Contact: Sarah Williamson 917.756.5477

email: sarahwilliamson43@yahoo.com

WINSTON-SALEM, NC, June 20, 2010 – The Historic West End ARTSfest announces the jury panel for the 2011 artist selection process. The application window for artists is open until July 1, 2011.

ARTSfest is a bi-annual, juried, fine arts and crafts fair held outdoors in beautiful Grace Court, in the historic West End neighborhood of Winston-Salem scheduled for Saturday, September 24th, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with a rain date of Sunday, September 25th. The event features about 70 artists showcasing fine sculpture, fabric art, pottery, painting, jewelry, and mixed media. Local musicians serenade festival-goers throughout the day from the Grace Court gazebo, and children can participate in a special arts and crafts area. Local restaurants provide specialty foods and drink. ARTSfest draws an estimated 2,000 attendees from across NC and neighboring states. The event is free for attendees.

The four-juror panel consists of award-winning art professionals who are first-time jurors for the Historic West End ARTSfest. The blind jury process takes place over two weeks in July 2011.

Meet the 2011 Jurors:

Sharon Hardin: Hardin has worked as an Artist-in-Education with state Arts Councils in Illinois, South Carolina and Georgia. She served on the panel of selection for Visual Artists for the Georgia Council for the Arts. Hardin has also participated in grant programs through the Winston-Salem, N.C. Arts Council/Forsyth County Schools; working as an Artist Mentor in area middle and high schools. She has created programs integrating art with the science curriculum for Summit School and Whitaker Elementary School in Winston-Salem. Hardin has been a juror for several exhibitions, including the National Watercolor Exhibition in Springfield, Illinois. As a Board Member, Exhibition Chair and Jury Committee Chair for Associated Artists of Winston-Salem, Hardin has participated in organizing community art exhibits. She has curated several area exhibitions, including Downtown Arts District Association (DADA) at Salem College and a traveling photography exhibition, “Sacred Spaces.” She has exhibited her own work throughout the U.S. and Japan, and is included in several private and corporate collections. Hardin’s watercolors are published in the ART TALK series by Rosalind Ragans, Glencoe Publishing. Hardin has been a visiting artist and taught for nine years as an Adjunct at the North Carolina School for the Arts. She is currently an Adjunct Professor of Art at Salem College and Coordinator of the Davis Gallery of the Sawtooth School for Visual Art.

Tamara & Ron Propst: The Propsts are from Hickory, NC, and attended art school at East Carolina University in the 60's. Ron became a resident at Penland School of Crafts in 1967. After his residency, he established his own studio by the Toe River Bridge at Penland. The Probst's moved to Winston-Salem and became the reproduction potters for Old Salem and Ron established his studio at the West End house. Ron also studied in depth the tilemaking and production of the tile stoves that the early Moravians used. In 1983, Ron moved his studio to 6th Street in the space where 6th & Vine is now located. Tamara was the Centershop Manager at the Southeast Center for Contemporary Art (SECCA). The Probst's own The Other Half Gallery on Trade Street, Winston-Salem. Ron continues to produce wonderful pottery and special clay commissions across the country, as well as commissions for Moravian tile stoves.

Sara Sloan Stine: Stine has a BFA in Art & Design from Iowa State University, Ames, IA, with a concentration in Craft Design and an emphasis in Metals. She has been Metals/Glass/Wood Program Coordinator at the Sawtooth School for Visual Art since 1987. Sara is a certified PMC Instructor and teaches jewelry fabrication and PMC classes across NC. She was past Metals Technician at the Parson's School of Design summer program in Lake Placid, NY where she worked with metalsmiths Chuck Evans, Tim McCreight, Mary Ann Scherr and Genadi Osmerkin. She curated the national juried exhibition "Metal Media" in the early 1990s and has participated in individual, group and juried exhibitions. She is a founding member of the North Carolina Society of Goldsmiths and served on their board for many years as Secretary, Newsletter editor and Workshop Coordinator. She has been box office manager for the Carolina Chamber Symphony and produced printed materials for non-profits including the CCS and Piedmont Craftsmen, where she's also served on their membership jury.

For more information about ARTSfest 2011, and to apply to exhibit, please go to www.artsfestwinstonsalem.com.

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