Congratulations to Woohyun Shim

Thank you, Woohyun, for this note, and letting me know of your exciting art update! I pass it along...

This is Woohyun from Korea. Yesterday, I heard really good news, and I was thinking of you to let you know this news.

I am awarded Jongeundang Art Award ( 1,5000$). The exhibition regarding the art award is going to be held this October. This Art Award is pretty big and famous in Korea.. so I am very thankful about this. 

At First, when I heard this great news, I was thinking of you and my first solo show in Omaha.. The great experience of the Connor Meigs  Art Award  helped me to begin my art career with a great start. I am so thankful to you again, Linda. 

These days, I started my Ph.D degree in Fine Art in Korea at Ewha Womens University. Yesterday I lectured at Daegu University in Korea about self-taught artists and their unique techniques. I also  had several shows in Korea.  

 I am so glad that many art people here in Korea will see the Connor Meigs Art Award in my resume, so even in Korea, I can let them know about the meaningful award of my very first solo show.. I miss Omaha...

2012 Christine Fredendall: "Travels Home"

"Out the Front Door" Woodcut & Oil Pastel

Christine Fredendall is a 2011 graduate of the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor Michigan.

She writes; "My work is a reflection of my inner home. The spaces I create are portraits of the house within me, a place of security and belonging. Inspired by images of my childhood home, each space embodies my inner self. My work is propelled by my desire to always keep thoughts of home and identity with me; so that I am always home, wherever I may be.

Her works are mixed media, combining monotype, oil pastel and woodcut. The exhibit opens Saturday, September 8, 2012 with a reception for the artist from 1:30 o 4:30 pm, and runs through Sunday, Oct 7.

http://www.thereader.com/index.php/comments/everything_is_changing/#.Tle5sSzi5X4.email

Read the published review of Woohyun Shim's exhibit.

2011 Woohyun Shim: "The Story Starts Where it Ends...& Ends Where it Begins"

Regeneration

Woohyun Shim is a 2010 graduate of the Chicago Art Institute. Her paintings create a natural world which is reflective of the Buddhist philosophy that "everything is changing." Nothing is static. She interprets the world as it is in the process of endless reincarnation. Her work is about the endless duality of growth and decay, life and death, creation and destruction. Her spaces suggest both abstract and figurative images. They envision infinite possibilities of refinement and disorientation. Her paintings create spaces of transformative realms that bring about a mixture of Asian and Western cultures simultaneously. The exhibit will run from August 6 to September 6 ... with a reception for the artist on Saturday, August 6 from 1:30 to 4:30 pm.

2010 Matthew Farley: "Water Works"

Matthew Farley is a 2010 BFA graduate of the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.

In his sculptures and installations he seeks to transform the ubiquitous into the unique. He turns invisible everyday items into awareness and landmark status. "Water Works" features sculptures crafted from discarded plastic water bottles, labels and caps to explore and challenge the way in which we view and use water in our daily lives.

"Water Works" is displayed from October 9 through October 31, 2010. A reception for the artist is Saturday, October 9 from 1 to 4pm.

Recipients of the Connor Meigs Art Award

2009 - Stephanie Olesh: "Myth & Mundane"
Stephanie Olesh is an Omaha native and 2004 graduate of Central High School. She is a 2008 BFA graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design.



Stephanie's paintings mix nature and culture with fantasy and narrative stories. She writes, "I am driven by the rush I get from watching a movie, or listening to music while walking outside. It's possible to become invested in a story even just with the mood of a song. It effects how I see everything. the icons of our stories are present in our dreams and in our lives, and I feel most rewarded when myth and mundane overlap."




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2008 - Sariah Ha: "Configurations"
Sariah Ha is a California native and the second recipient of the Connor Meigs Art Award. Sariah graduated with a BFA from California State University/Fullerton in 2007.



She specializes in large-scale figurative drawings in the expressive tradition of Egon Schiele. Her web site - http://www.sariahha.com/ - explains her creative drive:
“The primary motivation behind my work is the release of emotion. Being able to express my feelings through a blank paper or canvas enables me to keep moving forward in life. Armed with a brush and a canvas, I can express the trapped inner workings of my soul. For me, the process is what matters: the experience of shaping my artwork, the sensation of my arm moving and the force of my fingers making the marks on the paper."



Sariah was born in the U.S. of Korean heritage. She sees herself straddling the line between the two cultures. This wavering sense of identity is evident in splintering lines that trace the contours of dark and moody figures. Cultural tension is further accented by her mixed media approach, which combines acrylic, ink, pastel, charcoal and oil.

“My works convey the roller coaster of emotions about finding self," She writes. "As an artist, I try to communicate my innermost thoughts and feelings through my subjects. The key to the expression of my own identity and cultural struggles is the use of Asian Americans as the subject of my work. As I struggle to define my identity, my artwork becomes an extension of these conflicts. My work is the voice I cannot use to speak, it is the dream I envision, and it is the expression of my belief.”
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2007 - Nick Shindell: "Under a Hot Sun"
Phoenix painter Nick Shindell is the first recipient of the Connor Meigs Art Award. Nick completed his BFA in Drawing and Painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2006.




While attending SAIC he primarily studied figurative drawing and painting as well as landscape painting. He paints with strong colors and expressive gestures that give interesting impressions of landscapes and domestic scenes.

Artistic Merit Award for Recent BFA Graduates

Robert Connor Meigs was promised a solo exhibit in the historic Florence Mill's ArtLoft gallery when he graduated from college. Connor died at age 19 on Christmas Eve, 2004, from injuries sustained in a car accident. Connor left a rich and varied legacy of artwork for someone so young. An exhibit of his artwork, "Retrospective Dialogues" was displayed during the summers of 2005 and 2006 in the ArtLoft. The Connor Meigs Art Award began in 2007 as a way to honor his talent and his unfulfilled dreams as an artist. The intent of the award is to give another talented young artist what Connor was offered but could not experience. An Omaha Central graduate, Connor was an art student at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas.


Connor Meigs, "Self Portrait", 2002 /17 years