SHREWSBURY: A GUILDED AGE FOR CREATIVES

Sunrise StormPrize-winning entries in the categories of photography (“Sunrise Storm” by Michael Menendez, above) and sculpture (“Love Story” by Mitsu Walters, below) are on display at the Guild of Creative Art, as the annual Open Juried Show enters its final week.

walters_mitsu_sculpture_love_storyJust a friendly reminder that, long before our neck of Monmouth County boasted its own wine-and-cheese gallery scene or paint-and-sip studio, there was the Guild of Creative Art, the creative collective that’s watched the contemporary landscape of the greater Red Bank area take shape over the past 55 years from the window of its ever-fascinating house on Shrewsbury’s Broad Street/Route 35 main drag.

A further reminder, that beginning today the Guild’s 24th Annual Open Juried Show enters its final week on display, with an installation of works by artists hailing from all over the Shore area and beyond, highlighted by Best in Show winners representing such categories as painting, sculpture, photography and mixed media.

Artist-author Janet Cook joined illustrator and educator Thomas E. Rutledge as judges for the 2016 event, which drew the participation of dozens of local creatives, among them Red Bank’s Beverly Hertler, Shrewsbury-based painter David Levy, and Fair Haven watercolorist Deborah Redden. An all-star assembly of category leaders and Bronze Achievement Award winners can be found inside the main Guild gallery, with a bonus group show of new works by exhibiting and associate Guild members on display in the lobby at 620 Broad Street. Following is a rundown of featured items:

Best in Sculpture: Love Story (Carrara marble) by Mitsu Walters, Albrightsville, PA

Best in Photography: Sunrise Storm by Michael Menendez, Freehold

Best in Painting: Rusted Roller (watercolor) by Frank Colaguori, West Long Branch

Bronze Achievement Awards:

Red Sails by Beverly Hertler, Red Bank (mixed media); At the Shore by Buren Gilpin, Manasquan (wood); Naked by Christina Sanes, Manasquan (mixed media); Diptych: Music is in the Eye of the Beholder by David Levy, Shrewsbury (acrylic); Streetscape by Deborah Redden, Fair Haven (watercolor); Cuban Butcher by Frank Parisi, Island Heights (photography); Provincetown Marina by Helene Condouris, Long Branch (watercolor); Novice #4 by Marilyn Baldi, Tinton Falls (photography); Beneath Convention Hall, Asbury Park by Wayne Londregan, Oakhurst (photography); I Will Remember by William Rackin, Lumberton (collage/acrylic)

Mitchell Award for Acrylic: Green Dancer by Pat Hutchinson, Belmar

Friedlander Award for Abstract: New York Island by Christina Sanes, Manasquan

Barbara Shieldkret Memorial Award for Abstract Painting: Park Life by Leona Tenebruso‐Shultes, Lincroft

Guild Award for Artistic Innovation: Cookies and Cream by Crystal Hover, Manchester (encaustic)

Caivano Memorial Award for Oil: Autumn in Paris by Miguel Figueras, Atlantic Highlands

Caivano Memorial Award for Watercolor: Dom by Mike Scherfen,  Atlantic Highlands

Willy Memorial Award for Photography: 136 Ebb and Flow by Beverly Burke, Shrewsbury

The 24th Annual Open Juried Show remains on display at the Broad Street gallery through next Wednesday, October 26 during regular hours (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.; Thursday 8 a.m.-6 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m.-3 p.m.), with free admission and on-site parking at all times.