Chaffee Arts reported a total of 1,000 visitors to the Open Awards Show at the Buena Vista Heritage Museum from August 21-29. Admission to the art exhibition was free as Chaffee Arts covered the cost of admitting visitors to the museum.

“We are very happy to announce that this is the most attended art exhibition we have seen in recent years,” said Terry Stevens, President of Chaffee Arts. “Visitors appreciated the great talent of our local artists.

There was also a record for 13 works of art sold at the show.

“We are so happy that our mission to help artists exhibit and sell their art has been accomplished with this show,” said Stevens.

Local artist Michelle Mitchell has taken up the torch this year after taking a multi-year hiatus. She entered with two pastels, “Canada Goose Gosling” and “St. Elmo Town Hall.”

“I’ve always loved painting Saint-Elmo,” Mitchell said. “I’ve painted Saint Elmo, I think, four different times now.”

“Canada Goose Gosling” took about 10 hours to complete and “St. Elmo Town Hall” lasted 60 hours. Time and effort paid off when “St. Elmo Town Hall” won first place for Pastels and Best in Show.

“I was excited, I was surprised,” she said. “I am very happy.”

Having just moved to Poncha Springs 4 years ago, Judy Sprague entered this show for the third time with two pastels of her own.

“Mountain Beauty” is inspired by the beauty of the views of Mount Shavano and the Sawatch Range from her home. The other painting, “Deep Night Sky” depicts a sunset – Arizona was the setting she had in mind – and won third place for Pastels.

Sprague said she didn’t like pastels the first time she used them due to their clutter and mess. But the more she used them, the more she began to like them.

“I’ve been making art since I was a little girl and majored in art in college, but now I’m almost 70,” she said. “You can throw away 100 coins for every five you keep.”

In her 60 years as an artist, local Jude Silva has been a printmaker for 15 years. She has participated in this art exhibition since 1997 and always appreciates judges who embrace the most abstract works like hers.

One of his prints, “Marks on Glass 1” A / P 5, received third place for engraving. The other, “Net Vessel” received first place and the Judge’s Choice award.

“I use a process called solar etching that develops with UV light,” says Silva. “This particular print, I made two solar plates. One of them went really well and the other failed. When I got into the print aspect, I probably did six or eight. impressions before proposing this one, which I was really satisfied with.

“For years, I made nets. Black and white was something lying around the studio. I didn’t do this, but I love the way the threads overlap and the way the light passes through them. I decided to try and burn a plate with that and see what I got, ”she said.

Chaffee Arts sold a total of 245 Evelyn Gottschall Baker “Study for Shed” raffle tickets at the show. Anne Armstrong brought the coin home as the raffle winner.

“We look forward to an even bigger show in 2022, as the online registration process we launched this year will be even easier next year,” Stevens said. “Technology has made this year’s show easier than in the past and the use of social media certainly contributed to the large turnout. “

The Open Awards Show 2022 is scheduled at the museum from June 4 to 12.