MacKerricher Sunset painted by Eleanor Harvey. Grand Prize, Large Painting
"Appreciation, through Education, promotes Preservation"
Arts for the Parks brings the artist, the parks and the community together for a common purpose - to help protect our parks and our quality of life. Arts for the Parks is a benefit to help fund MAPA’s educational programs exemplifying that each of us is a vital interconnecting strand in the web of life. MAPA's natural/cultural heritage presentations in our district State Parks include school field trips for thousands of local children, in-school presentations, nature talks/ walks/ hikes, seminars, Jr. Rangers and campfire programs.
"The web of life is a reality. We enjoy the trails, tidepools, beaches and the scenic, unspoiled beauty, but we sometimes forget we are all interdependent. It’s vital our children realize their link within this web, and that our welfare is dependent on the world around us. That education is what MAPA is about – our mission. Thank you for your support of this important goal through your participation, memberships, volunteerism and donations."
Carolyne Cathey, Executive Director
The Mendocino Area Parks Association (MAPA) proudly presents results for the 2008 Arts for the Parks juried arts competition.
In sponsoring an annual Arts for the Parks event focusing on these parks, we hope to achieve several goals at once: We want to recognize and celebrate the talents of the many artists who live here, or who come here to visit our beautiful State Parks; we want to enhance public awareness and appreciation for these parks; and, we hope to raise much needed funds to help support MAPA’s mission for the parks.
To encourage a variety of artistic media representing parks throughout the district, the competition was designed to include fourteen separate categories, each offering first, second, and third place prize ribbons. In addition, six grand prize cash awards were offered, totaling over $5000 in cash prizes.
Our judging panel of six jurors first met in February to preview digital images of all of the submitted artworks. The artists whose works were accepted for final judging were then contacted to deliver their original artworks for final judging, March 18th. After careful deliberation (the final judging took nine hours) the judges accepted just under one hundred artworks for the “Walk on the Wild Side” live auction and awards banquet held at Pentecost Hall in Fort Bragg on April 19th.
Seventy or so works of art were selected to be showcased in this catalog, and to tour Mendocino County from May through October.
The organizing committee feels quite successful for our first year sponsoring a juried arts competition. We are pleased to have received over 100 entries, most coming from artists residing in our own communities, but also from as far away as New York and Pennsylvania.
We have received tremendous support in many other ways, from volunteer time and energy on our organizing committee, to production of our opening "Walk on the Wild Side" live auction and awards banquet with its many participating fine food and beverage donors, to the hosting of our traveling show in galleries throughout Mendocino County.
Congratulations to all of our winners, and thanks again to all of our artists, donors, patrons, and volunteers; Arts for the Parks would not exist without you.
For information about next year's Arts for the Parks event, check out our website at Arts for the Parks, or contact us by email: mapa@mendoparks.org, or by phone at: (707) 937-4700. Artists' entry forms and rules for the 2009 event should be posted on our website by early summer, 2008.
David Linkhart, Project Manager
Opening in August:
