew of Life Magazine photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt, this was a natural talent and career path for him to continue his involvement in the arts.

Ralph has had two previous images honored with VSA Awards: "Freedom Phantom" in 2000 and "Atchafalaya Swamp" in 2003. Ralph volunteers his time and services each year for VSA Day at Camp Randall Stadium to help capture the day in pictures and we can tell you that Ralph captures the best smiles! Ralph is now venturing into the world of digital photography and image editing software programs to produce even more unique and fanciful results.

Jamie Winter-Schira of Shawano receives a 2006 award for her oil painting titled "Flower Sky." "If Warhol and Michaelangelo had a child who was Indian, the child's art might have looked like Jamie Winter's." That quote is from the Disabled Artists Network web site. Jamie is a descendent of the Hochunk tribe. Her grandfather emigrated from Ireland on one of the coffin ships and made his way to Wisconsin where he met and married his Hochunk bride. Jamie holds master's degrees in art and social work from UW-Madison, where she focused on color theory and painting and was chosen for a fellowship based on her GPA. Jamie also started "The Shawano Art League" for the elderly and disabled.

Jamie has struggled her whole life with manic depression and was hospitalized for two years at a very young age and went to school under the "1971 Disability Act" after being diagnosed with learning disabilities. In addition, Jamie was diagnosed with early onset Parkinson's disease, had a stroke and was diagnosed with a benign brain tumor that causes excruciating headaches. Jamie has lost full vision in her left eye and uses special lenses and lighting to see her art as she paints. Despite all these challenges, Jamie has a great attitude and enduring spirit and is currently working with DVR and Easter Seals, who referred her to the Disabled Artists Network to sell her work online. In her own words - "I am trying."

She says: "I paint watercolor, gouache and oils. I am a color theorist and do pseudo realistic work, sometimes bordering on the abstract and sometimes more toward the realistic; I find the combination fascinating. My subject matter comes in periods of ‘mania' and I will work on up to 14 various pieces at once. I always see my pieces like a flash and draw them out. This way, if I flip and get depressed I can still work. I find that some of my work is very centered on my depressive states as if it is looming in the background ready to nail me... some of my work seems to be terror and others peaceful, still others peaceful with something wicked lurking.

" I started painting when I was young, my mom is an artist along with most of her family. I have won prizes and have sold work through Easter Seals, but I never seem to care about what people think of my art. It is so personal and I'm driven to do it, so even if no one ever saw any of it, I would still paint."

Jon Wos of Oshkosh is being honored for his award-winning oil painting, "Calm After the Storm." Jon was diagnosed with osteogenesis imperfecta, also known as brittle bones. His childhood was filled with fractures, body casts, surgeries and hospitals. He spent most of his time in bed drawing or making something with his hands. When he was a freshman in high school, Jon received "best of show" in a student art contest and, in 2004, he was the grand prize winner of the VSA arts/Volkswagen national contest, "Road Trip: A Journey of Discovery" for which he received $10,000 in prize money (see more information about Jon Wos ).

Jon says that his disability has shown him that he cannot take time for granted, so he uses his time to its fullest and pushes his art as fast as he can, always keeping in mind that his gift could be taken away at any time.

"When I began drawing," he says, "the images used to be from my head and I would never know what they meant. Now I feel I have more control over my concepts and can relate them better with my life. The calm and flowing style that I have adopted into my art can always be seen no matter if I use clay, glass, paint or pencil. This has shown me that the medium no longer inhibits my vision, and is only the physical tool that I [use to] bring intangible ideas to life."

Jon says he no longer uses his time to complain about life or ignore its truths. He says he uses art to explore and make sense of life and his personal identity. "Through exploring my life with creating, art has become my life and not only a way of expression."

Jon says, "I hope the one thing people take out of my art is the fact that we make our own reality and we can either make it a positive or a negative place. I try to convey this in my pieces with surreal and realistic images combined. This way, the onlooker is attracted to the representational, inviting them to see my ideas through the surreal."

Adult Honorable Mentions

Elliot Doering of Shorewood is receiving honorable mention for his photo "Charge of the Pack." Elliot's interest in photography began back in the 1960s when he would attend annual USAC Stock Car & Indy Car auto races at the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis. A high school friend had a good 35mm camera and he says he liked the results, so when he was in the Air Force in his 20s, Elliot purchased a good camera of his own and proceeded to teach himself the basics of photography. While pursuing photographing car and motorcycle races, he learned how to get credentials to get "behind the fences" and up close to the action. Elliot says he's been photographing seriously for about 20 years and has been able to shoot at the best race tracks throughout the United States and Europe. He says that, "while most photographers today have made the switch to digital, I am probably the ‘last of the breed' to still use color print film."

Elliot was diagnosed with a nervous/anxiety/stress disorder along with depression. He says he finds that photography is a good way to channel his creativity and get out of negative mood swings; his mind can focus on positive things. Elliot says his photography has brought him not only more confidence, but he has also won contests and been featured in magazines, which he says brings him a sense of self-worth, confidence, acceptance, and the ability to share skills and friendships with other photographers and artists in the area and worldwide.

Lonnie Lawrence of Stevens Point is being honored for the second time for a piece of pyrography on hide artwork; this year's piece is titled is "Indian Spirits." These unique pieces show incredible details and the enormous amount of time and hard work Lonnie must have put into them. Lonnie has always been interested in art and began drawing at age 5. In his teens he became focused on pyrography, and has been working in this medium ever since. This piece, like most of his art, is done exclusively with a controlled burning technique. He says his work "brings the animals to life – by doing it on deer hide it is almost as if the canvas is alive too." Lonnie enjoys the process and says he likes this art form because it makes him feel closer to the animals.

Mary Mesman of Madison is receiving recognition today for her collage piece titled "Spring Greens." Mary has been painting for 15 years, but identifies collage art as her passion. "Being legally blind poses challenges for me. By using creative thinking, I have always achieved my artistic objectives, whether it's collage artwork, cards, paintings or web sites." Mary says that "using high contrasting colors creates a greater visual impact artwork. I like to use bold colors in my artwork because it's easier for me to ‘see' what I'm painting." While studying web site design as the first legally blind student in the Madison Area Technical College Art Department, special technology made it possible for her to participate in drawing, design, typography and computer graphics; her teachers told her that having her as a student also helped them learn new ways of teaching.

Sarah Petzold of Oostburg is being honored by VSA for the second time this year; her work is titled "It's Pretty!" She says enjoys listening to music and playing computer games in addition to drawing and doing yarn work on canvas. Sarah is also an actress who has played parts as the sugar cube container in Anastasia, as a munchkin in the Wizard of Oz and as Pearlie in Mary Poppins. Sarah enjoys life and all it has to bring to her! She is a previous Honorable Mention honoree for her 2004 yarn work titled "Go Packers Go!" When asked about this year's honored artwork, Sarah says "well, it's love"; it's about her parents' love.

Donald Pierce of Madison is receiving honorable mention for his acrylic painting "Still Life at Night" Don was born in Lancaster, Wisc., and , living with Cerebral Palsy, moved to Madison at 6 years old where he attended Washington school. At 15 years old, he returned to Lancaster to live with his parents and attend high school. In 1973, a teacher at UW-Platteville got Don interested in art and encouraged him to study there; he finished his B.S. degree in art with a minor in psychology in 1987. Don returned to Madison to pursue a masters degree in rehab psychology. Don says he always liked art and prefers painting flowers (he even has a rose tattoo on his arm). He says he also likes watching sports, especially football and fantasy football. Don credits Nancy Giffey and her Artsbridge outreach class for getting him back into art.

Children's Award Recipients

Kristina Ekman of Mequon is receiving her award for her color pencil and ink work titled "Wolves in the Woods." Kristina was born in Russia and spent her first two and a half years in a Russian orphanage. Her parents tell her that she showed an "exceptional talent in art" soon after her adoption. "Art is my passion in life," she says. "I often draw for hours at a time. I also love animals, so that is my favorite subject to draw. My artwork for this contest shows two wolves in the woods at night." Kristina says that with her attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, art helps calm her and helps her maintain her focus.

Dakota Leszczynski's award-winning mixed media piece is titled "The City." Dakota is from Kewaskum and says that he created his work in art class "all by myself. First we painted a lot of different papers with all kinds of different textures. Then we made those papers into the skyscrapers. I like cars and I added a lot of cars. My favorite color is yellow!"

Jonathan Mattmann of New Glarus is receiving his award for "Summer Day on the Farm," created with color markers. Jonathan is a fourth-grade student identified by his teacher as "an outstanding person who is learning to overcome the difficulties of having significant hearing loss" since birth. Jonathan benefits from the use of hearing aids in everyday life and, while in school, he uses an FM listening system and a sign language interpreter. In fact, Jonathan's first language is American Sign Language as his father and sister have a profound hearing loss and his mother also has a hearing disability. As the family member who can hear better than the rest, Jonathan is responsible for interpreting for his family.

Gavin Mondor of Baldwin is a sixth-grade student at Viking Middle School and is being honored for his etching titled "Greek Vase Design." Gavin says he likes to "draw civilizations, empires, WWI, WWII, ancient cities, civil war, almost anything that involves history." He says it "makes me feel like it is actually happening. It reminds me of what happened in recorded history." Gavin says he likes to create things out of his imagination and draw images from Greek pottery, Egyptian carvings from temples and Roman military symbols. "Basically," he says, "art excites me."

Martin Zuniga of New Richmond is receiving an award for his print "The Blooming Flower." Martin is 13 years old and in the 7th grade. He says his favorite part of art is coloring and drawing and that his learning disability does not affect his art. He says the piece he submitted is a flower "because it looks cool," using the colors light blue, red and light green because they looked like they would blend into the flower. "I was nervous when I started the project," Martin says, "Now that it is done, I feel OK. I think I did a good job."

Children's Honorable Mentions

Travis Boldt of West Bend is being honored for his tempera painting "The Magic Tree." Travis is 8 years old and a student at Wayne Elementary School in Campbellsport. He says he has a hard time drawing and writing due to Developmental Coordination Disorder. "I'm not sure what that means," says Travis. "I know that I have all of these ideas in my head, but it's hard to get them on paper because my hands can't do what my brain tells them." Travis made this picture of a magic tree in his second-grade art class. He says the branches connect so they can get more water. The branches only connect at night, which is why the picture is at night with the moon. He says, "Sometimes at sunset the branches start connecting!"

Heather Lyn Featherston of Berlin is receiving honorable mention for her mixed media piece, "Smiling Sun." Heather is a 15-year-old with Downs Syndrome. She says "I am happy and my mom makes me feel pretty." Heather likes art because she likes her teacher. "In class we do a lot of fun things. We get to use different colors. I like orange and yellow. My favorite color is pink." Heather said she made this picture of the sun "because we had a lot of cloudy weather for a long time. The sun makes me happy. It makes me feel warm. I like to play outside when it's sunny. I like the bright colors on my sun and it makes me smile."

Christine Otto of Shawano is receiving honorable mention for her oil pastel, "Turkeys in the Meadow," a Thanksgiving art project. Christine is 9 years old and a 4th grade student at Olga Brener School. She says she likes working with oil pastels and watching the colors blend and flow together because her work comes to life in front of her eyes as she works. Christine says that art has always been a very important part of her life, there for her when she needs it. Born with hip dysplasia, Christine has had 10 surgeries on her hips and feet and says that art is an outlet to get her through the ongoing pain and healing process; it kept her hands and mind busy while her hips and legs were in casts. Christine also says that "art helps me to keep my ADHD under control. Art motivates me to be the best I can be. The one time I can stay in control of me. Art calms my mind; it helps me to concentrate and focus on what I'm doing while keeping my creative mind and fidgety hands busy. Art is a very important part of my life."

Adrianna Shuler of Green Bay is receiving honorable mention for her colored pencil drawing titled "By-You." Adrianna is 11 years old and says she wants to be a graphic artist or Manga (or animation) artist; she has dedicated herself to illustrating and writing three comics on her own. Able to draw for hours at a time, Adrianna carries a sketchbook practically everywhere she goes. She says the theme of her drawing is a mixture of Japanese and Bayou influences, focusing on rebuilding after Katrina, and diversity. The reason the tree says "By You," which is a play on words, is to show all the kids, who are wearing kimonos, being together. On the orange tent is the Japanese symbol for rest (person plus tree equals rest). Adrianna says she hopes to visit or move to Japan one day and write her own comics. She hopes to learn the Japanese alphabet and some of the language.