The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District announced the top Bethesda Painting Awards prize winners on Wednesday evening during the exhibition’s opening at Gallery B. Andrew Hladky of Kensington, MD was awarded “Best in Show” with $10,000; James Williams II of Baltimore, MD was named second place and was given $2,000 and Magnolia Laurie of Baltimore, MD received third place and was awarded $1,000. Additionally, Jeremy Jirsa of Baltimore, MD was recognized with the Young Artist Award and received $1,000.
Since moving to the United States in 2015, Andrew Hladky has held solo exhibitions around the country including Rockville, MD; Tulsa, OK; Arlington, VA and Raleigh, NC. He has been awarded many fellowships and residencies, including at Yaddo, the Charm City Fellowship at Millay Arts, the Pollock-Krasner Fellowship at Vermont Studio Center, and the 2021 Cultural Exchange Residency between VCCA and The City of Salzburg. His collaborative artists’ book, On Innards, was published in 2015 by bookRoom Press and is in the SAIC Artists’ Books Collection, Metropolitan Museum New York, and the MoMA Library and Archives, among other collections. Hladky earned his Master of Arts in Painting from the Wimbledon School of Art in London, and his Bachelor of Fine Art from Newcastle University.
The eight artists selected as finalists are:
- Emma Childs, Baltimore, MD
- Jim Condron, Lutherville-Timonium, MD
- Andrew Hladky, Kensington, MD
- Jeremy Jirsa, Baltimore, MD
- Magnolia Laurie, Baltimore, MD
- McKinley Wallace III, Baltimore, MD
- James Williams II, Baltimore, MD
- Ju Yun, Chantilly, VA
The exhibit will be on display June 9 – July 3, 2022 at Gallery B, located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E. Gallery hours for the duration of the exhibit will be Thursday-Sunday, 12 – 5pm. The exhibition can also be viewed during the Bethesda Art Walk on Friday, June 10th from 6-8pm.
The competition’s jurors were Maggie Michael, Painter and The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards, Best in Show winner in 2008; Tony Shore, Bethesda Painting Awards, Best in Show winner in 2006 and Maryland Institute College of Art, Painting Chair, andRobert Yi, George Mason University, Assistant Professor and Interim Chair of Drawing and Painting.
The Bethesda Painting Awards was established by local business owner Carol Trawick in 2005. Ms. Trawick has served as a community activist for more than 25 years in downtown Bethesda and established The Jim and Carol Trawick Foundation in 2007. She is the former Chair of the Maryland State Arts Council, Strathmore, Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District, Bethesda Urban Partnership, Inc. and founder of The Trawick Prize: Bethesda Contemporary Art Awards.
For more information, please visit www.bethesda.org or call 301-215-6660.