Neddy At Cornish Announces Recipients Of The $25,000 Neddy At Cornish 2012 Art Award

The Neddy at Cornish today announced the recipients of the 2012 Neddy at Cornish art awards: Stacey Rozich (Painting) and Eirik Johnson (Open Medium). Both artists will receive an unrestricTed Grant of $25,000 and will be featured in the Neddy at Cornish exhibition along with the additional six finalists.

Rozich creates a dialogue in her paintings to illustrate how cultural folktales affect and manifest themselves in contemporary society. Johnson's work in photography addresses the intersections of environmental, social and economic issues, which reflect connections between communities and the surrounding natural world.

The awardees were chosen by Ian Berry, Associate Director for Curatorial Affairs and Curator at The Tang Teaching Museum and Art Gallery at Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY. A specialist in contemporary art, Berry has organized numerous groundbreaking exhibits, and continues a deep engagement with teaching and writing. Berry visited Seattle April 19-23 to conduct studio visits with each of the finalists. In reporting his choices, Berry said the two recipients "had a clarity to their current and proposed projects and inspiring collaborative elements to their work that connect them to ideas of community in important ways."

More information about the 2012 recipients can be found on their websites:
blog.staceyrozich.com
www.eirikjohnson.com

The Neddy at Cornish exhibition will take place in the Main Gallery at Cornish College of the Arts. Included in the show will be the work of all 2012 finalists, including: Gala Bent, Cynthia Camlin, and Jeremy Mangan in Painting; and Susie Lee, Lead Pencil Studio, and James Coupe in Open Medium.

June 6 – July 18, 2012
Opening Reception: June 6, 5 – 8 pm
1000 Lenora Street
1st Floor Gallery
Gallery Hours 12 – 5, Mon – Sat

Please contact Karen L. Bystrom or Lindsay Walter with any press inquiries (see information above) or visit www.cornish.edu. For additional information regarding the Neddy at Cornish program, please contact Ellen Ito, Neddy at Cornish Program Assistant at 206-726-5116 or email at eito@cornish.edu.

About Ned Behnke and the Neddy
Ned Behnke was a beloved member of the Behnke Family and a renowned and talented painter. Ned had a passion for the arts that extended beyond his own work. He appreciated the myriad forms that art takes and the way in which art can foster a conscious, vital and more livable world.

After Ned’s untimely death, Shari D. Behnke founded the Neddy in 1996 as a way to honor both his legacy as a visual artist and his deep connection to the Seattle art community. Under the auspices of the Behnke Foundation, the Neddy has become one of the most important art awards in Seattle. The artists who have been recognized have a unique vision and a strong passion for their art as well as for the transformative potential of art to enliven and enrich the world in which they live and practice.

In 2011, the Behnke Foundation transferred the program to Cornish College of the Arts to house and administer the Neddy at Cornish artist award program. Building on the history Ned shared with the College and on the shared commitment of the Foundation and the College to invigorate and sustain communities through art, the Neddy at Cornish program will continue to make two substantial and unrestricted awards to Seattle artists each year. To assist the College, an advisory board of regional arts professionals will offer their external perspective and expertise.

A pioneer in arts education, Cornish College of the Arts sprang from the remarkable vision of Nellie Cornish, a woman determined to cultivate the arts in Seattle when it was scarcely more than a frontier town. Her philosophy of educating the artist through exposure to all the arts was progressive at the time, and continues to be innovative today. The College offers Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees in Art, Dance, Design, Performance Production and Theater, and a Bachelor of Music degree.  It is one of three private colleges in the United States focusing on both the performing and visual arts, and the only college of its kind in the Northwest. The College is accredited by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, and the National Association of Schools of Art and Design.