The Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center (SOMACC) has curated an absolutely booked year of events. These events are scheduled alongside major improvements to their property, a historical expansion, new programming and the addition of bilingual services, continued efforts to digitize their collections, new certifications, overhauled educational resources by new staff, observance of new federal laws and more. The amount of work the staff is juggling is massive. Despite all of this, they are committed now, more than ever, to continue expanding events and opportunities for artists and community members to become engaged in regularly planned shows, performance arts exhibitions, monthly happenings, and more.

A strong testament to their dedicated to maintaining their programming while planning expansion has been the success of their current Cream of the Crop exhibition.

The Cream of the Crop is a juried exhibition of local art, created by artists within an 85-mile distance of the museum, that has become a major success and only continues to grow.

SOMACC claims that they accepted the most submissions in the event’s history, with 113 artists submitting 304 pieces of work to be considered.

The art ranges in a vast array of mediums, including pottery and other three-dimensional works, paintings of many styles, photography, glass, fabric, and more.

“This is a large, juried exhibition that is open to artists within an 85-mile radius of the Portsmouth area, so it is a wonderful opportunity for artists to show their work,” Collections Manager and Performing Arts Coordinator Jenna Stewart claimed. “We have accepted a wide variety of mediums and have very few restrictions, such as fitting it through our doors and can it be displayed. We’ve accepted audio and video in the past, 2-D, 3-D, traditional, and beyond.”

Stewart has been enjoying her time in the office, showcasing the selected works of art, and getting an idea on where local artists are, creatively, today. She explained that this is an important part of museum staff’s work each year and she appreciates this show in particular.

“We don’t have a lot of venues for artists to get their work out there on walls for people to see,” Stewart said. “This is an important avenue for artists to achieve this because we keep it locally within this region. We had some really strong submissions this year, too. An exciting factor is that we are used to seeing a lot of local artists return to the event and submit work each year. We love seeing this. This year, however, we had a lot of new artists. I would say we have had more new artists this year than in the past. It makes for an exciting show!”

Stewart explained that she views the influx of new artists as a sign.

“It is really exciting to see, because it means we have a lot of strong arts in the region and the word about SOMACC is spreading and people are really interested,” Stewart said.

The Cream of the Crop exhibition was celebrated with a reception at the end of April and time is now running out for people to see the show before it is removed for another. The final date for the show will be June 20.

“The reactions from guests have been extremely positive,” Stewart said. “We had more submissions than ever before, which made for a very complicated job for our juror, but she did an amazing job.”

2024 Cream of the Crop Honorable Mentions included Willard Reader, Terry Maloney Houston, Amanda Maynard, Keri Sagraves Dodds, Sean Kelley, Allison Broome, and Mike Bowen.

The Boneyfiddle Art Center Award was presented to Tammy Ishmael Eizman.

The Boneyfiddle Art Center was a co-operative gallery located in the building where Patties and Pints is now located. An idea ahead of its time, the Center was a collective of local and regional visual artists and musicians. Their remaining funds at the time of their closure formed an endowment, the proceeds from which fund this award, which is selected by the juror.

Third Place went to Todd Reynolds, Second Place was granted to Fatima Taylor, and First Place was bestowed upon Vernon Howell.

People’s Choice Award went to Carol Terry’s “In A Cave,” which is acrylic on canvas.

“Cream of the Crop is important to the entire community,” SOMACC Artistic Director Charlotte Gordon explained. “In this one exhibition, we bring together the experiences, the voices, the thoughts, and ideas of our neighbors. It’s the opportunity to see the people we encounter every day in a new light, as creative makers. We never know who will come through the door and bring in a piece to submit to Cream of the Crop.”

For more information on SOMACC sponsored events, including Cream of the Crop, the ACID Art Walk, the Performing Arts Series, Make It Take It, poetry sessions, and other happenings, follow the organization on social media or online at www.somacc.com.

The Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center is at 825 Gallia Street. There is a handicap-accessible entrance on Sixth Street. To support local crafters and artisans, visit their gift shop near reception. SOMACC is open to the public during regularly scheduled hours and special events. Regularly scheduled hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 1-5 p.m. Saturday. Someone may be contacted by telephone at 740.354.5629.

Reach Joseph Pratt at (740) 353-3101, by email at [email protected], © 2024 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved.