Maury County Government announces courthouse art competition winners

To mark the 120^th anniversary of the Maury County Courthouse, Maury County government applied for and was awarded an Arts Build Communities (ABC) grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission.

The grant funded a juried art competition focused on the Maury County Courthouse, which was conceived in 1904 under the direction of local son, and nationally recognized architect J.E.R. Carpenter.

“This art competition was designed to bring some recognition to one of the most beautiful courthouses in the state,” said Maury County Archives Director, Tom Price, who headed the grant project.

“With the opening of a new justice center later this year, many residents have been asking ‘What will happen to our historic courthouse?’ This art competition, opened to all Maury County citizens, allowed people to express their thoughts on the matter through art,” Price said.

Over 40 art submissions were judged by four artist-judges, including photographers Sarah Gilliam and Ross Jaynes, sculptor Jennifer Grisham and painter/sculptor James Spearman.

There were four categories of winners, including elementary, middle school, high school and adult as well as a grand prize winner.

With no high school submissions, the winners are as follows:

Elementary

3^rd Place: Baleigh Fowler

2^nd Place: Emma Waltman

1^st Place: Arlo Schminke

Middle School

3^rd Kendall Atwater

2^nd Hadley Tracey

1^st Ali Nicholson

Adult                                                             

3^rd Place: Ashley Barnett

2nd Place: Mary Lehner

1^st Place: David Brady

Grand Prize Winner: Randy Walters

All of the art submitted for the competition will be on exhibition at the Pryor Art Gallery at Columbia State Community College from May 13 through June 14.  A gallery reception will open the exhibition at 4 p.m. on May 13.

The grant was made possible through the Tennessee Arts Commission, the SouthCentral Tennessee Development District as well as with the collaboration of the Maury County Visitor’s Bureau, Columbia State Community College, and the Maury County Finance Department.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Maury County Government announces courthouse art competition winners