By Howard Koplowitz
An overflow crowd packed into the Officers Club at Fort Totten Sunday for the 10th-annual celebration of the arts sponsored by the Bayside Historical Society.
More than 40 artists, most of them from Queens, had work on display for the judged competition, with works ranging from oil to acrylic to mixed media and watercolor.
Through the years, the competition’s word of mouth has grown and it has been receiving entries from outside the borough, according to Alison McKay, the exhibit’s coordinator.
“As the show has grown and gotten larger, we’ve had people from other parts, not just Bayside,” she said.
Most of the collection’s artwork was on sale, ranging from $65 for a photograph to a $5,000 acrylic painting. About seven works were not for sale.
A standing-room-only crowd saw Adam Hardy, a native of Birmingham, England, who now lives in Whitestone, win first prize in the competition for his mixed-media collage depicting York, England.
“It was a total surprise,” he said of the blue ribbon, noting the collage took two months to complete. “It was a real boost to win. I hope this gets me started for the year.”
Hardy said the collage was inspired by a recent trip he took to York with his wife, Marie.
“We go to Europe once a year because my family are there,” he said. “A lot of my artwork is of European locations.”
The crowd was so large that a few people had to witness the awards being handed out in an adjacent room.
Jim Beukelaer’s acrylic painting depicting 8th Avenue and 21st Street won second place and Carol Bruder’s oil painting, “Clarke Gardens,” took third.
Honorable mentions went to Richard Loffler for his steel rollerskate sculpture and Diane Lieberman for her monoprint painting, “Nude 1.”
“I had never been to Fort Totten before, so I was excited to be invited to do the show,” said Lieberman, who teaches watercolor, drawing and wood block printing at the National Art League in Douglaston and had at least two students submit work for the show.
“I’m hoping to get a price and buyers,” Lieberman said.
Bayside photographer Charlene McLaughlin-Eisenkraft photos of tulips were among the 42 works on display.
“I think [tulips are] the most emotional flower,” she said. “I think people should give tulips for Valentine’s Day instead of roses.”
One photograph, titled “Kiss,” shows two tulips that look like they are kissing each other while the other photograph, “Brothers,” shows one tulip leaning against the other.
McLaughlin-Eisenkraft, who is working on a book about tulips, said the flowers’ arrangements in her photographs were natural.
“They show me they have personality,” she said.
The artwork will be on display in the Officers Club in Fort Totten until Jan. 30.
Reach reporter Howard Koplowitz by e-mail at hkoplowitz@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4573.
