Artists were honored at the awards reception for the Mercer County Artists exhibit on display at Mercer Community College’s art gallery through Thursday, April 4. The 107 works by 88 artists include paintings in oils, acrylics, and watercolors, as well as sculptures and mixed-media collages.
Award winners included three artists from West Windsor:
Louis Cicchini received a purchase award from Mercer County Cultural & Heritage Commission for “Fair Weather Friends.”
Janet Felton received honorable mention for “Let’s not split hares” and a West Windsor Arts Council award for “About to Spring.”
Renee Kumar received two awards. Her “Spring Fever” received a purchase award from Mercer County Cultural & Heritage Commission; and “Spring Cherry Tree” received an award from West Windsor Arts Council.
Kumar began painting seriously while in her 30s. The mother of three young children, she moved from New England to the suburbs of central New Jersey and took her first watercolor class with artist Arlene Milgram. Soon she was studying regularly at Artworks in Trenton with watercolorist Gail Bracegirdle and others, and she began to develop her unique style.
“My approach to watercolor has been to work more outside the box. In fact, my studio resembles a science lab: sand, salt, alcohol, bubbles … you name it and I’ll throw it into the work to see what happens.”
Felton began working with clay while working toward a bachelor’s degree in graphic design at Arcadia University. She studied ceramics in Philadelphia, Hopewell, and Tokyo, and has been a ceramics instructor at the Arts Council of Princeton since 2005.
West Windsor Arts Council, the only local arts council to honor its participating hometown artists, selected from 16 works by 14 West Windsor artists. Arin Black, the new executive director, selected the awardees and presented the awards to the artists at the event.
“This is a venue for the county’s talent and has also helped to create a county collection through Mercer County Cultural & Heritage Commission Purchase Awards,” says Tricia Fagan, the gallery director and a West Windsor resident.
Fagan, who has been the gallery director at the college since 2000, is leaving April 1 for a position as the program development specialist with the Mercer County Cultural & Heritage Commission. She will be working with projects including the teen arts festival, senior show, and cultural festival. She will continue as grant writer and the historic outreach program manager, two positions she has served for several years.
Fagan, raised in Woodbridge, is the oldest of 12 children. Her mother, who had studied linguistics, was a homemaker. Her father, a former reporter for the Asbury Park Press, handled public relations for Schering Plough.
A graduate of Stonehill College, Fagan received a master’s degree in social work from Rutgers. Raised around art and music, she married Wilbo Wright, a professional musician and West Windsor native, in 1995.
“It’s great to watch entry level artists, some who are exhibiting for the first time, grow, and develop into professional artists,” she says. “The exhibition has a real mix of starting out and established artists. They interact collegially. It has a sense of community.”
Art Exhibit, Gallery at Mercer County College, Communications Center, West Windsor. “Mercer County Artists 2013.” The exhibit features mixed media, oil and watercolor paintings, as well as sculptures in clay, wood, bronze, and concrete. On view to April 4. 609-586-4800, ext. 3589. www.mccc.edu.
