National "Deaf Art" winners announced in Nashville - NEWS

From: League for the Deaf & Hard of Hearing - Feb 7, 2006

For more information:
Sharon Limpus
615-599-0080 (home office)/615-554-9938 (cell)
sharon.limpus@comcast.net

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

National winners of de’via art show announced

International panel of jurors chooses “Deaf Bird” as Best of Show

[Nashville, Tenn. – February 7, 2006] – The winners of the Second Annual National Juried De’VIA Competition (De’VIA 2006) were announced recently in Nashville, Tenn., the exclusive host city of the juried competition is considered to be the only one of its kind in the United States.

De’VIA, (Deaf View/Image Art), is a fine art genre. The competition targeted artists nationwide from within the Deaf community consisting of individuals who are Deaf, hard of hearing, or who have a strong connection with the Deaf Community such as family members or interpreters. Winners in the Professional and Amateur Divisions competition include:

• Professional Division
First Place
"Long Cloth Scene #3"
Bannon Fu, Santa Monica, Calif.

Second Place (tie)
"Between 2 Worlds"        "Snakey Spiral with Funny Jumprope"
Robin Taylor, New York City, N.Y.         Mari Newman, Minneapolis, Minn.

Honorable Mention
"Teenage Isolation (Fashion Awareness)"
Robert Walker, Little Rock, Ark.

• Amateur Division
First Place
"innards"
Meriah Hudson, Oakland, Calif.

Second Place
"Scorphinger"
Ian Guzman, Livermore, Calif. at the California School of the Deaf - Freemont

Third Place
"Forced to Speak"
Sabrina Ferguson, Livermore, Calif. at the California School of the Deaf - Freemont

• Best of Show
"Deaf Bird"
Scott Grandt, Indianapolis, Ind.

Grandt is a seventh grade student at the Indiana School of the Deaf.

The De’VIA Exhibition highlights two and three-dimensional art from 16 professional and amateur adult artists representing nine states. They are the finalists from a juried competition of more than 70 pieces of artwork from across the country. Cash prizes totaled $6,000.

The national De’VIA exhibit is located at the Vanderbilt University Hospital - Mezzanine Gallery, 1211 22nd Avenue South, Nashville. A separate exhibit, the De’VIA Youth Competition, features artwork and photography from 19 young people from Tennessee. It is shown at the Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt, 2200 Children's Way, Nashville. Free and open to the public, both De’VIA exhibits will run through April 30.

The competition and exhibit are presented by the League. MCI Global Relay-Tennessee Relay Service is the main Event Sponsor. Vanderbilt University Medical Center’s Department of Cultural Enrichment is the Exhibit Host.

Exhibit catalogs as well as a number of pieces from the De’VIA exhibit are for sale. For more information about these, the De’VIA art show or the League, call 615-248-8828 (V/TTY) or visit www.leagueforthedeaf.com.

### Finalists Professional and Amateur Divisions Second Annual National Juried De’VIA Competition (De’VIA 2006) Nashville, Tennessee

Professional Division
Susan Dupor - Rise on the Hunter’s Moon
Wisconsin

Bannon Fu - Long Cloth Scene # 3
California

Tommy Gallagher – Enculturation
California

Rhiannon Gurley – Detention
Illinois

Gina Helms - Silent, No Mas!
Tennessee

Mari Newman - Snakey Spiral with Furry Jumprope
Minnesota

Ken McBroom - All that Jazz
Tennessee

Ken McBroom - Art Work
Tennessee

Ken McBroom - Raising Faith
Tennessee

Robin Taylor - Between 2 Worlds
New York

Robert Walker - Sauna Conversation (Who are They?)
Arkansas

Robert Walker - Teenage Isolation (Fashion Awardness)
Arkansas

Amateur Division
Moni Brown – CONFUSION
California

Sabrina Ferguson - Forced to Speak
California

Scott Grandt - Deaf Bird
Indiana

Ian Guzman – Scorphinger
California

Cara Hawkinson - Silence of Pixie
Connecticut

Meriah Hudson – innards
California

Meriah Hudson - interrupted
California

Adam Lemay - Imagery of Me “I hate a spider”
Connecticut

###