Friday, June 3, 2011

Interviewed! - LAI Interview Contest Winners - Round One

This spring, Local Artist Interviews held an Interview Contest. A bit of a weird concept since interviews usually are not competitive activities, but they can be when you rate them on readability, accessibility, how well the words clarified the art work, and also the quality of the artwork itself, such as it is when looking at a jpg on a computer screen.

The jury consisted of Michael McGraw, photographer and muscle behind www.Local-Artist-Interviews.com, Lindsy Halleckson, painter/installation artist who was also a 2010 featured interview, and Christina Schmid, who has taught at MCAD and CVA, as well as the co-editor of Quodlibetica where she writes about art. Lindsy and Christina both put in a tremendous amount of time reading and I am in their debt. Please visit their websites and check out their projects and keep them on your artistic radar.

Forty four people submitted interviews for the contest. I was actually expecting 100 participants based on feedback of artists saying they were "definitely" going to submit something, and my belief that every artist would want some free exposure on a website dedicated to only Minnesota-based visual artists. After taking the time to read and evaluate 44 interviews, I know know that 44 is a lot.

One result I did not expect when I started this project was how quickly the archive of links to artist websites would grow. Currently, www.Local-Artist-Interviews.com contains links to over 400 websites of Minnesota artists just from mention of these artists in the bodies of the interviews. Scroll down to the "tags" section at the bottom of the website and you are likely to find an artist you know and will like.

And now, the results are in! The scores were very close for the majority of the participants, and there are prizes to be awarded for about half of the people who submitted. But even those who did not win have their interviews online at LAI to promote and link to as they see fit. Even artists who are not yet successful have things to say.

The contest winners will be announced in three separate posts. Contest winners will receive memberships to the Walker, SooVac, NEMAA and the like, and also may win an artist consultation with Springboard for the Arts or a subscription to Shots Magazine. Much thanks to all of the sponsors. My hope is that by gathering prizes only of Minnesota arts resources, we may learn about some organizations we may have known little about before.

The Grand Prize winner for best interview will receive TWELVE PRIZES! One of each prize offered.

The first batch of contest winners are as follows in random order:



Membership Winner...Marc Lamm - Woodworking



Interview Consultation Winner...Talia Carlton - Comic Artist


Subscription Winner...Kathrine McDowell - Photographer
Membership Winner...Judy Westergard - Painter

Membership Winner...Shannyn Joy Potter - Sculptor

Interview Contest Winner...James Dankert - Painter


Membership Winner...Anna Miller - Painter


Membership Winner...Kate Johnson - Painter

Membership Winner...Todd Peterson


Membership Winner...Mai Malone Jennings

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