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Photo courtesy of Heather Skaggs
Craig McMillin, a ceramic artist from Folsom, Louisiana, won the best of show award at the 2021 Bluff Park Art Show in Hoover, Alabama, on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Caitlyn Bintel, 14, with Girl Scout Troop 746, applies paint to the hand of Sam Wade, 9, as Wade’s younger brother Collin, 4, waits for his turn, before adding their hand prints to a poster in the children’s art zone at the Bluff Park Art Show on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Sam Wade, 9, presses his painted hand to a poster, as Caitlyn Bintel, 14, with Girl Scout Troop 746, watches from across the table in the children’s art zone at the Bluff Park Art Show on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Folk art pieces by Scott McQueen Folk Art, based in Northport, Ala., are displayed as guests browse the various tents at the Bluff Park Art Show on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Children’s paintings hang on a barricade as they dry at the children’s art area during the Bluff Park Art Show on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
John Beck Troha, 4, looks at an array of metal sculptures, crafted by William Colburn, an iron artist with Iron Age Studio in Birmingham, during the Bluff Park Art Show on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Guests look through photographic prints, by Arne Croll, during the Bluff Park Art Show on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Children paint in the children’s art zone during the Bluff Park Art Show on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Olivia Brown, 6, uses a dropper to apply rubbing alcohol to the permanent marker drawing she mad on a face mask in the children’s art zone during the Bluff Park Art Show on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
People relax on rocks and walk through the various artist’s booths during the Bluff Park Art Show on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Guests browse through the various artist’s booths at the Bluff Park Art Show on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Omar Lane, 5, paints in the children’s art zone during the Bluff Park Art Show on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
A variety of wooden bowls, crafted by John Sowell, are displayed on tables during the Bluff Park Art Show on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
John Beck Troha, 4, looks at an array of metal sculptures, crafted by William Colburn, an iron artist with Iron Age Studio in Birmingham, during the Bluff Park Art Show on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Olivia Brown, 6, uses a dropper to apply rubbing alcohol to the permanent marker drawing she mad on a face mask in the children’s art zone during the Bluff Park Art Show on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
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Photo by Erin Nelson.
Leslie Collins looks at various wooden bowls and plates, crafted by John Sowell, during the Bluff Park Art Show on Saturday, Oct. 2, 2021. Photo by Erin Nelson.
A ceramic artist from Folsom, Louisiana, was the top winner at the 2021 Bluff Park Art Show Saturday.
Craig McMillin, who has been working in clay for more than 30 years and specializes in crystalline glazes, had one of his pieces chosen as the best in the show and will have it added to the Bluff Park Art Association’s permanent collection. McMillin won $2,500.
This year’s show featured 130 artists from eight states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Virginia, said Heather Skaggs, a board member and spokeswoman for the Bluff Park Art Association.
The artists showcased a wide variety of mediums, including painting, woodworking, pottery, jewelry, leather, textiles, metal, glass, photography and mixed media, Skaggs said. Sixteen of them were first-time participants in the show, she said.
This year’s judge was Cynthia Malinick, the director and chief curator for Auburn University’s Jule Collins Smith Museum of Fine Art.
Attendees had a chance to browse through and purchase artwork from the artists spread out across Shades Cliff Park, listen to live music and dine from food trucks. There also was a Kids Art Hut sponsored by Girl Scout Troop 746 for children ages 4 and older at a cost of $6 per hour.
Here is the complete list of the awards given out this year, the winners and the type of art for which they won:
- $2,500 Best in Show: Bluff Park Art Association Permanent Collection Purchase Award — Craig McMillin of Folsom, Louisiana, ceramics
- $1,000 August A. and Cary Moore Memorial Purchase Award — Ajanaka Obayana of Decatur, Georgia, jewelry
- $1,000 Award honoring 2021 Show Judge Cynthia Malinick — Robin Rodgers of Smyrna, Georgia, ceramics
- $1,000 Hugh Dye Memorial Award — Lucy Thomas of Fayetteville, Tennessee, painting
- $1,000 Bluff Park Art Association Board of Directors Award — Jessica Broom of Birmingham, painting
- $1,000 Jim Johnson, Hugh Dye, Cary Moore and Donna Leigh Jackins Memorial Award — Larry Allen of Leeds, ceramics
- $500 Hoover Arts Alliance Award — Cindy Barr of Mountain Brook, painting
- $500 Henley Hager Award — Sarah Mason of Vestavia Hills, 2-D and 3-D mixed media
- $500 Anna Sullivan Price Insurance Facilities Inc. Award — Becky Smith of Hoover, photography/digital art
- $300 Popular Vote Award — Terry Beckham of Hoover, painting
Click here to purchase photos from the event.
Editor's note: This article was updated at 7:17 p.m. on Oct. 4 to indicate that the August A. and Cary Moore Memorial Purchase Award was changed to $1,000 instead of another amount previously indicated and on Oct. 29 to correct the name of the Henley Hager Award.
