The Big Show | 2009
Opening Reception Friday, July 10, 2009
6:30-8:30 PM

About the Big Show | About the Guest Juror
The Big Slide Show | Sponsors | Awards

The Big Show is Lawndale Art Center’s annual open-call, juried exhibition.
It has been an important venue through which emerging and under-represented Houston area artists gain exposure since the show’s conception in 1984. The Big Show was formerly the East End Show, sponsored by the East End Progress Association, at Lawndale’s
original location.

The Big Show 2009 Award winners selected by guest juror, Laura Fried, Assistant Curator for the Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis, were announced at the opening reception on July 10, 2009. Laura considered the 3 award winners equally, and in lieu of awarding 1st, 2nd and 3rd place awards, decided to split to total award amount evenly between three recipients. Three $1,000 cash awards were awarded to: Buster Graybill, Maria Cristina Jadick, M.E. Buddy Marrs.

All photos are courtesy of the artist and Lawndale Art Center:

Juror's Award- Buster Graybill
Junked, 2007
Inkjet print
20" x 30"

Drained, 2007
Inkjet print
20" x 30"

Juror's Award - Maria Cristina Jadick
Play Ball, 2009
Mixed media
Dimensions variable

Juror's Award- M.E. Buddy Marrs
American Genre / Roll Over Norman, 2009
Oil on Masonite
12" x 16"

Lifer, 2009
Oil on canvas
12" x 16"

This year Lawndale received 994 submissions by 409 artists. Guest Juror Laura Fried, Assistant Curator for the Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis, selected 95 works by 65 artists for this year’s exhibition.

Exhibiting artists include:
John Adelman, David Ancira, Michael Arcieri, Lori Avramis, Heather Bause, Mack Bishop 3rd, James Burns, Douglas Cason, Federico Cavazos & Sarah Jones, David Cobb, Chris Comperry, Shannon Crider, Anne Delpine, Ben Tecumseh DeSoto, Nathaniel Donnett, Jane Eifler, Xenia Fedorchenko, Orna Feinstein, Jed Foronda, Frank Fuzzy, Jesus Galvan, James Glassman, David P. Gray, Buster Graybill, Jasmyne Graybill, Chris Dethloff Greene, Natasha Hakala, Maria Cristina Jadick, Jason Kishell, Trish Klenow, Mindy Kober, Stephen Kwok, Julian Joseph Kyle, Larry Larrinaga, Cody Ledvina, Anna Lide, M. E. Buddy Marrs, Michael Meazell, Donna M. Meeks, Rahul Mitra, Christian R. Mora, Jessica Ninci, Jim Nolan, Emily Peacock, Donna Perkins, Kevin Peterson, Page Piland, Julon Pinkston, Tim Robtoy, Allan Rodewald, John Runnels, Stephen Ruth, Lynne Rutzky, Kay Sarver, Sarah Schellenberg, Tra Slaughter, Dirk Strangely, Kamila Szczesna, Tala Vahabzadeh, Rebecca Villarreal, Lillian Warren, William Witte, Catherine Zaras, Zepeda.

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Guest Juror | Laura Fried, Assistant Curator
Contemporary Art Museum, St. Louis

Laura Fried is the Assistant Curator of the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, where she recently organized British artist Carey Young’s first monographic museum exhibition in the United States. A co-curator of exhibitions in the Main Galleries and The Front Room, Fried also oversees a number of ongoing exhibition programs at the Contemporary, including the Great Rivers Biennial, Flat Files and the Emerson Visiting Critics and Curators. Fried is a regular contributor to museum and gallery exhibition catalogs as well as regional publications, and she serves as Adjunct Lecturer in the Department of Art and Art History at the University of Missouri St. Louis. Fried is currently preparing a solo show with Los Angeles and Cambridge based artist/musician Stephen Prina to open in 2010.

Fried joined the Contemporary in 2007 from MASS MoCA (the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art), where she was a two-year curatorial fellow. Prior to her graduate work and tenure at MASS MoCA, Fried managed an art gallery in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York. Fried received her BA in English and Art History from Amherst College, and she holds a MA in the History of Art from Williams College and the Clark Art Institute.

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The Big Slide Show | July 29 & 30, 2009
6 - 8 PM

Please join Lawndale and Houston's talented Big Show artists for short, informal presentations about their work. Presentations start at 6 PM each night at Lawndale Art Center.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009:
John Adelman
Mack Bishop
Doug Cason
Shannon Crider
Anne Delpine
Orna Feinstein
Trish Klenow
Mindy Kober
Julian Joseph Kyle
Larry Larrinaga
Cody Ledvina
Donna Perkins
Kevin Peterson
Page Piland
Lynne Rutzky
Kamila Szczesn

Thursday, July 30, 2009:
Heather Bause
Frederico Cavasos
Chris Dethloff Greene
Jed Foronda
Jesus Galvan
Maria Cristina Jadick
Stephen Kwok
Anna Lide
Donna Meeks
Rahul Mitra
Jim Nolan
Julon Pinkston
Stephen Ruth
Kay Sarver
Tra Slaughter
Lillian Warren

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Big Show Sponsors
Thank you to all of our sponsors!

Funds raised in support of The Big Show and Lawndale's upcoming 30th Anniversary Exhibition help underwrite the cost of Lawndale’s free public programs throughout the year. The generosity of our sponsors allows us to continue serving as one of Houston’s leading contemporary arts spaces - engaging audiences and fostering dialogue among the region’s diverse communities.

To find out more about making a donation to this year's event, please download our Donor Packet or contact us at 713.528.5858 or by email at askus@lawndaleartcenter.org.

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