MONTEVALLO – Karen Graffeo, professor of art at the University of Montevallo and Fulbright scholar, recently won the $7,500 grand prize in Energen’s 15th annual art competition in Birmingham. Her entry, “She Flew West,” competed against almost 200 entries in the juried competition.
Proceeds from the 2014 Energen Art Competition, plus a contribution from Energen, will go to Red Mountain Theatre Company.
A free exhibition of the works in the competition is open to the public Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. until 5 p.m., through March 21 at Energen Plaza, 605 Richard Arrington, Jr. Blvd. No., in Birmingham.
Graffeo’s works also will be featured in an exhibition titled 3000 Dreams Explained, to be held March 23 – May 9 at the Tennessee Valley Museum of Art in Tuscumbia.
Included in the exhibition will be 20 large-scale, mixed media photographic drawings on paper, metal and silk, and photographs of the sky and water, all inspired by a crumbling, discarded book of the same title, found by the artist in a market.
This book of dreams became a kind of journal and experiment in language and imagery for Graffeo during her 2013 Fulbright Fellowship in Romania. Several pieces are photographs of specific pages from the book, whose words inspired drawings – drawings which Graffeo intends to be personal hieroglyphics or visual shorthand of her own dreams and daily experiences.
The Tennessee Valley Museum of Art is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday, 1 to 3 p.m. Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for students. Group rates are available, and Sundays are free.
For additional information, contact the Tennessee Valley Art Association (TVAA) at 256-383-0533 or at www.tvaa.net.
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