Le Grand welcomes the artists of ArtScape in person | News, Sports, Jobs

This year, the Grand accepted more than 70 works of art in the adult and student categories. All art has been submitted by local and regional artists in multiple mediums.

Tamara Furth, program manager for The Grand, said this year’s ArtScape was special because it was a throwback to an in-person gallery opening. Last year’s ArtScape took place virtually. Many artists were delighted to attend the event after a year of absence.

ArtScape is different from most of the Grand Gallery exhibits because it is a jury exhibit. Prizes were awarded for the first, second and third prizes in the adult and student categories, as well as an honorable mention.

Mankato-based artist Amanda Wirig was a judge this year. Wirig said it was a difficult show to judge as all of the submissions were different and of high quality.

Ann Doubler’s “Horse Head” took 3rd place in the Artscape art exhibit. Doubler based the painting on his niece’s horse. She used the old bride and her father’s real horsehair to give the painting another dimension.

In the student category, Giana Anderson received an honorable mention for “Buzz Bee” a glass bee sculpture.

Ella Forst received 2nd place for painting “Confidence.” Forst is in college and has entered ArtScape several times in the past. She said that recently her artwork has been designed to make people feel more confident.

“This is what I try to do with my art” said Forst. Her acrylic painting in 2nd place shows a woman in a two-piece swimsuit using very contrasting colors.

The grand prize in the student category went to Amanda Pearson for “Pencil paintings”. The piece depicts an almost photorealistic depiction of tubes of paint created with colored pencils.

In the adult division there have been three honorable mentions, Wade Davis “The Resistance; Jim Muyres”Badland“and Jesse Cordes”Currents.

Confidence took 2nd place in the student division of Artscape. The painting was created by Ella Forst. She said the goal of her artistic work lately has been to instill confidence in individuals.

Third place went to Ann Doubler for “Horse’s head.” Doubler’s painting of a horse’s head had several 3-D elements. The horse’s bridle belonging to his father was attached to the board, as was the real horsehair. Double said a lot of his work involves elements in 3D. The piece was a crowd favorite for the way it came out of the wall.

The second place went to Marjie Laizure for her oil painting “In the weeds.” The painting showed women surrounded by dried plants and a butterfly.

The grand prize went to Nicholas Schlief for “The heart that tells a story.” Schleif’s painting depicted the face of writer Edgar Allen Poe made up of several individual dots that form the text of his famous poem, “The crow.”

Schleif has won past awards at ArtScape for his unique approach to portraits. Her signature style is to create portraits of famous people, often using the celebrity’s actual words.

Schlief said it took four to five weeks to create “The heart that tells a story.” Even though he’s already won awards at ArtScape, Schlief said he’s always thrilled to be honored again.

In addition to the prizes awarded last night, a special audience award will be presented after ArtScape closes. Visitors to the Grand are allowed to vote for their favorite work of art for adults and students. Votes will be counted after the exhibition closes. The public’s choice will be announced after December 17th.

The work will be exhibited in the gallery of the 4 pillars from November 19 to December 17.

The gallery exhibition is open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday to Saturday.