 Home | Recent News | Home | 28th Annual Art is Ageless Awards Winners 06 Oct 2008 Inspiration Found in the Works of Older ArtistsWICHITA, Kan. – Oct 06, 2008 – Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America (Presbyterian Manors) announced the winners of its 28th annual Art Is Ageless™ and Spirit of Art is Ageless competitions including Marcella Bechard of Morganville and Neva Anderson of Clay Center. This year’s juried annual contest featured 102 works of art created by artists ranging in age from 65 to 90. The 2008 Art is Ageless™ winners were chosen from local exhibits held at Clay Center and the 16 other PMMA locations in Kansas and Missouri in August 2008. Winners were chosen in seven different categories – collage, drawing, painting, photography, quilting, sculpting and stained glass. Each will be featured on the 2009 Art is Ageless™ calendar or a postcard or note card that will be sold as a fundraiser to continue the Art is Ageless™ program and to extend programs to encourage creative expression and foster artistic talents and interests in seniors throughout the Presbyterian Manors system. Numerous examples of artists who began, continued or improved their talents later in life include Carl Sandburg, Pablo Casals, Grandma Moses, Georgia O'Keeffe and Elizabeth Layton. While Art is Ageless participants might not become luminaries in the art world, their artistic expression is no less intriguing and inspirational. “Here at Presbyterian Manor we believe that there is no ‘age limit’ for creativity, no deadline for great achievement and no real restrictions on what can be done as you age,” said Bill Ward, president and CEO of Presbyterian Manors. “The artists who participate in Art Is Ageless™ every year and their works are great examples of what our residents and community members can accomplish by living life on their terms.” The 2009 Art is Ageless™ calendar will showcase 12 works with four runner-up pieces represented on postcards and on the calendar’s back cover. Five additional winners will be featured on note cards. All 2008 winners were judged anonymously from digital photos submitted from each local competition with winners chosen again this year by Leslie A. Pryzbylek, who is curator of humanities exhibits for the Mid-America Arts Alliance in Kansas City, Mo., a regional arts organization that serves both Kansas and Missouri. Pryzbylek, who holds a B.A. in art/art history from Gettysburg College and an M.A. in art history from the University of Delaware, has been professionally involved with the arts and humanities for more than 15 years. Ben Mercer of Lawrence, Kan., won the 2008 Best in Show award for his painting, “Seduce.” While Art is Ageless™ winners can live in the Manors or surrounding communities, one resident from the Presbyterian Manors system is chosen annually to receive the Spirit of Art is Ageless award. This year’s Spirit of Art is Ageless award winner are The Happy Quilters, a group of residents of the Manor of the Plains in Dodge City, Kan. The award honors the participant who best exemplifies how artistic and creative expression can enhance one’s life. This year’s winners were chosen because the group, which meets regularly to make quilts and lap blankets, gives blankets to welcome all new Manor residents and has also donated their creations to victims of Hurricane Katrina, the Greensburg tornado and house fires as well as impoverished Native Americans living in Southwest United States and the Kansas Soldier’s Home in Ft. Dodge, Kan. James Flemings, a 93 year old resident of Rolla Presbyterian Manor in Rolla, Missouri who plays beautiful music on the handcrafted violins Fleming has been making since he was a teenager in St. Louis, MO was a runner up for the Spirit of Art is Ageless Award. Winners of the local competition held in late July in Clay Center, Neva Anderson’s “The Night Ride of Paul Revere” in Fiber Arts and Marcella Bechard’s “Robert’s Floral Garden” in needlework, were also selected to be honored in the Presbyterian Manor system-wide Art is Ageless™ competition. Neva’s rug was chosen for the Month of July in the calendar and Marcella’s quilt will be featured on the get-well card. 2009 Art is Ageless™ calendars and note cards will be available in November 2008. Prices for calendars and note cards are $12 and $10 respectively, including shipping costs. Order forms for calendars and cards are available now. # # # About Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America
For nearly 60 years, Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America (Presbyterian Manors) has set high standards for quality retirement living. With 17 locations in Kansas and Missouri, it is one of the larger not-for-profit continuing care retirement community organizations. Presbyterian manors and villages are more than simply retirement communities. They are designed to meet the physical, spiritual, social and psychological needs of their residents with quality independent living, assisted living and health care options. A number of locations also have designated memory care centers for residents with Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. About Art Is Ageless™
Art Is Ageless™ began in 1980 as a competition for residents and employees throughout the Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America (Presbyterian Manors) system to promote resident and community creativity and artistic expression. Competition winners are featured in an annual calendar that is a fundraiser for Presbyterian Manors of Mid-America. Since its inception, the competition has grown to encompass preliminary judging and exhibits at the local level with winners in each category chosen from each of the 17 Presbyterian Manors locations in Kansas and Missouri. Several Manor communities now offer year-round opportunities to explore the arts as part of the Art Is Ageless™ initiative. Calendar and note cards featuring 2008 competition winners are available now. The 2008 Art Is Ageless™ calendar won a Mature Media Awards Silver Anvil award from the Mature Market Resource Center. 28th Annual Art Is Ageless™ Calendar Competition Winners and Special Awards Art Is Ageless™ Winners (Calendar Feature Works)
January - “Seduce” by Ben E. Mercer, 69, Kansas City, Kan.
February - “Latte Quilt” by Joanne Whelchel, 70, Dodge City, Kan.
March -“Komodo Dragon” by Louise McCoy, 87, Presbyterian Manor of Wichita, Kan.
April -“Blue Flowers” by Mary Fowler, 85, Aberdeen Village in Olathe, Kan.
May -“Pillars of the Community” by Lois Froelich, 74, Emporia, Kan.
June -“Miss Mollie” by Maxine Earle, 82, Arkansas City, Kan.
July - “The Night Ride of Paul Revere” by Neva Anderson, 66, Clay Center, Kan.
August -“Water Lilies” by Gary Hanna, 71, Winfield, Kan.
September - “Black-Gold Vase and Candlesticks” by Joyce Karr, 70, Rolla, Mo.
October - “The Flop Eared Mule: Key of A & D” by Mary Spurgeon, 90, Dodge City, Kan.
November - “Night Capitol” by Jack Gillam, 77, Salina, Kan.
December - “Kalimantan” by L. Deane Frey, 72, Newton, Kan. Art Is Ageless™ Winners (Note Card Feature Works)
Christmas Card - “The Gift” by Louise Freeman, 83, Wichita, Kan.
Birthday Card - “Music Maker” by Susan Kruger, 78, Newton, Kan.
Anniversary Card - “La Danse a la Ville” by Ella Leslie, 74, Presbyterian Manor of Wichita, Kan.
Sympathy Card - “Serenity at Dawn” by Ella Leslie, 74, Presbyterian Manor of Wichita, Kan.
Get-Well Card - “Robert’s Floral Garden” by Marcella Bechard, 73, Clay Center, Kan.
Note Card - “Hummingbird” by Don Smischny, 73, Presbyterian Manor of Salina, Kan.
Note Card - “Kokopelli” by Mary Burchill, 72, Presbyterian Manor of Lawrence, Kan. Art Is Ageless™ Runners Up/Honorable Mention Awards
Postcard - “Circle Art Collage” by Joan Varner, 69, Aberdeen Village in Olathe, Kan.
Postcard - “Looking Back”” by Cleo M. Graves, 85, Arkansas City, Kan.
Postcard - “Bass Fish” by Tony Fornelli, 65, Fort Scott, Kan.
Postcard - “Kansas Summer” by Dorothy Johnson, 70, Sterling, Kan. Spirit of Art Is Ageless Award
The Happy Quilters, Manor of the Plains, Dodge City, Kansas
James Flemings, 93, Rolla Presbyterian Manor in Rolla, Missouri
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