LAST CHANCE TO SEE MOSAIC EXHIBITION, SARAH WESTENBERG RETROSPECTIVE

February 22, 2103 -- This is the final weekend for the current exhibitions at the Cedar Key Art Center (CKAC). The shows of mosaic works in the large gallery and Sarah Westenberg`s clothing-as-art in the small gallery will come down after this weekend.

The present mosaic show is one of the CKAC President Peter Klocksien`s "local call" exhibitions, inviting community submissions in a given medium. Next up will be a community call for works in "3-D"; a bit later the medium will be "wearable art."

At the February 2nd opening of the mosaics show, l-r: Peter Klocksien, Linda Zidonick, and Bill Seyfarth

This current season`s schedule was planned following last year`s Old Florida Celebration of the Arts, Klocksien has explained, with input from CKAC members as well as from arts festival participants and guests. He particularly wanted to encourage local artists to submit work.

The suggestion for a mosaics show came from local mosaicists Valerie Bretl and Chuck McDonnell. In addition to Bretl and McDonnell, Cedar Keyans Lois Benninghoff, Connie Nelson, Donna Tanck, and Libby Cagle all have mosaic work in the current show.

The community call was shouted loud enough to bring in members of Cracked Glass, a Gainesville group of mosaicists - and it was the Cracked Glass members who walked off with top honors (awarded by an anonymous panel of judges): First Place to Colette St. Mary for "Woman," Second Place to Linda Zidonic for "Sandhill Cranes," and Third Place to Kathleen Dummitt for "Dark Night of the Soul."

Collette St. Mary holds up the blue ribbon she received for “Woman.”

Cedar Keyans Benninghoff and Nelson both received honorable mention.

In the small gallery, while it`s the hand-crafted, uniquely designed items of clothing that steal Sarah Westenberg`s show, Westenberg chose to include work in other media to illustrate her path.

Photos by Kathleen Dummitt