“7th Street and 29th Avenue” by Mike French

 

The 26th annual People’s Choice Competition will conclude Saturday with the announcement of winners during a reception from 6-8 p.m. at Meridian Museum of Art.

This year’s competition includes works in the mediums acrylic, drawing, fiber, mixed media, oil, other, photography and watercolor. This annual competition allows the community to vote and decide which work of art will win in each of the eight categories with cash prizes being awarded to the winners of each category. For $5, each museum visitor may cast one ballot during the competition. Visitors can vote not only for the Best in Show winner, but also in each of the media categories.

Voting will continue through Thursday, July 20. The Museum will be open Monday through Thursday, from 11 a.m.-5 p.m., this week to vote.

This year’s artists are: Winki Allen, Tim Allred, Orville “Shorty” Anderson, Kathie Baeuerlin, David Barr, Linda Baxter, Peggy Billups, George Dylan Brown, Greg Cartmell, Terry Childers, Susan Clark, Denise Dengler, Keith Englen, Keith Everett, Cassie Ezzell, Ken Flynt, Cooper M. French, Kris Gianakos, David Gosslin, Hannah Greer, Sandra Hammon, Brad Hampton, Peggy Harmon, Jane G. Harvey, Neil Hatten, Inkstick (Cary Haycox), Marsha Iverson, Bob Jeffares, Debbie Johnson, Rosemary Kahlmus, Nancy Landrum, Anatasia Shirlea Lawson, Tara Martin, Amanda Murphey, Wanda Luke Price, Whitson Ramsey, Judy Rayner, Mouise T. Richards, Jauneth Skinner, Dan Talley, Patsy Temple, Ross Tingle, Alex Townsend, Tanya Truelove, Cassandra Ward and Caulene Wilkinson.

In addition to final voting for the People’s Choice Competition, an exhibition from The Kindness Foundation will begin during this week. 

The Art for Eternity collection of Biblical art created by public school students in Russia and Ukraine will be on display through September. The Kindness Foundation, a non-profit organization in Hattiesburg, owns the collection. When “Christianity 2,000” was held in Moscow in the year 2000 to celebrate 2,000 years of Christianity, it was organized by the Russian Kindness Foundation, the Russian Ministry of Education, the Ukrainian Federal Ministry of Education and the Ukrainian Kindness Foundation.

It was at this conference that the first national Biblical art contest was held. Thousands of students ages 9-17 years old from across Russia submitted art pieces they created which focused on a central Bible verse.

When Communism fell in 1991 and the USSR was unraveling, it was evident that more was at stake than the social, political and economic structure of the former Soviet states. Seventy-five years of Communism rendered Russia a broken country without a strong moral code or any hope for its people.

As part of her job, Dr. Olga Polykovskaya (now Lutsenko), an official with the Academy of Pedagogical Science of the USSR, was asked by the Russian Minister of Education to research the best morals to teach in Russian schools. After researching various education models, she and her colleagues recommended to the government that a Bible based moral curriculum should be implemented. In 1992, she met with educators to develop this plan and in the process became a Christian.

The Russian government approved her plan for a moral curriculum, but to sustain a Christian presence in her country, she knew that she must form a Russian led organization. This was the genesis of The Kindness Foundation. The Russian government made the decision to provide Biblical education for its country. Only through God’s grace and her determination was a link established between Russia and western Christians.  Soon, the Kindness Foundation signed an agreement with the Ukrainian government as well and requests continue to pour in from other countries for the same Bible based curriculum.

Regional children’s art competitions were organized by the Russian Kindness Foundation and the Russian Department and Ministry of Education, and held during the Christmas holidays in January 2011 and Easter holidays in April 2011. The name of the competition was “Wellsprings of Kindness,” with three themes the students could choose from for their artwork: 1) “Celebrate the Christmas;” 2) “Holy Easter (Let’s Walk through the Bible: Proverbs, Commandments, and Bible Stories)”; and 3) “Remember our Veterans.”

Twenty-six Russian states took part in this competition, with children from 7 to 16 years old. In Ukraine, CERCs also celebrated Christmas and Easter and held art competitions, organized by the Ukrainian Federal Ministry of Education and the Ukrainian Kindness Foundation. The results of the competitions were published in the Ukrainian Eternal Word magazine. This continues to be highly sought after as the need for Bibles in Russia and Ukraine continues to grow.

The winning pieces are first sent to tour the prestigious museums of Russia and are then sent to the Kindness Foundation in Mississippi. They become a part of their ‘Art for Eternity’ collection, which has grown to include over 150 pieces of original Biblical art from Russia and Ukraine.

This artwork by youths from Russia and the Ukraine between the ages of 5 to 17 are based on Bible Stories. Their paintings are based on what the scenes would have looked like. Upon observation of the works of art, it’s so impressive their use of color and perspective is truly sophisticated.

The Meridian Museum of Art is supported through memberships and donations and by granting agencies – The Phil Hardin Foundation, the Mississippi Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Arts, The Riley Foundation, and the Community Foundation of East Mississippi, and receives support from the City of Meridian through a subsidy and use of the building. Rea, Shaw, Giffin and Stuart, CPA firm has graciously donated accounting services since the inception of the Museum.

The museum is located at 628 25th Ave.. For more information about the People’s Choice competition or other museum programs, please call (601) 693-1501 or e-mail meridianmuseum@bellsouth.net.