2011 Annual Meeting
Our evening began with an early 6:00 P.M. gallery browse of the art entries for the 2011 Purchase Art Award Contest.
Vice President Larry Shebesta welcomed the audience and
gave a summary of this year's contributions to the library.
He reported that the Friends purchased chairs and file cabinets,
and canvas book bags. They financed some of the
entertainment for the summer reading program, and provided
support for our web site and the Purchase Award Art Contest .
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Purchase Award Art Contest committee members Linda
Christian-Smith, Janice Claussen, Karen Lee Hansen, and
Lois Helberg announced the winners and presented the awards.
At 7:00 P.M. Graeme Reid, Assistant Director of the Museum
of Wisconsin Art, located in West Bend, gave a power point
presentation on famous Wisconsin artist and Milwaukee's
influence on the art world, as the hub of one of the greatest art
movements in the country.
Mr Reid has 18 years experience in arts management/curatorial
work, and has judged on local, regional and national levels.
He is an award winning writer on the arts, and has taught
art history and humanities at ISU and Purdue University. He is
a regular guest lecturer at various Wisconsin institutions.
The presentation ceremony for the Purchase Award Art Contest awarded prizes to:
1st Place - Sandra Butz-Siebers for her mixed-media picture "Merritt the Muse".2nd Place - Louise Joyner for her watercolor "Pears". The award was $75.
3rd Place - Deborah Bentley for her hand painted silk "Ablaze". The award was $50.
Honorable Mention Awards were presented to Polly Edgar,Tracy Heerhold, Everett Powell, Cassie Warlow, and Donald Whistler.
All those in attendance for the evening voted for the "Peoples' Choice Award". The result was a 3-way tie. So we acknowledged Patricia Gergetz, Otto Pena, and Donald Whistler.
The Friends would like to thank all participants for making the contest a great success and beautifying our library with their creations.
We are looking forward to planning the 2012 Contest and we will have registration forms available at all the Washington County libraries in the spring of 2012. Participants must be older than 18, a resident of Washington County, and a non-professional artist.
Elections
The Annual Meeting followed. Elections were held for Vice President and Treasurer. Nominations were open to the floor. Larry Shebesta was re-elected Vice President and Elizabeth Harebo was re-elected Treasurer. Mary Pohland.s recent resignation from the Presidency left an opening for that office. There were no nominations from the floor, so the job will be filled temporarily by the Vice President, Larry Shebesta.
The 2012 Annual Meeting will be the evening of Wednesday, October 10th.
