October 8, 2020 (Bethesda, MD) – The Bethesda Arts & Entertainment District announced the top three Bethesda Painting Awards prize winners on Wednesday evening during the exhibition’s opening at Gallery B. Lawrence Cromwell of Baltimore, MD was awarded “Best in Show” with $10,000; Chee Keong Kung of McLean, VA was named second place and was given $2,000 and Temi Wynston Edun of Columbia, MD received third place and was awarded $1,000. Additionally, Monica Ikegwu of Baltimore, MD was recognized with the Young Artist Award and received $1,000.

Lawrence Cromwell received his Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1989 from the University of Tennessee Knoxville where he majored in painting and drawing. While there he won the Ewing Award Scholarship Prize for Visual Arts. He then received his Master of Fine Arts in painting and drawing from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) in 1999. He has exhibited his work in numerous venues including the Delaware Museum of Contemporary Art, Kimberly Venardos & Co. in NY, the Convergence International Arts Festival in RI and the Delaplane Arts Center in Frederick MD. He has also shown his work at various educational institutions and has most recently had a number of exhibitions at Jorden Faye Contemporary and the Hancock Solar gallery in Baltimore. He has been teaching for 20 years at various institutions such as RISD, the Boston Museum School, Rhode Island College, Salve Regina University and most recently at Towson University.

The eight artists selected as finalists are:

• Christopher Batten, Baltimore, MD
• Lawrence Cromwell, Baltimore, MD
• Temi Wynston Edun, Columbia, MD
• Pat Goslee, Washington, D.C.
• Monica Ikegwu, Baltimore, MD
• Chee Keong Kung, McLean, VA
• Scott Ponemone, Baltimore, MD
• Jowita Wyzsomirska, Baltimore, MD

The exhibit will be on display Oct. 9 – 31, 2020 at Gallery B, located at 7700 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E. Gallery hours for the duration of the exhibit will be Friday-Saturday, 12 – 4pm. During operational hours, social distancing will be enforced and face masks must be worn by all visitors.

The competition’s jurors were Paula Crawford, Director of Painting, George Mason University; Gavin Glakas, Painter, Painting Instructor at Yellow Barn Studio, Glen Echo, and B.G. Muhn, Painting Professor, Georgetown University and 2008 Bethesda Painting Awards, Best in Show Winner

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.