Three Rivers Art Festival Huge Success in St. Tammany
After narrowing down the field of prospective participating artists for the Three Rivers Art Festival from 400 to 200, 3 judges spent countless hours evaluating and viewing with unbiased eye the artwork of these 200 talented artists that were part of the festival on November 14th and 15th. Judges were Cindy Pulling, executive director of the St. Tammany Art Association, STAA board member Jessica Danby, and STAA Advisory Council member Sarah Sparkman-Boyd.
“The goal is that all the artists feel heard and seen,” said Peggy Schoen Des Jardins, the festival’s coordinator for jurying and judging.
The first day of the Three Rivers Art Festival was spent visiting each artist to go over the presentation of their booth 
setup and then to judge their artwork for its creativity, craftsmanship, and concept, and how the artist “tied it all together.” The 2nd day of the festival, the judges were tied up themselves using a computer program to assign a score to each artist. Artists were scored on a scale of 1 to 10 for multiple categories.
Winners included artists from all genres from jewelry making, to sculpting, to metalwork, to painting. There were 5 main awards including the Best of Show and City of Covington Awards. The Best of Show Award went to Susan Elnora of Minneapolis, MN, who presented her jewelry and metalsmith skills. The City of Covington Award went to Katie Burckel, a sculptor who constructs sculptures using different items that have been discarded or donated to thrift stores. Ethan Lillemoe of Norcross, Ga., won the Three Rivers Award for his unique sculpture. Jessica Stoddart Ladd of Cookeville, Tenn., garnered the St. Tammany Award for her colorful paintings in distinct stainless steel frames, and James Bird won the Bogue Falaya Award for his colorful photography.
In addition to the main awards, there were 15 Awards of Distinction given out during the Three Rivers Art Festival. Artwork from students from the Center of Performing Arts were also displayed – approximately 400 pieces, and the St. Tammany Art Association’s gallery exhibitions as well as local galleries were also available for visitors to peruse. For more information on the Three Rivers Art Festival, visit www.threeriversartfestival.com.
