Several hundred art appreciators and artists attended the festivities at 29 Palms Art Gallery on Saturday, Nov. 2, for the 12th annual Joshua Tree National Park Art Expo and awards reception. Art awards were announced for the juried exhibition at the reception Saturday evening.
Eleven artists received awards for their artwork, with awards totaling $4,000.
The Best of Show award went to Kacy Dalton of Joshua Tree for her 3-Dimensional mosaic guitar titled “Songs of the Desert.”
For other awards in the 3-Dimensional category, first place went to Joey Bebar of Yucca Valley for his stone sculpture “Mining for Gold, Mojave Desert.” Second place went to Reeyna Daniel of Twentynine Palms for her ceramic piece, “Cholla Moon 1.” Third place was “Brilliant Sunshine” by Julia Briest of Desert Hot Springs.
In the 2-Dimensional category, the first-place winner was Larry Hemmerich of Thousand Palms for his soft pastels painting, “JT Rocks.” Second place went to “Among the Boulders” by Mark Spicak of Palm Springs; and third place was “Spellbound” by Steven Wybenga of Morongo Valley.
In the Photography category, first place was awarded to Enji Chung of Pasadena for “Firefly Rocket Launch.” Second place went to “Lonely Winter” by Casey Kiernan of Joshua Tree; and third place went to “The Mountain Climbers” by Diane Padys of Palm Springs.
The Superintendent’s Award, an honorary award personally selected by Joshua Tree National Park Superintendent Jane Rodgers, went to Mitch Miller of Joshua Tree for his photograph of the park titled “Puzzle.”
The exhibition is on display at the gallery through November 30 and features artwork depicting or inspired by Joshua Tree National Park. Sixty artists from the desert region and across California and the U.S. were juried into the exhibition, out of 122 artist entries. Visitors to the gallery will be encouraged to vote for the People’s Choice award, which will be announced at the close of the show.
The 29 Palms Art Gallery is open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday through Sunday, at 74055 Cottonwood Drive on the corner of National Park Drive in Twentynine Palms. The Art Expo artwork can also be viewed online at jtnpARTS,org.
Judges for this year’s awards were photographer Jennifer Ruggiero and fine art painter Mark Spangenberg of Twentynine Palms, and 3D and mural artist Linda Shrader of Yucca Valley. This year’s awards were sponsored by a community event grant from the City of Twentynine Palms.
