Garth Herrick's Apotheoun is a Smithsonian Competition Semifinalist

[Garth Herrick]

Thanks so much John and Enzie!

The notification of winners ( I guess you mean those included in the exhibition) will come on March 15, 2006, just following the second, final round of jurying. The purpose of the second round, is to judge the semifinalist submissions in actual presence before the jury, so the quality, finish and contextual impact of the work can be experienced firsthand. The first round of jurying we just got through was by either submission of a slide or small digital image. The Smithsonian Institution is paying for the shipping of the original semifinalist's works to the National Portrait Gallery, and the judging will take place during that first or second week in March. The final show opens to the public on July 1, 2006. I bet that final selection will be interesting to see; I hope so!

Garth

[Jean Kelly]

Congrats to you, Garth! I'm not surprised in the least. You are an exceptional artist.

Jean

[Eric Braks]

Well done Garth! They'll show themselves up to be crazy if they dont choose it. Its a real joy.

[Linda Nelson]

Garth !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is so deserving! I'm am so excited for you! What an accomplishment to have on your list!

Much Congratulations and I hope it brings greater things for you!
Linda

[Garth Herrick]

Hi everyone!

I received the official email of decline for my painting, "Apotheoun" yesterday from the Outwin Boochever Portrait Competition 2006. It congratulated me for being among the 100 semifinalists, and indicated that all the semifinalists were "ambitious and telling portraits", but in the end there was room for only half of them for the public exhibition that opens July 1. Oh well, that's a humbling letter to receive.

I sincerely want to thank everyone here for the overwhelming enthusiasm, support, and well wishes for the best possible outcome. You don't know how much your support has meant to me through this lengthy competition process!

It will be interesting to see what has been selected when the show opens at the National Portrait Gallery, in Washington, D.C. It will run through February 18, 2007. Among the reasons I am curious is there must be quite a number of fine, and highly accomplished artists that we don't know about yet. I personally have only just met one other semifinalist, leaving 98 others that are completely mysterious to me. Even the Portrait Society of America has not yet identified another semifinalist from their membership! So who are these yet to be unveiled portrait finalists?

As the other semifinalist I met wrote to me a week ago: "I am looking forward to this portrait show regardless of who is in it. The Brits do such an awesome job with their Ntl [sic] portrait gallery I am hoping this is the beginning of the US equivalent. ". I have to agree. I hope this initial American competition is the genesis of great ones to follow. At any rate, this national portrait painting competition will recycle every three years, with photography and other disciplines represented in between. We should all get another chance at this in 2008/2009.

Again, my sincere thanks and appreciation to everyone for all the incredible enthusistic support! For that, we all deservedly win together as a family!

Garth

[Michele Rushworth]

Oh well, just being in the top 100 is a great honor, as I'm sure you know! It will be very interesting to see what is in their exhibition. Do you know when it opens?

I suspect they will be showing some very non-traditional stuff, since I think we know of a great many of the more traditional portrait and figurative artists in this country already.

Do you think the other finalists are not PSA members or just that the PSA isn't saying anything about them (for some unknown reason)?

I heard from a friend of a friend who has some "inside connections" with this competition (for whatever that's worth) that they're looking mostly for some pretty edgy stuff. We shall see!

[Garth Herrick]

Thanks Michele,

The show opens July 1, 2006.

Christine Egnoski did highlight me as an OBPC semifinalist in a recent email Portrait Society of America newsletter, asking all the membership to chime in if they are of semifinalist or better status. I have not seen other responses yet, so perhaps traditional portraiture is not the main thrust of this competition and show. I'll admit "Apotheoun" has limited "edginess".

Garth

[Enzie Shahmiri]

Hi Garth,

I am sorry to hear that you did not make the finalist cut, but I am sure there will be many other shows that will continue to recognize the outstanding caliber of your work.

[Kimberly Dow]

Well, let me be the first to say that they are just plain nuts. (Do you think that statement could hurt any future chance I might have? )

I agree with Michele, I doubt there will be traditonal portrait work represented at all...unless it is a token one.

It is a terrific honor that you got as far as you did Garth, I am proud to know you!

[Michele Rushworth]

The show opens July 1, 2006.

I'll be in D.C. for a couple of days in August so I'll be sure and make a point to see it. Sorry the Apotheoun won't be among them, though!

You wrote that you felt this work doesn't have any "edginess" to it. I do think Apotheoun has a "thinking outside the box" approach, though. Its composition puts it on the cutting edge of what a "portrait" is, don't you think?