Over 200 people attended the opening reception on March 24 for the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine’s 25th International Exhibition on Animals in Art. The exhibition will be on display in the School of Veterinary Medicine Library on Skip Bertman Drive through April 29.

Judge and Juror for this year’s event is William A. Fagaly, The Francoise Billion Richardson Curator of African Art at the New Orleans Museum of Art. In his 45-year tenure at NOMA, he has organized over 80 art exhibitions. He has also produced a number of exhibitions around the U.S., including exhibitions at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the Museum of American Folk Art in New York, N.Y. Fagaly is the founder of both the Friends of Contemporary Art in 1986 and in 1985 the Friends of Ethnographic Art at NOMA.

He was a co-founder in 1976 of the Contemporary Arts Center in New Orleans. In 1984, he served as Special Museum Consultant to both the Liberian and Vatican Pavilions for the Louisiana World Exposition. He has also served on selection panels and as a grant reviewer for the National Endowment for the Arts, the United States General Services Administration, the State Arts Councils of Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, and Wyoming, and the Southern Federation for Arts.

He serves on the board of United States Biennial, Inc., the Newcomb Art Gallery and A Studio in the Woods. Fagaly is a 1962 graduate of Indiana University in Bloomington with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Art and Art History. In 1967, he received a Master of Arts degree in Art History, also from Indiana University.

Two-hundred and seventeen (217) artists from 40 states, Canada and Mexico submitted 506 entries for the show. Of those 506 entries, 70 were accepted for the exhibition. The exhibition is held annually and is open to all artists 18 years of age or older. All media are welcomed and accepted; the work must be original.

A $1,000 Best of Show award will be given and one entry will be chosen to appear on the cover of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Other awards include the Judge’s Award, Honorable Mention, the People’s Choice Award, and the School of Veterinary Medicine Awards.

Seventeen of the 49 artists were in attendance at the reception, including Baton Rouge artists Judi Betts, Ellen Case, Clay Coleman, Carol Creel, Anne Faust, Jane Flowers, Veni Harlan, Laura Hoffmann and Krista Ann Roche (Debbie Denstorff could not attend, but her daughter attended in her place).

Other Louisiana artists in attendance included Bob Cornes of Thibodaux, Michael Elliott-Smith of Alexandria, Kathy Reeves of Denham Springs, and Janice Turner of Lake Charles. Traveling to the opening reception from outside Louisiana were Joanna Zeller Quentin of Dallas, Texas; Elaine Sampson of Sacramento, Calif.; Milo Stephens of Picayune, Miss.; and Joanna Fox Stone of Cumming, Ga.

The $1,000 Best in Show award went to Dede LaRue from Denver, Colo., for her mixed media piece entitled Scapegoat. Dr. Kurt Matushek, Schaumburg, Ill., editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association, chose Judie Betts’s watercolor, entitled Cattle Call, to appear on a future cover of the journal; Cattle Call also received the SVM Bulletin Award and will be on the cover of the LSU SVM’s next Annual Bulletin (course catalog). Ms. Betts is from Baton Rouge.

Dean Peter Haynes selected Readying the Herd, a photograph by Dr. Ashley Stokes (LSU SVM 2001, 2003) for the Dean’s Choice Award; this piece will be purchased for display in the LSU SVM. The Art Show Promotion Award went to Dede LaRue’s Shiny Pig. This piece will be used to promote the 2013 Animals in Art exhibition.

The People’s Choice Award will be named at a later date.

Judge’s Awards were presented for the following pieces:

· Micro Baby, photograph, by J.T. Blatty, New Orleans, La.;

· Ron, colored pencil, by Kim Hamby, Blairsville, Ga.;

· Dachshund Bowl, ceramic, by Julie Otto, Hazel Green, Wis.;

· Shiny Pig, mixed media with colored mirror mosaic, by Dede LaRue, Denver, Colo.; and

· Knee Deep, casein on panel, by Molly Poole, New Boston, N.H.



Honorable Mention Awards were presented for the following pieces:

· Cherokee Charlie Goes West, watercolor and gouache, by Bill Bryant, Natchitoches, La.;

· Cattle Dog Roundup, French pastel, by Rachel DiAndrea, Altoona, Pa.;

· Down on the Bayou, photograph, by Michael Elliott-Smith, Alexandria, La.;

· Blue Dog, photograph, by Veni Harlan, Baton Rouge, La.;

· Off Season, pastel, by Norma Johnsen, Kennebunk, Maine;

· Attack Cat, photography, by Martin Pothier, Abilene, Texas;

·Fresh Catch, photograph, by Kathy Reeves, Denham Springs, La.;

· Readying the Herd by Dr. Ashley Stokes (LSU SVM 2001, 2003), Honolulu, Hawaii;

· Dolphin Pod, photograph, by Clay Coleman, Baton Rouge, La.; and

· Shadow, pencil and ink on paper, by Jeanette Martone, Deer Park, N.Y.



Members of the LSU SVM Art Show Committee are Christine Mitchell, art show committee co-chair; Denise Westphal, art show committee co-chair; Dean Peter F. Haynes, Dean Emeritus Michael G. Groves, Derek Gordon, Director of Public Relations Ginger Guttner, LSU Foundation Senior Director of Development Michael D. Robinson, Nadine Carter Russell, Associate Dean for Advancement & Strategic Initiatives David Senior, and Tutta Vetter.



The exhibition is open to the public during library hours and will run through April 29. All of the art pieces are for sale, and a 20 percent commission on each sale goes to the School of Veterinary Medicine.

For more information, please contact Christine Mitchell at 225-578-9796 or artshow@vetmed.lsu.edu.