Virtual exhibition gallery on view through September
On Aug. 31, Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ 43rd Annual Juried Photographic Exhibition became available for viewing via a virtual gallery that may be accessed at selby.org, staff of the Gardens has announced.
The show includes more than 300 photographs “taken by visitors at one of Selby Gardens’ two campuses and selected for display by an expert panel of jurors,” a news release points out. The jury has awarded the honors for top photographs, the release adds, “with Best in Show going to Gary McNulty for his colorful photo of a red-bellied woodpecker in a silk cotton tree, titled Afternoon Repose.”
The release notes that the web gallery will remain on view through Sept. 30.
In addition to Best in Show, awards for first place were given in each of the five exhibition categories, as follows:
- Living Art —“Leaf” Imitating Art, by Christopher Harrington.
- Make a Splash —Welcome to Selby Gardens, the Water Is Great!, by Betsy Roe.
- Plant Portraits —Solitude, by Caryn Koffman.
- The Birds and the Bees —Blue Dasher Dragonfly Portrait, by Christopher Harrington.
- Black + White —Circle of Life, by Gonzalo Hernandez Jr.
“The jury also selected second- and third-place winners in each category and recognized three additional photos with honorable mentions,” the release says.
Entrants could submit up to three photos for the competition this year; the images had to have been taken at either the downtown Sarasota or Historic Spanish Point campus of Selby Gardens within the past year, the release explains. The jury that determined the winners comprised the following individuals, the release says:
- Olivia Marie Braida-Chiusano, artist and head of Selby Gardens’ botanical illustration program.
- Christopher Jones, Stanton B. and Nancy W. Kaplan Curator of Photography and Media Art at The Ringling.
- Keith Monda, philanthropist and Selby Gardens Trustee
- John Pirman, artist and illustrator.
- Walter Gilbert, Selby Gardens vice president for diversity and inclusion and namesake of the Gilbert Mural Initiative public-art project.
“Selby Gardens is so grateful to our jurors for their time and care in evaluating over 300 photographs for this show,” said Selby Gardens President & CEO Jennifer Rominiecki in the release. “They were impressed by the talented artists who participated, and we are pleased to share these diverse and stunning images that illustrate why Selby Gardens is known as The Living Museum®.”