Meet the Regional Arts Exhibition Jurors
Festival 2013 Jurors
Larry Blovits
Paintings, Drawings, and Prints
Larry Blovits, as Professor of Art at Aquinas College, taught basic drawing, anatomy and life drawing, and painting, . during his 26 years of service. Painting in a traditional style, he has amassed a professional reputation winning awards and honors for both portraits and landscapes in national, regional, and International juried competitions since 1962. His artwork is represented in the collections of museums, colleges, Universities, hospitals, corporations, and legal institutions, as well as many public and private collections. His portrait commissions include Senators, State Representatives, Presidents and Deans of Universities and Colleges, Corporation Presidents and CEO’s, and noted professionals in the medical and legal profession as well as many private individuals.
Elected to signature status in many national art organizations including the Salmagundi Club in NYC, the American Portrait Society, and the American Society of Portrait Artists, he was honored by the Pastel Society of America with the title of Master Pastelist in 1996. A featured artist in a number of books and magazine articles, Larry has also authored two books: Pastel for the Serious Beginner (Watson-Guptill, 1996), and No Experience Required: Sketching and Drawing (North Light, 2004). More information on the artist can be viewed on his website at http://www.larryblovits.com
Scott Garrard
Three-dimensional pieces and all multi-media
Scott Garrard is an Assistant Professor of Ceramics, Sculpture, and 3D Design at Grand Rapids Community College. Prior to this appointment, he held the positions of Art Professor and Academic Dean in Georgia, South Carolina, Kansas, and Colorado. Scott’s artistic work has spanned a wide variety of interest, techniques, and mediums. He has pursued functional ceramics, figurative sculpture, large scaled thrown vessels, installation, and public art. His work has been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the United States. The serious exploration of these mediums began in Rome, Georgia at the age of seventeen with the creation of his first studio. After 11 years in this venue, Scott pursued formal education; obtaining a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the University of West Georgia, and a Masters of Fine Arts from Clemson University. He received prestigious awards from each college. Presently, Scott is exploring his direct interest of ceramic forms constructed in different materials outside of clay. This interest is allowing a new perspective to his works that reference his years of clay. His main goal is “to release the limitation of materials, yet retain the strengths of each, in ideas and forms, without the label to a specific medium”
Adam D. DeKraker
Photography
Adam D. DeKraker, Associate Professor of Photography, has been a faculty member at Kendall College of Art and Design of FSU for eight years where he teaches courses in the graduate and undergraduate photography programs. Adam holds a MFA degree from Indiana University, Bloomington (2003) and a BFA degree from Western Michigan University (1998). He has also served as a summer faculty member for the Cape Cod Photography Workshops in North Eastham, MA, and acted as a MFA advisor to the graduate program at The Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University. Adam has juried numerous local, regional and statewide art exhibitions, worked as a Manuscript Reviewer for Elsevier Publishing Company, Focal Press, Bloomsbury Publishing and AVA Academia, and is an active member of the Society for Photographic Education. His work has been featured in numerous regional, state and national exhibitions and currently explores the relationships between firearm ownership (“gun culture”), self---defense, paranoia, and the academic world.
