See the best of the best at
our Annual Juried Exhibit (AJE)
August 31 to October 12, 2024
It’s one of our most prestigious events of the year, not just because it is a juried show, but because it features the work of our extraordinary CAG members. The Annual Juried Exhibit (AJE) attracts collectors from throughout the Midwest interested in acquiring unique work. This show displays the work of our esteemed CAG members in a broad spectrum of media including: sculpture, metal, photography, pottery, glass, textiles, wood, mixed media, painting (oil, acrylic, watercolor, etc.) and so much more.
Check back in January of 2024 for registration dates.
Winners of AJE 2023
BEST OF SHOW
It Comes with Age, Colored Pencil by Landon Naffin
BLUE RIBBON 2D
Low Tide, Watercolor
by Tom Kubala
Are you Talk’n to me?,
Mono Print
by Jack Pachuta
Pike Place Market, Oil
by Mary Ulm Mayhew
BLUE RIBBON 3D
Prairie Girl 2,
Wood and Metal
by Dan Grunst
Honoring Florence,
Fiber Art
by Gina Studelska
RED RIBBON 2D
To Dream a Dream,
Tempera
by Patrick Doughman
Carpenter Ants,
Acrylic
by Joan Hollnagel
Lily Stalk,
Watercolor
by Bruce Hustad
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Nature Design,
Digital Photograph
by Fred Thorne
Say Yes to the Dress,
Floral Living Art Sculpture
by Brenda Greuel
Awards
BEST OF SHOW
The winner will receive $200
2-D Awards
3 Blue Ribbon(s) and $100
3 Red Ribbon(s) and $50
1 Honorable Mention and $25
3-D Awards
1 Blue Ribbon and $100
1 Red Ribbon and $50
1 Honorable Mention and $25
Meet the jurors for AJE 2023!
Colette Odya Smith
A lifelong Wisconsin native, Ms. Smith is a painter of contemporary landscapes that often blur the distinctions between realism and abstraction. Art has always been her love and nature’s mysteries and hidden meanings continue to be her muse. Even puddles and cracked sidewalks caught her eye as a girl growing up in Milwaukee in a large working-class family.
She earned her degree in Fine Art, Humanities, and Education at Macalester College in St. Paul, then taught public school art and raised two children. A pastel class at MIAD set her on her career path for nearly 30 years now. Ms. Smith is known for works that often use a close focus on water, rocks, and foliage, playing with reflections and shadows. While her imagery remains grounded in the natural world, she alters or emphasizes at will, reveling in the brilliant color and textural richness of soft pastels as they converse with her watercolor underpainting.
Her paintings have been featured in several books and art publications and exhibited widely in the United States, France, Germany, and China. They have received over 70 regional, national, and international awards. Ms. Smith has written articles and juried for the Pastel Journal and The Artists Magazine. She has judged the prestigious international exhibitions of the Pastel Society of America and the International Association of Pastel Societies. Additionally, she teaches workshops, offers critiques and demonstrations. She has been honored as a Maître Pastelliste by the Societe des Pastellistes de France, Master Pastelist and Advisory Board Member by the Pastel Society of America, Eminent Pastelist and Masters’ Circle member by the International Association of Pastel Societies, and Distinguished Pastelist by the Pastel Society of New Mexico. Her work hangs in public, corporate and private collections, including the Ming Gallery Museum of Pastel in Suzhou, China.
She offers her work in the spirit of service.
David R. Becker
Mr. David R. Becker, TWSA Artist, Illustrator, and Art Instructor has spent his artistic life and career since 1983 in the city of Chicago. He studied at The American Academy of Art in Chicago. A large majority of his subject matter comes from his life in the city that he loves so much.
After studying at The American Academy of Art in Chicago, David went into illustrating for a major advertising agency J. Walter Thompson, and later for Foote Cone and Belding. He also started teaching around the country right out of school, but always found time for his favorite ambition, creating fine art paintings.
David is the author of Watercolor Composition Made Easy and How to Sketch with Watercolor. He has two different articles published in International Artist Magazine and in Watercolor Magic. David’s accomplishments include reaching signature status to the Transparent Watercolor Society of America and winning numerous awards for his work from watercolor societies around the country.
David works in many mediums, including watercolor, oils, and acrylics, he is mostly recognized for his watercolor scenes of Chicago. You can find David’s artwork hanging in many homes and businesses throughout Chicago. Starbucks commissioned David’s favorite painting - to do a scene for their Macy’s Starbucks store that was to include a scene looking out of that store’s window, onto Wabash, which included the “L” platform. The painting used to hang in the Northeast corner of the Macy’s Starbucks store on Randolph and Wabash.