2025 New River Art Juried Biennial

Featuring:
Jane Abraham, Paul Atkinson, Haley Bechtel, Sarah Bolduc, Susan Brodie, Gina Browning, Armand Cabrera, Jake Conner, Linda Correll, Matt Eich, Cavan Fleming, Matt Gentry, Hank Grebe, Anne Hanger, John Gary Harmon, Roland Hartley, A.D. Herzel, Veronica Jackson, Ken Johnson, Robert Keith IV, Steven Kenny, Jan Knipe, Deanne Lane, Pedro Ledesma III, Alexandra Leonetti, AnaMarie Liddell, Gina Louthian-Stanley, Sue McCoy, Robin Miller, T. Freudenberger, N. Hershberger, C. Monti, Sung Eun Park, David Pearce, Savannah Penven, Jamie Powers, Rehanna Rojiani, Mary Lee Ruff, Roberta Sallee, Robin Scully, Sharon Shapiro, Walter Shroyer, Promise Sloan, Breck Smith, Lois Stephens, Shaun Whiteside, and Kyle Yates

The New River Art Juried Biennial traditionally rotates every two years between the Floyd Center for the Arts, the Fine Arts Center for the New River Valley in Pulaski, and the Blacksburg Regional Art Association (BRAA). The 2025 exhibition is sponsored by BRAA and hosted by the center for the second time.

Award Winners

FIRST AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Sponsored by the Blacksburg Regional Art Association
Walter Shroyer; Mt. Rainier, 2025; mixed media; 51 x 51 inches

SECOND AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Sponsored by the Blacksburg Regional Art Association
Mary Lee Ruff; Carolina Marsh, 2024; graphite pencil and opaque watercolor on paper;  9.25 x 9 inches

THIRD AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Sponsored by the Fine Arts Center for the New River Valley
Veronica Jackson; BLACKTIVISTS, 2024; stained plywood, black ink, fine black glitter, and silkscreen; 20 x 17 inches each

ACRYLIC AND GOUACHE AWARD
Sponsored by Olin Hall Galleries, Roanoke College
Robin Miller; Doomscrollr, 2022; acrylic on cotton-mounted panel; 10.5 x 10.5 inches

DRAWING, PASTEL, AND PRINTMAKING AWARD
Sponsored by Miller Off Main
Anamarie Liddell; As It Fades, 2023; graphite on paper; 34 x 48 inches

FIBER AWARD
Sponsored by The Quilting Party
T. Freudenberger, N. Hershberger, and C. Monti; Rock, Paper, Scissors, 2022; fiber art quilt; 36 x 36 x 0.5 inches

MIXED MEDIA AWARD
Sponsored by New River Art and Fiber
PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD
Sponsored by Downtown Blacksburg, Inc
Deanne Lane; The Spirit Within, 2024; collage of handmade papers, glue, and watercolor; 18 x 24 inches

OIL AWARD
Sponsored by Stonecrop Flowers
Ken Johnson; The Odd Fellows Wellhouse (Ivanhoe, VA), 2024; from Sunday Morning Shadows in Southwest VA series; oil on canvas; 24 x 24 inches

PHOTOGRAPHY AWARD
Sponsored by John’s Camera and Records
Matt Eich; Ryan Bell and Dodge, Berryville, Virginia; from Bird Song Over Black Water series; archival pigment print; 40 x 32 inches

WATERCOLOR AWARD
Sponsored by Original Frameworks
Jane Abraham; Vietnam Remembered, 2024; watercolor on 140-lb paper; 17.5 x 23.5 inches

SCULPTURE, 3-D AWARD
Sponsored by Blacksburg Wine Lab
Sung Eun Park; Between the Trees, 2022; mixed media; 66 x 42 x 60 inches

NADINE ALLEN BEST IN SHOW
Cavan Fleming; Terminal; ink, paper, and polyvinyl acetate on paper; 30 x 42 inches

JUROR’S AWARD OF DISTINCTION
Sponsored by the Floyd Center for the Arts
Breck Smith; Self-Portrait, late September 2024, 2024; oil on wood panel; 13 x 12 inches

HONORABLE MENTION
Sponsored by Bonomo’s
Jamie Powers; Untitled, 2023; acrylic on canvas; 14 x 11 inches

HONORABLE MENTION
Sponsored by Capone’s Jewelry
David Pearce; Winter, 2024; oil on canvas; 12 x 24 inches

About the Juror

Michael Rooks, Wieland Family Senior Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, High Museum, Atlanta

Known as an art curator dedicated to community building and engaging audiences across generations from every walk of life, Michael Rooks joined the High Museum in January 2010. In addition to his responsibilities at the High, Rooks served as commissioner and cocurator of Workshopping: An American Model of Architectural Practice at the U.S. Pavilion, 12th International Architecture Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia in 2010 and is an independent writer.

Prior to joining the High, Rooks held curator positions at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago (MCA), the Contemporary Museum Honolulu, and the Honolulu Academy of Arts. At MCA Chicago, he curated several group exhibitions and solo projects in addition to major retrospective exhibitions of work by Roy Lichtenstein and H. C. Westermann, for which he co-authored Westermann’s catalogue raisonné. As curator at the Contemporary Museum, Honolulu, he curated more than 15 exhibitions, including projects by Michael Lin, Paul Morrison, and Yoshitomo Nara.

His exhibitions at the High include Monir Farmanfarmaian: A Mirror Garden (2022–2023); What Is Left Unspoken, Love (2022); KAWS PRINTS (2021); Ragnar Kjartansson: The Visitors (2021); With Drawn Arms: Glenn Kaino and Tommie Smith (2018–2019); Al Taylor, What Are You Looking At? (2017–2018); Imagining New Worlds: Wifredo Lam, José Parlá, Fahamu Pecou (2015); Alex Katz: This Is Now (2015); KAWS: DOWN TIME (2012); and two historical survey exhibitions in partnership with MoMA, Fast Forward: Modern Moments 1913-2013 (2012–2013) and Picasso to Warhol: 14 Modern Masters (2012), among others.