Juror's Statement--Frank Owen
"It was exhausting and exhilarating to view the entries in this year's Golden Foundation competition. It was a daunting task to choose amongst the many outstanding entries and reach a final list of award recipients. But the entire event was a wonderful learning experience for me, a painter and a teacher of painting. I obtained a cross section view of the vigor and rigor that abounds in the medium of painting in this country. It was vivid proof that the impulse to deepen life by creating and expressing meaning through paint is a vital and growing one. The range and diversity of this impulse was remarkable. There were strong statements in every channel that has been cut through time and the history of art. It was clear that the tradition of representational painting is continuing and in highly competent and interesting ways. I noted, too, that there is a developing wave of painters who are creating loose fields of mixed images that share a concept of what an abstract painting space can be and do. Several of these artists made the short list. Most of all, though, I was touched and moved by the commitment and belief that all of this work expressed. I thank all of you for your effort. I also thank the fine people at Golden Artist Colors and the Foundation who have created a competition that is considerate and professional in all ways. It was a privilege and a pleasure to have served as a juror and to have seen so much that was heartfelt and so much that was good."
Selection Committee - 2005
Andrea Inselmann
Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art
Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Mary Murray
Curator of Contemporary Art
Munson William Proctor Art Institute
Utica, NY
Frank Owen
Professor of Art
University of Vermont
Burlington, VT
