Sometimes awards come in big packages. Sometimes not. But big or little, those awards can be well deserved.
Scion Photo Contest big winner
The big package award? Phil “Filthy” Jackson got First Place in the Events category from the Vice and Scion 2009 Photo Contest. Yippee. It’s Philly from Philly and we love his photos documenting the skaterboard life. (He was in the ID show we curated for Projects Gallery!) Portrait and fashion photographer Ben Ritter judged the event pictures.
A smaller pond but what a winner!
Michael Kalmbach has been kicking up a storm in Wilmington as a great advocate for arts down there. He just won a 2009 Christi Award for Outstanding Arts Advocacy. And we at artblog love a fellow missionary for art.
When Kalmbach got his MFA from the University of Delaware a couple of years ago, he found he couldn’t find a studio at his price range, nor could he find a place to show his own art. So he created the New Wilmington Art Association to support Wilmington’s emerging artists. Since its founding, NWAA membership has grown to include more than 70 artists, has held 13 exhibitions in downtown Wilmington and has partnered with the Buccini/Pollin Group in the use of their vacant spaces to attract more activity to downtown.
Some of this I know because Kalmbach is also a tireless promoter of NWAA, and some of those shows have looked pretty interesting.
So double congratulations!!!