The art show grand opening featured 107 submissions and good-sized crowd to the 4 Pillars Gallery.

Norah Kratz of Mankato’s “Simultaneously Sinner and Saint” submission received a $400 grand prize.

Second-place and $200 went to Sheryl Paulson of Mankato who submitted “Afternoon Tea and Little Whimsey.”

Oakdale multidisciplinary artist Yulia Sholomova received a $100 third place prize.

Staff photo by Fritz Busch Oakdale artist Yulia Sholomova is pictured with her 3rd-place painting “Still With Me” at The Grand Center for Adults and Culture ArtScape grand opening Friday.

Honorable mention $25 prizes went to Susan Beck for “Town and Country,” Nicholas Schleif “The King of the Crucible,” Cam Kaleda’s “Web Threads” and Elizabeth Stuckbeh’s “Athens, I Love You Forever.”

“I think images are a lot better way than words to explain being a sinner and saint at the same time. I was really inspired by iconography (the study of the content and meaning of images in art and other fields) and combining it with my own style which is more semi-realistic,” said Kratz.

She said the outer edge gold leaf silhouette is modeled after byzantine-era icons while the inner part is her self-portrait.

A Birmingham, AL native, Kratz attends Bethany Lutheran College in Mankato, majoring in studio arts and communications with an English minor.

“It’s been a lot of fun. I really like it there. I also enjoy reading, walking and rollerskating,” she said.

Kratz said she hopes to work in a museum with art galleries and teach art.

Paulson said her art is related to nature.

“I grew up in the country near Mankato,” she said. “I work a lot with bird-related imagery. I look at their movement, colors and textures and put it into my work.”

Paulson said her submission and lots of her work is with ceramics that often taken four or five firings.

A multidisciplinary artist working with painting, textiles and assemblage to explore memory and emotion, Sholomova said her painting is about eternal love.

“The painting is about memory and invisible bonds,” she said. “A girl embraces a winged cat — a symbol of love, loss and the companions we carry in our heart, even when they have left the visible world. It is a work about tenderness and resilience–about how imagination gives form to what cannot be seen, and how love continues protect us even in absence.”

The Grand Executive Director John Kellen praised the work of marketing and programming coordinator Olivia Norquist for raising so much increased interest and input for ArtScape this year.

“She’s been with us a little over a year after graduating from Gustavus with an art degree. She’s also an artist,” said Kellen. “She’s just done a super job for us. What you see here is largely due to her.”

Norquist thanked the artists entering ArtScape.

“We really appreciate you taking a leap to join the show. We’re really impressed with the incredible amount of talent in this area. It’s really wonderful,” she said.

Norquist thanked ArtScape juror Michael Wiechmann, a Visual Arts teacher at Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School.

She thanked Kellen for his support and ArtScape sponsors.

Norquist asked show-goers to consider purchasing show art.

The juried art show will conclude Friday, Oct. 17. The public is encouraged to come to the show and vote for the People’s Choice award. The winner will be announced Oct. 17.

For more information, visit https://thegrandnewulm/.org/4-pillars-gallery/artscape/.