Hockaday Museum of Art announces People's Choice Award winners
<p>FIRST-PLACE winner "Wired" by Linda L. Olsen. (Courtesy photo)</p>
<p>SECOND-PLACE selection "Gold in the Fall" by Ron Ukrainetz. (Courtesy photo)</p>
<p>THIRD-PLACE (tie) selection "Lake Five" by Vernon Anderson. (Courtesy photo)</p>
<p>THIRD-PLACE (tie) selection "Montana Homestead" by Rob Akey. (Courtesy photo)</p>
Linda L. Olsen’s watercolor painting “Wired” is the winner of the Hockaday Museum of Art’s People’s Choice Award, selected by a vote of more than 330 visitors to the annual Members’ Salon exhibit.
Olsen, a Kalispell resident, bested a field of 90 artist participants in a variety of mediums in the 15th annual showcase. Her bright, vibrant painting depicts a narrow city street, framed by buildings and crowded with vehicles and pedestrians.
“The first thing that comes to mind is it’s a beautifully rendered watercolor,” Celinda English, the assistant curator at the museum, said. “Secondly, it’s a cityscape and it’s very colorful. The painting draws you in as you go into the street. It’s like all those things going on taking you into the background.”
The first-place prize is a first for Olsen, who was second in 2014. She will receive $250 for her win.
“I especially enjoy painting scenes, like the one in ‘Wired,’ which represent a place I visited,” Olsen said in a press release.
Ron Ukrainetz was the second-place pick, earning $100. His work “Gold in the Fall” is a polychromatic engraving featuring a small, yellow bird perched on a wilting plant. The Great Falls resident often features wildlife in his works.
“One cannot paint without knowledge,” Ukrainetz said in a press release. “So it stands to reason, the more one knows about the subject, the more one is able to express with more passion in art.”
Two artists, Rob Akey (Whitefish) and Vernon Anderson (Columbia Falls) tied for third place, each receiving a $50 prize.
Akey’s oil paining, “Montana Homestead,” is a farm scene featuring a weathered farmhouse, while Anderson’s “Lake Five” is a serene Glacier National Park landscape.
The exhibition opened to the public Nov. 3 and voting ran for more than three weeks. While the winners have already been chosen, the exhibit will remain open through Jan. 14. Many of the artists’ works are for sale, with the proceeds benefiting the Hockaday’s exhibition and education funds.
The Hockaday Museum of Art is located in the cultural district of downtown Kalispell at 302 Second Ave. E. and is housed in a 1904 Carnegie Library building that appears on the National Register of Historic Places.
The museum is a private, nonprofit organization, open year-round, Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Regular admission is $5 for adults, $4 for seniors (60+), $2 for college students with ID and free for children and Hockaday members.
The mission of the Hockaday is to enrich the cultural life of the community and region, and to preserve the artistic legacy of Montana and Glacier National Park.
For more information, visit www.HockadayMuseum.org or call 406-755-5268.