Artist and educator (University of Wisconsin, Madison) Helen Lee took the gold prize at "Emerge 2016," the ninth biennial juried exhibition organized by Bullseye Glass. This year's field saw 370 entries, from which 42 finalists were selected by the jury made up of Bellevue Arts Museum curator Stefano Catalani, artist and educator Kim Harty (College of Creative Studies, Detroit), and Art in America contributing editor and educator (Portland State Universty) Sue Taylor. The competition drew submissions from 16 countries, and jurors were instructed to select work that best represented "creativity, craftsmanship, and design" in object-making using Bullseye Glass.
Winners will divide total awards of $22,000 in Bullseye Glass gift cards, and be honored at an awards ceremony. The winning works will be featured in a catalog and exhibited in "Emerge/Evolve 2016," an exhibition that will tour several venues before ending at the Bellevue Arts Museum. Bullseye has added "Evolve" 2016 to recognize previous recipients of "Emerge" recognition as they develop their careers. The "Evolve" component will include new works by previous "Emerge" award winners Rei Chikaoka (2010 and 2014), Matthew Day Perez (2008 and 2010), and Carmen Vetter (2006 and 2008).
The list of "Emerge 2016" award winners is as follows:
Gold Award
Helen Lee: KowTow
Silver Award
Marzena Krzemińska-Baluch: Landscape
Bronze Award
Alison Lowry: Symphony of Blue
Crossover Award
For an entrant who first began working (or taking classes) in kilnformed glass since January 1, 2014.
Ashraf Hanna: Amber red vessel form
Gold Academic
Kate Clements (Temple University): Stain
Silver Academic
Jeffrey Stenbom (Tulane University): To Those Who Have
Bronze Academic
Nick Doran Adams (Australian National University): Collector Bowl–Rupee, SoDaft #2, Pac-Man Glitch.
More information is available here.