Our jurors visit each exhibitor during the Festival as part of the jury process and subsequently award over $17,500 in prize money. These award winners are announced at the awards ceremony at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday during the Festival, at the Allen Street Stage. Here are this year’s jurors:
Julie Crosby is a studio potter residing in the Finger Lakes region of New York. She began working in clay as a student at the Hartford Art School. After college, she traveled the country for artist-in-residency opportunities and to learn kiln building, settling in upstate New York in 2001. A New York Foundation for the Arts fellowship recipient, Julie has exhibited at the Smithsonian Craft Show, the Philadelphia Museum of Art Craft Show and has served as curator for the Worcester Center for Crafts Pottery Invitational.
Watercolor artist James Farrah holds signature memberships in the American Watercolor Society, the National Watercolor Society, and the Western Federation of Watercolor Societies, among others. While most of his work is in watercolor, he also works in oils and acrylics. He has exhibited widely, and his works are held in the permanent collections of the Tucson Art Museum, the National Sports Museum, and the New Mexico Folk Art Museum, among others. He taught at the Hameau Farm Studio Artist Retreat near Belleville, PA.
Andrew Kuebeck completed undergraduate work at Bowling Green State University and went on to earn a graduate degree in Jewelry Design and Metalsmithing from Indiana University. Andrew works in a variety of formats ranging from functional jewelry to sculptural objects and vessels. Recognized as an emerging artist by the Society of North American Goldsmiths in 2012, he has lectured and has taught workshops nationally on the incorporation of photographic images into jewelry and vessels. He is an Assistant Professor and Area Head of the Jewelry/Metals/Enameling Department at Kent State University.
Katie Laux is the Director of Patron Services at the Wexner Center for the Arts in Columbus, OH. Over her twenty-year career in the arts Katie Laux has also worked at the Columbus Museum of Art and the Greater Columbus Arts Council. For many of those years, she served as Director of the Columbus Arts Festival where she worked with artists to continually improve their experience from application to move-out. After her tenure at the Festival ended, she continued volunteering for and jurying local arts festivals.
A native Texan, Krissi Riewe is an apparel industry professional, educator, designer, and artist. She has undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of North Texas, and is currently an assistant professor at Kent State University. Her research focuses on exploring materials transformation and new digital technologies such as laser-cutting, 3D printing, and digital textile design. Her experience working for a nationally respected family-owned women’s boutique specializing in professional lingerie, swimwear, and post-surgical fitting gave her an understanding of the fashion industry from manufacturer, to retailer, to end consumer.
