Tiffany Fang of Princeton took home Best in Show at the 2020 Mercer County Artists Exhibit, hosted by The Gallery at Mercer County Community College (MCCC), for her graphite-on-paper piece, Sun Spot.
Another notable winner was MCCC alumna and 2019 Best in Show awardee Megan Serfass of Princeton Junction for her oil on canvas piece, Glitch.
The show was held virtually using online conferencing on Oct. 29.
The exhibition, an outgrowth of a partnership between the college and the Mercer County Cultural and Heritage Commission dating back to the mid-1990s, accepted 27 pieces from 21 artists, according to information provided by MCCC.
The show was organized by Gallery Director Alice K. Thompson; juried by Colleen McCubbin Stepanic, a mixed media artist; and sponsored by Blick Art Materials.
According to Thompson, it was initially feared that the exhibit would be one of the many events cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We decided to forge ahead and celebrate the arts at a time when we arguably need it most,” Thompson said in the statement.
McCubbin was appreciative of the flexibility of the artists and the gallery to put on a virtual awards presentation, as well as the sense of intimacy the works created when displayed together.
“The awarded works spoke to me, on some level, of the isolation and disorientation of our current moment,” McCubbin said in the statement. “Sun Spot’s quiet, intimate pencil marks drew me repeatedly to consider the upside of isolation. … [Janet Purcell’s] ‘The Moment in Time’s’ playful vignette is also a reminder of our detrimental isolation from our environment. And the fractured perspective of Glitchis a reminder of our mental state when isolation turns on us.”
The show’s full list of winners includes:
- Skull Drawing (Conte’ crayon on paper) by Larry Chestnut of Hamilton
- Bahamian Magic (oil on board mounted canvas) by Carlo Fiorentini of Princeton
- Dialogue 2 (acrylic) by Shahla Mansouri of Hamilton
- Autumn Starfish (acrylic on canvas) by William Plank of Lawrenceville
- Hippo (automotive paint on Masonite) by Megan Uhaze of Hamilton
- Sun Spot (graphite on paper) by Tiffany Fangn of Princeton
- The Moment in Time (mixed media)by Janis Purcell of East Windsor
- Glitch (oil on canvas) by MCCC alumna Megan Serfass of Princeton Junction
- Rooted (digital art on paper) a self-portrait by Danielle Rackowski of Hamilton