People's Choice winners named in Hockaday exhibit

Kalispell artist Susan Guthrie was the first-place winner in this year’s People’s Choice Awards in the 2012 Members Salon at the Hockaday Museum of Art.

More than 120 Hockaday members participated in the 11th annual Members Salon, sharing a diverse range of works in oils, watercolors, wood, metal, glass and stone.

Many of the participants offer their works for sale in the Kalispell museum, giving the public a chance to acquire works for display in their private collections. A portion of the proceeds from each sold piece is donated to the Hockaday’s exhibition and education funds.

Guthrie’s original oil on panel, “Suffolk Churchyard,” was voted the top work by members of the public.

Guthrie, a native Montanan, has been an art educator at Flathead High School for 26 years, and an adjunct faculty member at Flathead Valley Community College for 12. Guthrie considers herself an artist, teacher, mentor and musician. She enjoys travel and derives the inspiration for her art from the beautiful places she has visited.

Guthrie is also a 2007 Members Salon People’s Choice Award winner.

This year, she wins a $250 cash prize and a gift certificate from the Evergreen Art Center.

“Any Way the Wind Blows,” a striking India ink wash by Bigfork resident Darlene Morgan, took the second-place prize.

For the past 45 years, Morgan has loved painting American Indian people and strives to capture their pride and ethnicity. She concentrates on the very old and the very young, captivated by the innocence of youth and wisdom and character of the elderly.

Morgan wins a $100 cash prize and takes home an award certificate to complement her first-place award from last year’s Members Salon.

Whitefish resident Gail Hansen claimed third-place honors with “Cactus Blooms.”

For her current work, Hansen derives her inspiration from viewing the varying qualities of light on and through a sunlit blossom. She maintains a full-time studio in Whitefish; painting has been the central focus of her life for the past 40 years.

Hansen wins a $50 cash prize.

The Members Salon exhibition will be on exhibit at the Hockaday Museum of Art through Dec. 29. The museum invites the public to take advantage of free admission during the holiday open house, which will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 27 through 29.

The Hockaday is located at 302 Second Ave. E. For more information, visit www.hockadaymuseum.org or call 755-5268.