Call for Art
Call for Art Exhibit  |  Awards Ceremony

Art professionals juried the nearly 250 VSA arts of Wisconsin Call for Art submissions by Wisconsin children and adults with disabilities Feb. 14 at the Common Wealth Gallery on S. Baldwin Street in Madison, where they selected five adult and five children's award recipients and five honorable mentions for each. More than 125 people attended the exhibit's opening reception at the gallery Feb. 15, where 248 pieces of artwork by Wisconsin children and adults with disabilities are on display through Feb. 20: 213 works by adult artists with disabilities and 35 by children. A total of 107 adult artists submitted work and children's work was submitted from 23 Wisconsin schools. Eight adult artists sold pieces of their work during the opening reception: 75% of the purchase price goes to the artists; 25% to VSA to facilitate the purchase.

Adult Award Recipients (artist receives $400 purchase award - artwork goes into VSA's Traveling Exhibit):

• Craig Allan Caywood (Milwaukee), "Self Portrait"
• Jack Dillhunt (Green Bay), "Summertime is Over"
• Phil Schultz (Racine), "Wheelchair Racer" (sculpture)
• Alex Murtaugh (Two Rivers), "Three's Carpooling"
• Marcella Paliekara (Fond du Lac), "Sleeping Angel"

Adult Honorable Mention Recipients ($100 award - artwork is returned to the artist after the Awards Ceremony in March)

• Jamie Winter (Shawano), "Rodeo"
• Jay Devere (Milwaukee), "Women at War"
• Don Pierce (Madison), "Looking into the Far"
• Kyle Lyne (Berlin), "Apple Tree Vase"
• Karla McNeely (New Lisbon), "The Joker"

Children's Award Recipients (receive $100 gift certificate (for art supplies) purchase award - artwork goes into VSA's Traveling Exhibit):

• Savanna Euer (Kewaskum - Kewaskum Elementary), "Winter Fun"
• Gunner Skroch (LaCrosse - West Salem Elementary), "Animal Tracks"
• Joseph Krasovich (Greenfield - Edgewood School), "Blue Flowers"
• Janel Dailey (Mazomanie - Wisconsin Heights High School), "Hillary Duff"
• Matthew Hill (Montfort - Iowa Grant Elementary), "Our Family Portrait"

Children's Honorable Mention Recipients receive $50 gift certificate (for art supplies); artwork is returned to the artist after the Awards Ceremony in March)

• Abigail Banks (Madison - John Muir Elementary) - "Native American Girl"
• Nicholas Durjak (Lyndon Station - Spring Hill Elementary), "Stained Glass Window"
• Jenny Angle (Berlin - Berlin High School), "Summer Lilac Basket"
• Rosa Rudzitis (Campbellsport - Kewaskum Elementary), "Like Georgia O'Keefe"
• Alanah Nelson (Prescott - Prescott Middle School), "Many Colors of Blue"

Artists whose work was selected will be honored at the March 29 Awards Ceremony at Warner Park Recreation Center in Madison.

The five adult pieces selected for purchase awards will be added to VSA's Traveling Adult Art Exhibit (ages 16 and older) and the five children's pieces selected will go into VSA's Traveling Children's Art Exhibit (ages 5-15). The traveling exhibits are displayed year-round at corporations, libraries, museums and galleries throughout the state. More information about the Traveling Exhibits.

The five adult award winners receive $400; honorable mentions receive $100. Children's award winners receive a $100 gift certificate for art supplies; honorable mention honorees receive a $50 gift certificate. Watch this spot for the selections announcements!

VSA artwork stays in the traveling collections for three years, after which it is retired from the traveling exhibits and may be used as recognition gifts or sold by VSA to help support the program.

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Visual Expressions: A Call for Art Exhibit
Feb. 12-20, 2008
Common Wealth Gallery
3rd floor, Enterprise Center
100 S. Baldwin, Madison
Click for directions to Common Wealth Gallery

All artists submitting to the VSA Call for Art had at least one piece of their work featured in a gallery exhibition! The public was invited to view the display of approximately 250 works of art by Wisconsin children and adults with disabilities at the Common Wealth Gallery in Madison, Feb. 12-20.

This exhibit was made possible in part by funding from CESA 2, through a discretionary grant from the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction; the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission with additional funds from the Overture Foundation and the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation; VSA arts, under an award from the U.S. Department of Education; Wausau Insurance Companies; and Xcel Energy Foundation.

Arts Field Trips: To strengthen the impact of Visual Expressions, VSA conducted six arts field trips while Visual Expressions is on display at the Common Wealth Gallery. Students and teachers from Madison and the surrounding school districts were invited to tour the exhibit and then participate in a 60-minute art-making session conducted by a VSA teaching artist.

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Awards Ceremony

VSA award recipients and honorable mentions from both Adult and Children's submissions will be recognized at the annual VSA Awards Ceremony March 29, 2008, at the Community Recreation Center at Warner Park in Madison. Award Ceremony details.

For more information, call VSA arts of Wisconsin at 608-241-2131, or email the Project Coordinator: robin@vsawis.org.

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The VSA Adult Art Collection (AAC) recognizes and showcases the artistic talents of adults with disabilities. Artists’ submissions are reviewed by a jury of art professionals who look for originality, creativity and craftsmanship. The jury selects five artists to receive awards of $400 each; an additional five artists will receive honorable mention awards of $100 each. The five award-winning pieces will be added to VSA’s Traveling Adult Art Collection, which is displayed year-round at corporations, libraries, museums and galleries throughout the state.

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The VSA Children’s Art Collection (CAC) is designed to celebrate the artistic achievements of children ages 5-15 with disabilities. A jury of art professionals review the submissions and select five entries to be added to VSA’s Traveling Children’s Art Collection, which is viewed by thousands of people throughout the state at museums, galleries, schools, business and libraries. The five award winners will each receive $100 gift certificates for art supplies; an additional five children will receive $50 gift certificates as honorable mention awards.