Oct. 19, 2019

Student Art Pavilion Photo by Emma Fristoe

The 12th annual Summit Art Festival took place last weekend, Oct. 11 through 13 in Downtown Lee’s Summit.

This was the largest festival to date with 112 artists from all across the country, as far as California and North Carolina. 49 of those artists traveled in from out of state. The Best In Show award winners from last year, Wayne Gao & Michelle Chang, from Rowland Heights, CA, were the 2019 Featured Artists. Artists represented 13 media categories: ceramics, digital art, drawing, fiber, glass, jewelry, metal, mixed media, painting, photography, printmaking, sculpture and wood.

Photos by Emma Fristoe Best In Show 2019 Michael Steddum with Sharon Stackelhouse and Mayor Bill Baird

Ten of the exhibiting artists are juried members of Summit Art, a local 501c3 nonprofit. One of the perks of being an artist member of Summit Art is that they are automatically juried into the festival, and do not have to pay the application fee. Summit Art’s mission supports art and artists in our local community by providing exhibition opportunities, professional mentoring and workshops.

Summit Art is deeply appreciative of the broad local support from volunteers, grantors, donors and sponsors, as well as the city of Lee’s Summit and Lee’s Summit Chamber of Commerce community branding program. Summit Art’s partnership with the LSR7 School District remains a unique and important feature of the yearly festival. The Student Art Pavilion showcased over 250 original works of art created by local middle and high school students. New this year, Summit Christian Academy was featured in the pavilion with a special exhibition.

Winners for the Stuck On Art competition: Pleasant Lea Middle School team and Lee’s Summit West team. Theme: POP Art

This year’s winners are:

BEST IN SHOW: Michael Steddum, Webb City MO, painting, “unique use of bios with paintings; oil work very well done & detailed”

2nd Best In Show: Jeff Easley, Parnell IA, wood, “impressive composition, unique use of color and shapes”

3rd Best In Show: Karen Kane & Kevin Oelklaus, Oak Grove MO, mixed media, “intricate wood-burning technique; creative design with gourds; talented duo”

Mayors Award: Jim Clements, El Dorado KS, painting, “representation of western American subject matter very fresh; mastery of medium”

Directors Award: Jim & Julie Vermeer, Humboldt IA, glass, “glasswork very unique and intricate; complicated process of creation”

Jurors Merit: James Pettijohn, Kansas City MO, painting, “standout work: Masai Maiden is a very powerful painting; extremely realistic”

Jurors Merit: Brad Ultican; Blue Springs MO, drawing, “superb detail in pencil drawing; complicated perspective”

Jurors Merit: Haley Sellmeyer, Olathe KS, painting, “judges impressed with artist’s entrepreneurial spirit; outstanding artistic drive”

The comments above were noted by the judges for the awards. Awards were presented on Saturday by Mayor Bill Baird and Summit Art board chair Sharon Stackelhouse.

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