A PWAS Art Reception at the ARTfactory for BoR - Part 1
Saturday, June 7, 2025 At the ARTfactory in Manassas, VA. The art reception took place for the Prince William Art Society sponsored Best of the Region Fine Art Show and Sale (BoR) that opened June 3 and will run until June 15. The winners were crowned with beautiful ribbons and the artists were presented with their prizes. Everyone enjoyed the evening of art, artists, friends, family, art enthusiasts, food and beverages.
It Takes a Village To Do an Art Show
The Prince William Art Society (PWAS) is the main sponsors and creators of this art show. Having a Best of the Region art show has been on the back burner for a core group of PWAS members for several years. The core group even held a few meetings and planning sessions on how to proceed; alas, the Best of Show went into hibernation for a period of time. The opportunity presented itself to go on with the show in early 2025 - thus the concept of the show was ON!
The PWAS Board BoR Committee met at several locations and on Zoom to build the plan and goals, the budget, and a rather large "To-Do List". We gathered other sponsors to help offset some of the costs and a huge thank you to the following organizations and individuals:
- The ARTfactory - Manassas, VA with a HUGE THANK YOU to Jordan Exum (the ARTfactory Gallery Director), Teresa Lopez, and to the entire Staff!!!
- Creative Brush Studios - Manassas, VA - Mary Reilly (Founder, Owner, Artist)
- Manassas Art Guild (MAG) - Manassas, VA - Laura Lavarnway (MAG President)
- Wegmans - Woodbridge, VA
- Jason D Brandt, DDS - Woodbridge, VA
- Prince William County Arts Council (PWCAC)
And we had many PWAS members that helped in so many ways...we have so much appreciation and love for each and every one:
- Sandra McClelland Lewin - Interim PWAS President, and her husband John Lewin
- Tom Payne - PWAS Member-at-large, and his wife, Becky Payne
- Bettie Sperty - PWAS Secretary, and her husband, Brian Sperty
- Staci Blanchard - PWAS PWCAC Representative
- Eric Ndofor - PWAS Treasurer
- Otis Stanley - our art reception photographer
- Mark Clifton
- Mark Murphy
- Evelyn Chatters
- Anna Gatling
- Maria Briganti
- Tes Sain
- Kelly Haneklau
- Sheri Herrick and her husband, Mike Herrick
On With the Show
The ever important Art Drop Off dates worked out over May 31 and June 1 at the ARTfactory. The show opened on June 3 and our juror, Catherine Hillis made an early incognito visit to the gallery to see the artwork in person. It's that final "see the art in person" that sealed her choices for the best works.
Unfortunately, our juror could not attend the art reception but she sent along the speech she had planned to give along with the reasons why she selected the BoR award winners, which Tom Payne so wonderfully read to the reception attendees.
Our BoR artists were nearly all in attendance! We missed you if you couldn't make it!
Participating Artists
We had an exceptional turn out - not only in artists for the Best of the Region, but turn out for the art reception! Only a few of the artists couldn't be there, but here is the entire list of the 40 artists that had at least one piece in the show:
Absku, Asia Anderson, Danielle Bancroft, Zee Berrios, Erik Bohn, Jill Brabant, Mark Clifton, Jaclyn Del Vacchio, Scott Elliott, Mike Flynn, Michele Frantz, Anna Gatling, Andreia Gliga, Kelly Haneklau, Janet Hansen Martinet, John Hartt, Sheri Herrick, Corban Hubler, Rebekah Keener, Debra Keirce, Donna Liguria, Russ Mardon, Ann McCarty, Sandra McClelland-Lewin, Stephanie McGee, Nicki Mulligan, Mark Murphy, Eric Ndofor, Marina Olchevskaia, Anna Polanco, Aurea, Christine Raymond, Mary Reilly, Carol Rusaw, Maria Theresa “Tes” Sain, Bettie Sperty, Lisa Stewart, Halle Strosser, Emily Thomson, Suzanne Yurdin
We had a total of 66 artists enter 177 artworks of which 63 were chosen by our juror to show at the ARTfactory. The artists came from almost every nook and cranny, many studios and art spaces from all around the Northern Virginia areas.
Photos from the art reception and show were taken by PWAS Member Otis Stanley. This single blog post could not hold them all so I'll have at least a Part 2...maybe a Part 3 over the next day or so, but I'll link them together.
Let us begin with the Best of the Region Winners
First Place Winner - Mike Flynn of Gainsville, VA with his watercolor painting "Bull Run"
Second Place Winner - Absku AKA Kwaku Oforit-Yirenkyi of Dumfries, VA with his mixed media (acrylic, fabric and oil) painting "Eternal Reflections"
Third Place Winner - Corban Hubler of Centerville, VA, with his oil painting called "Ambush"
Honorable Mention 1 was to Jill Brabant, of Manassas, VA, with "Summer Symphony" in oil
Honorable Mention 2 was to Michele Frantz, of Manassas, VA, with "Peaches in the Garden in watercolor
The Prince William Art Society Board Members and Winners at the presentation ceremony
Give a big congratulations to all the Winners!
Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Best of the Region Fine Art Show and Sale art reception with photos will be out tomorrow, please share, follow and comment below!
Artistry Spin Blogmaster and an artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA, specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com, her Donna's Esty site and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.
Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm
Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership
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