Ken Smith, chairman of Scava, was master of ceremonies for the evening and greeted everyone with, "I came in a suit as I thought President Zuma was coming, as there were so many RSVPs to our invites. The three judges: Ian Tainton, Carol McCreedy and Valerie Winstanley, had an onerous task of deciding who would receive the prizes of R1 000 each in the five categories. Altogether there were 220 entries submitted by 75 artists.
Winners
The five category prizes were handed over by George Museum Manager Linda Yozo, who also kindly provided the hall. Samantha Jordaan's oil painting, titled Tapestry, won the 'Portrait' category; Neeske Alexander's Eight Months won the 'Narrative' section with her striking depiction of a rosy infant in the 'Still Life' category; Doris Brand's oil painting, titled Prickly Pears, won first prize; Helen Olivier's landscape oil, titled Kloofenburg, won its category with a R1 000 cash prize; and Susan Alexander's Street Lights won in the 'Local - Where I Live' category.
Scava has 60 members of all ages and anyone who is interested in visual arts may become a member.
Work on display includes pottery, glass, wood, photography and all forms drawing and painting. The association holds four major exhibitions each year, one of which is held in the Garden Route Mall.
Youth development
"We have supported the George Museum with costs for materials, particularly for pottery workshops tutored by Tony Noble for pupils. Scava has spent over R10 000 of its funds in supporting art events during the past 12 months," explained Smith.
Karin Combrink, the vice-chairman, presented Tony with R470 towards the cost of his teaching materials and a donations jar collected R150 towards further assistance toward 'Learners Workshops'. Tony announced that next week he was teaching pottery to a further group of children in Thembalethu.
Acknowledgements
"Following the demise of the Strydom Gallery last year, the Scava Committee laid plans for an open annual competition with R5 000 cash prizes, and tonight is the culmination of those plans. We thank Bella Smith , Karin Combrink, Bill Bennett, Lindsay Jaehne, Karl Sembach and the late Jackie Jaques for all their hard committee and hands-on work," said Smith. Bella Smith, Dudizella Arts and Bill Bennett were thanked for their generosity in donating all of the prize money.
The management of George Museum was thanked for giving their full support and Lindsay Jaehne and her team were thanked for the food; Bill Bennett for the drinks arrangements, and the assistance given by Karl and Rea Sembach, Susan Alexander and Noeline Crawley during the physical work of setting everything up. "Bella Smith, for all the administration, needed the loudest cheer of all," said Smith. All items are for sale. Future exhibits include the Orchid Society Exhibition at the end of September.
In the 'Narrative' section this oil painting, titled Eight Months, by Neeske Alexander was awarded a R1 000 cash prize. Neeske was not present at the awards.
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