North Charleston Arts Fest reveals 2016 design competition winner
The City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department announces that Charleston, S.C., artist Lisa Shimko is the winner of the 2016 North Charleston Arts Fest Design Competition. Shimko’s acrylic painting, Air and Water (pictured above), will be used to promote the 2016 North Charleston Arts Fest, taking place April 29-May 7. In addition, Shimko received a $500 purchase award, and the piece will become part of the city’s Public Art Collection.
Shimko’s design was selected from a total of 64 entries by artists from across the state. A review panel made the selection based on quality, originality, appeal to festival patrons from a broad range of backgrounds, and the ability to convey the spirit of the festival as a public celebration of arts and culture.
According to Shimko, Air and Water and the other paintings in its series are the result of her meditations of the aquatic world. Within the piece she ruminates on “the edges of land to the water, constantly changing with tides; the various organisms, big and small; and accentuating the range of colors found both up close and seen at the landscape’s distance.”
Shimko graduated from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pa., with a BFA in Painting, and a minor in Art Therapy. Growing up in York County, Pa., Shimko was influenced by the colors, forms, and textures of the northeastern landscape and the simple designs of Pennsylvania German folk art. Her move to Hilton Head Island after graduation piqued her interest in exploring environmental issues, and the terrain of the coastal south added new elements to her aesthetic catalogue. After living in Hilton Head for six years, Shimko moved to Charleston in 2006, and is involved with the community as a fine artist, instructor, and fundraiser.
Shimko was selected as the juried image winner for the 2008 Charleston Farmers Market with her piece Tomato Half, and again in 2009 with Watermelon Sky. In 2014, she was commissioned to create the official poster design for the Charleston Food + Wine Festival. Shimko’s work has been exhibited in a number of solo and group shows locally, and she is currently represented by Mitchell Hill Gallery in Charleston.
Shimko’s work will be on display at the North Charleston City Gallery through May 2016. The gallery is located in the Charleston Area Convention Center at 5001 Coliseum Drive in North Charleston. Gallery hours are 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. daily, and admission and parking are free. The public is invited to meet the artist at the gallery during the festival’s Premiere Weekend on April 30 and May 1. T-shirts and posters featuring the winning design will be available for sale.
For more information about the North Charleston Arts Fest, other competition and exhibition opportunities, or festival sponsorship and program booklet ad placement, contact the City of North Charleston Cultural Arts Department at (843)740-5854, email culturalarts@northcharleston.org, or visit NorthCharlestonArtsFest.com. Additional information about the artist can be found at www.shimkoart.com.
Via: North Charleston Cultural Arts Department