The Manitoba Rural Northern Juried Art Show is now over - and two area artists have placed in the top three of a province-wide online vote.
The Manitoba Arts Network announced the winners of the show’s Voters’ Choice Awards Oct. 30, showing the overall winner of the online poll as Flin Flon artist Rosimeire Anjos. Anjos, a multi-disciplinary artist known mostly for her portrait sketches, won with her portrait of fellow NorVA Centre artist Karen Clark. In third place was Denare Beach-based photographer and digital artist Brandy Bloxom with her piece, "Through the good times and bad". Anjos received 2,698 votes through the poll, while Bloxom received 2,027 votes.
This year’s northern and rural show had some similarities to exhibitions from years past, but was held entirely online instead of having a physical, in-person gallery set up in Winnipeg. Each year, artists from smaller communities enter pieces in regional shows for a chance to earn a spot at the rural and northern show. This year, the northern art show that determines which entries are shown in Winnipeg - the Northern Juried Art Show - was cancelled due to COVID-19.
Typically, attendees of the Winnipeg show can vote on which pieces are their favourites in-person - much like the rest of the show, that vote was moved online this year, opening up the vote to art aficionados around the world.
“Audiences had access to view the artwork and purchase works 24/7 with an entirely new and innovative program to Manitoba Artwork’s 2020 programming,” reads a Manitoba Arts Network press release on the vote.
“Artworks covered a diverse range of media, including painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, ceramics, mixed media and textiles.”
