Sixty years of artistic excellence were celebrated at Town Hall on Friday night as the Town and the Society of York Region Artists celebrated the Diamond anniversary of the Aurora Art Show & Sale.
Held throughout the seat of local government from May 4 – 5, participating artists were in the spotlight on May 3 as Mayor Tom Mrakas and SOYRA President Linda Welch came together to honour the cream of the crop.
“This is a really special milestone for the Town, in particular showing the longevity of their commitment to arts and culture,” Welch told The Auroran ahead of the opening reception. “It also sets the show apart from many of the others in the surrounding area, the Province and beyond. Not too many shows last as long as this and 60 is a remarkable number. I am very proud of that.”
Because of the milestone, Welch said there was a heightened interest in participation from artists not only within York Region but throughout the GTA, enabling the show to shine a light on emerging and well-established creatives alike.
“This year, there were a higher number of brand-new names and I am really interested to see what they bring to the show,” says Welch. “There are ones I have known for a number of years and it is like meeting old friends when you see their work come in – and when you see a lot of new names from Toronto coming in and entering the show, it’s very interesting!”
This year’s honourees included:
Oils – Laura Legg, first place with “Self Portrait”; with honourable mentions going to Novak Plavic with “Eagle Eye” and Hetty Veldkamp” with Georgian Bay.
Acrylic – Catherine Falconer, first place with “Harbinger.” Honourable mentions went to Kristine Toms with “Hope Fading” and Joanne Toth with “Amongst the Leaves.”
Water Colours – Dinesh Subramanian with “Rainy Day” took home first place, with honourable mentions going to Karen Goodale with “Water Lily Radiance” and Nancy Newman with “Cutwork Cloth and Orchids.”
Mixed/Alternative Media – First place went to Manuela Moldovan with “A Luxurious Bouquet.” Honourable mentions went to Donna Greenstein with “Primeval” and Christine Valentini with “Superior Sunset.”
Photography – Tom Wray placed first with “Killbear Windswept Tree,” with honourable mentions going to Alexandra Bhatia with “Winter Whirlpool Reflections” and Debbie Conacher with “Lower Antelope Canyon.”
SOYRA’s annual Award of Excellence was presented to Alice Hlushko, whose work “In My Head” wowed the judges. Also recognized in this category with honourable mentions were Eva Perreira with “Lavender” and Kaila Viera with “Shades of Grey.”
In addition to the Society of York Region Artists, the Optimist Club of Aurora is also an annual partner at the Aurora Art Show and Sale, with the service club, in keeping with their mandate, honouring “The Best in Youth.”
In this category, top honours were taken by Rachael Tran with “Winter Birches,” with honourable mentions going to Vivian Xu with “Aurora Borealis” and Angela Zhu with “A New Day.”
Brock Weir, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Auroran