Sight Scene: Sondheim Prize Semifinalists Revealed

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SIGHT SCENE BRINGS YOU the first look at the semifinalists for the 2007 Sondheim Prize. A number of D.C.-area artists are in the hunt for a $25,000 grand prize.

The full list of semifinalist artists is listed at the bottom of this post. Those who live or work or primarily in the District follow ...

Mark Cameron Boyd, Mary Coble, Kathryn Cornelius, Frank Hallam Day, Steven Frost, Avish Khebrehzadeh, Joey P. Mnlapaz, Gabriel Martinez, Brandon Morse, Erik Sandberg, Molly Springfield and Jason Zimmerman.

Springfield and Zimmerman each took home a Trawick Prize in 2006. Boyd, whose "What does this say?" is pictured at left, is coming off a 2006 solo exhibition at the Katzen Center at American University. (Oh, and his piece in "No Representation" at the Warehouse is a standout in the show.) Morse's video, displayed at artDC, garnered a lot of praise; Cornelius drew a lot of eyes during a performance on the art fair's opening night.

Apologies for the link-dump — but do judge for yourself.

Artists got in the game by submitting 250 words and a disc of slides. Six finalists will show in the Thalheimer Gallery at the Baltimore Museum of Art, but only one will walk away with the grand prize. Last year's winner, Laure Drogul, is a multimedia artist whose work includes an olfactory installation. Pictured here is Drogul's "Sentorium (ghostly garden parlor)."

Established by the Balitmore Office of Promotion & the Arts in honor of the 25th anniversary of Baltimore's Artscape festival, the Baltimore City Paper reported in January that the city had arranged to renew the prize; the plan is to create an endowment to award the prize (named after Janet and Walter Sondheim) annually.

Jurors for the 2007 prize include Derrick Adams, artist; Becky Smith (director of Bellwether Gallery in New York City); and Robert Storr, artist, critic, curator, professor, and all-around art wonk.

The complete list of semifinalist artists — many of whom exhibit in D.C.:

Seth Adelsberger, Baltimore
Chul-Hyun Ahn, Baltimore
Lillian Bayley, Baltimore
Heather Boaz, Towson
Mark Cameron Boyd, Beltsville
Edward Brown, Salisbury
Lynn Cazabon, Baltimore
Richard Cleaver, Baltimore
Mary Coble, Washington
Kathryn Cornelius, Washington
Frank Hallam Day, Washington
Eric Dyer, Baltimore
Neil Feather, Baltimore
Shaun Flynn, Baltimore
Steven Frost, Washington
Dawn Gavin, Baltimore
Geoff Grace, Baltimore
Susannah Gust, Baltimore
Maren Hassinger, Baltimore
Sam Christian Holmes, Baltimore
Jason Horowitz, Arlington
Courtney Jordan, Baltimore
Brian Kain, Emmitsburg
Avish Khebrehzadeh, Washington
Magnolia Laurie, Baltimore
Joey P. Mnlapaz, Washington
Gabriel Martinez, Washington
Jeanette May, Alexandria
Lisa Moren, Baltimore
Brandon Morse, Takoma Park
Jeremy Rountree, Baltimore
Erik Sandberg, Washington
Tony Shore, Baltimore
Molly Springfield, Washington
Deirtra Thompson, Baltimore
Ren Trevio, Baltimore
Karen Yasinsky, Baltimore
Jason Zimmerman, Washington

Image courtesy Mark Cameron Boyd