Every year during the Hillsborough County Fair, a Fine Arts Competition/Show is held. The show celebrates the talents of local artists, young and old. The Fine Arts Show is a unique opportunity for residents who love to create art to submit entries for judging and have their artwork viewed in a gallery setting at the fair.
This year, the Fine Arts Show was judged by local artists and residents of Plant City, Loretta Burns and MaryAnne Freeman. Both judges were impressed with the caliber of the art.
Burns, who is president of the East Hillsborough Art Guild, said of the youth entries, “They are amazing. Their creativity is outstanding and eye catching.” Freeman said, “Some of the younger ones were beyond their group in their skills.”
Best of Show for the Adult Division was awarded to Juliette Young of Lithia. The piece is of a woman in a red dress. Most of the piece is in color pencil.
Burns said of the piece, “When you do a piece on black background, lighting is everything.”
Young said of the win, “This is my third win at this show. I am super excited to have won Best of Show.”
The Best of Show winner for the Youth Division was Amelia Bitting of Dover. The judges were very impressed with Bitting’s piece. They both agreed that it was very well executed. In the piece, the sunglasses show a reflection. According to Burns and Freeman, that is very hard to pull off in such a proportionate way.
In addition to the two Best of Show, there were various other winners. In the Adult Category, first place winners included Karen Koseck for acrylic, Karen Odell for watercolor and Heather Alford for mixed media.
In the Youth Elementary Division, students from the Winthrop Arts Art Factory in Riverview swept the top honors with Delaney White in first, Madison Chavez in second and Julianna Sanchez in third.
First place in the Youth Middle Division went to Chris Riveiro, and in the Youth Secondary Division, first place went to Madison Jewell.
The Hillsborough County Fair Fine Arts Show features artists of various ages. Chairman Mary Jane Wagoner has led the show for many years.
Wagoner said, “I am very pleased with this year’s show. We had a good turn out from both the adults and the youth this year.”
For more information, visit www.hillsboroughcountyfair.com.
