The Wiregrass Museum of Art (WMA) has named four artists to receive awards for work included in the juried exhibition ‘B24: Wiregrass Biennial’, with one artist receiving multiple awards. ‘B24’ was on view from July 19 – September 21, 2024.

The Judge’s Award has been awarded to Jasmine Best for “The Devil Taught Her How to Use ‘Em”. The Georgia-based artist uses her personal memories and manipulations of her memories to create dialogues about the black female identity in the south. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her work often depicts maternal figures, each depicting the diversity and qualities that make up the black southern women in her life across several generations.

The Alabama Award and 2nd place People’s Choice Award will go to Michael (Christian) Hamrick for “Dear Someone”. After studying Chemical Engineering at Auburn University, Hamrick began living and creating sculptures and paintings in an empty cotton shipping warehouse in Opelika, Alabama and intermittently hitchhiking through the United States. After living and working across the U.S. he returned to Eufaula, Alabama where he currently lives and holds his studio practice, gardens, and takes painting lessons from his 4 year old.

The 1st place People’s Choice Award goes to Amy Feger for “Glitch, Looking Down-Loading Yosemite, Ode to Bierstadt”. Of her work, Feger says she “examines the fraught human relationship with the natural landscape by creating naturalistic paintings composed from digital sources to examine the environmental, aesthetic, and social impacts of climate change. My paintings weave narratives based on looking at the natural world, thinking about our human condition, and experiencing the virtual reality that is Google Earth, providing observations that mingle and coalesce with theory and current events in the web and personal algorithm of my mind’s eye.”

The 3rd place People’s Choice Award will go to Sarah Painter Hayes for “Opossum Girl”.Sarah Painter Hayes is a North Florida painter and muralist. She graduated from Florida State University’s College of Fine Arts and has painted artworks across the United States as well as in Haiti, Spain, Portugal, and Canada. You can see her “Florida Girls” series on display at WMA beginning October 20 through the end of the year. She will also be the museum’s artist in residence from early October through mid November, with open studio hours every Wednesday afternoon.

“These awards are an example of WMA’s continued investment in artists across our region and our commitment to providing creative and financial support for artists. We are glad to see these artists recognized for their contributions to the cultural landscape of contemporary art in the Southeast,” said Lemmer,” said Dana-Marie Lemmer, WMA’s executive director and curator.

The Judge’s Award and Alabama Award winners were chosen by B24 judge Meredith Lynn, an artist, curator, and educator based in Tallahassee, Florida. She is an Assistant Professor of Art at Florida State University where she is also the curator of the Museum of Fine Arts. Lynn chose the winners from a field of 40  artists representing 7 southeastern states. The Judge’s Prize is awarded to the artist the judge selects as having the best overall work in the show; the Alabama Prize, an award established in 2020, designates the Alabama artist with the best work in the exhibition.

People’s Choice Awards were decided by in-gallery voting at WMA, giving visitors a chance to cast a vote for their favorite piece.

Featured artists in “B24: Wiregrass Biennial“ Featured artists included: Kaitlyn Avery (Birmingham, AL), Jeffrey Babine (Dothan, AL), Jasmine Best (Athens, GA), Eileen Braun (Dunwoody, GA), Melinda Bruggink (Ozark, AL), Caroline Bullock (Atlanta, GA), Camisha Butler (Atlanta, GA), Jessica Caldas (Atlanta, GA), Ryan Carlson (Homewood, AL), Collin Crowder (Auburn, AL), Dariana Dervis (Birmingham , AL), Sara Dismukes (Montgomery, AL), Terri Dowell-Dennis (Winston-Salem, NC), Leigh Ann Edmonds (Mt Olive, AL), Ashley Enoch (Bond) (Clanton, AL), Amy Feger (Montevallo, AL), Cianne Fragione (Alexandria, VA), Emily Flint (Madison Heights, VA), Michael Hamrick (Eufaula, AL), Will Jacks (Troy, AL), Kristy Jane (Huntsville, AL), Mary Larsen (Biscayne Park, FL), Barbara Mann (Watkinsville, GA), Sophie McVicar (Birmingham, AL), Micah Mermilliod (Mobile, AL), Sean Miller (Gainesville, FL), Keith Newby (Dothan, AL), Kole Nichols (Atlanta, GA), Cora Nimtz (New Orleans, LA), Tracie Noles-Ross (Birmingham, AL), Benedicta Opoku-Mensah (Gainesville, FL), Patrick Owens (Taylors, SC), Sarah Painter Hayes (Tallahassee, FL), Richard Parker (Florence, AL), Janna Phillips (Birmingham, AL), Vann Powell (Durham, NC), Greg Skaggs (Troy, AL), Michael Swann (Tarrant, AL), Charlotte Wegrzynowski (Tuscaloosa, AL), Tom Wegrzynowski (Tuscaloosa, AL), Lucas Wiman (Lexington, KY), Rachel Wright (Mobile, AL).

Additional exhibition images available upon request.