Arts Council announces three judges for this weekend’s annual art show

The Belleville Area Council for the Arts will present its 15th-annual Community Art Show on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, Oct. 11-13, at the Belleville Yacht Club, 831 E. Huron River Dr., Van Buren Township.
The opening reception for the art show will be 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 11. This is the time to meet the artists.
Prize winners will be announced at 7:30 p.m. Cash prizes will be awarded in six categories: 3-D/Fiber Art, 2-D, Upcycled, Photography, Children ages 6-12, and Teens ages 13-17.
Choosing the prize winners will be three judges, all professional artists: Debbie Juriga, Susan E. McDowell, and Sharon St. Mary.
Public viewing will be from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 12, and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 13.
The show is open to the public and free of charge.
Many of the artists will have their artwork for sale. There will also be a silent auction with donated pieces of art. Bidding will take place all weekend, ending on Sunday.
A People’s Choice Award will be announced at the end of the show. All attendees will have a chance to choose the piece of art that they like the most.
Art show judge Debbie Juriga has lived in and around Belleville with husband, John and three sons for over 50 years. She holds a master’s degree in education with an arts group minor. Retired from her 42-year educational career as a teacher, administrator and consultant, she has always found time for her love of quilting, sewing, jewelry bead weaving, and basket weaving.
Juriga’s basket weaving has spanned 42 years and included time spent learning techniques from several nationally known weavers.
The Jurigas have supported the Belleville Area Council for the Arts in fundraising efforts and committee work. They have also hosted the Lakeside Art Show at their home for several years.
Art show judge Susan E. McDowell is a former IT Manager for the University of Michigan, and an artist whose choice of medium is ever-evolving. She has worked with fused/engraved glass, needle felting, and more recently, weaving.
McDowell’s art reflects a response to the beauty of the natural world that surrounds us. In 2017, she placed first in the Kiln-Formed Glass Category at the Delphi Glass, Art Glass Festival and received a professional development grant in 2015 from the Michigan Council for the Arts and Cultural Affairs.
She is an active member of Ann Arbor Fiberarts Guild, where she will be the guest speaker in April, 2025. She has served on the jury for Saline Art Around Saline and as a juror for several years for Region 9 MiniGrant Arts Projects from Michigan Council for the Arts.
Art show judge Sharon St. Mary was born in 1939. In the mid ‘60s, she turned a pottery hobby into a business. As a professional potter for more than 40 years, she has exhibited in hundreds of art fairs, in more than a dozen states, winning numerous awards, while supporting her three children as a single parent. She owned and ran an art gallery in the Kerrytown Shops for a dozen years and taught ceramics in two schools.
St. Mary retired around 15 years ago, when she could no longer physically handle turning tons of clay into pottery. She has since turned her creativity to painting and spoiling her grand- and great-grandchildren.
Elaine Gutierrez
Belleville Area Council for the Arts