Montevallo woodturner wins top award at 2023 Bluff Park Art Show
Essie Ebrahimi won Best in Show at the 2023 Bluff Park Art Show in Hoover, Alabama on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023.
written by Jon Anderson
A woodturner from Montevallo captured the Best in Show award at the 2023 Bluff Park Art Show on Saturday — his second time to win the top award at the show.
Essie Ebrahimi, who immigrated to the United States from Iran in the early 1970s, also won the Best in Show award at the Bluff Park Art Show in 2017, and he won the People’s Choice award at the show in 2018. He has been a woodturner since 1997.
About 120 artists from eight states were a part of this year’s show, which this year returned to its regular home in the Bluff Park Community Park. Last year, the show moved to Hoover Metropolitan Stadium due to construction of a new pavilion in the park.
“We are so glad to see it back this year,” Bluff Park resident Fred Ulbricht said.
He and his wife usually attend every year but didn’t go last year. “Every year we come, we love it,” Ulbricht said. “It gets better and better every year.”
There’s something special about the show physically being in the Bluff Park community, he said.
“The environment here is just so perfect — the feeling of families, community. You can see people that you haven’t seen in a year and socialize. It’s like a big family reunion — a community family reunion.”
This year, Ulbricht and his wife left with a painting of a heron by artist Joe Sheffield from Daphne.
As usual, there was a wide variety of artwork at the Bluff Park Art Show, including ceramics, drawings, fiber, leather, glass, jewelry, metal, paintings, photography, printmaking, sculptures, woodworking and mixed media.
People who came were able to roam around the park to peruse the goods, and many tried food and beverages from food trucks that included Eugene’s Hot Chicken, Gumbo to Geaux, GR’s Smokehouse, Southern Coffee & Waffles, SnoBiz and Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee. The day was rain-free with sunshine, and temperatures were in the 60s throughout the show, which lasted from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
This year’s judge was Debra Riffe, a printmaker originally from Tupelo, Mississippi, who grew up in Washington, D.C., where she earned her bachelor’s degree in fine arts from the Howard University College of Fine Arts. She has been a professional graphic designer and illustrator for more than 30 years, and her block prints have been included in many collections, including the Birmingham Museum of Art, the Freedom Rides Museum at the Historic Greyhound Bus Station in Montgomery, Dillard University in New Orleans, Athens State University in Athens, Alabama, Indian Springs School and Sixteenth Street Baptist Church.
Riffe won Best in Show at the Bluff Park Art Show in 2012 and 2019.
Here is a complete list of awards given at this year’s show, with the winners and their art specialty:
$2,500 Best in Show (Bluff Park Art Association Permanent Collection Award: Essie Ebrahimi of Montevallo, woodturning
$1,000 August A. and Cary Moore Memorial Award: David Byland of Hoover, leather
$1,000 Hugh Dye Memorial Award for best new artist (sponsored by Jackie Dye): September Reed of Birmingham, mixed media
$1,000 Award for excellence in woodworking (sponsored by Jeff Honea Attorney at Law): Matthew Allen of Hoover, woodworking
$750 Award honoring show judge Debra Riffe (sponsored by Dottie West in memory of Al Dickinson): Scott McQueen of Northport, mixed media
$500 Bluff Park Art Association Board of Directors Award (sponsored by Camp Bow Wow): Robin Rodgers of Smyrna, Georgia, ceramics
$500 Henley Hager Award (sponsored by Paulette and Bill Pearson): Larry Allen of Leeds, ceramics
$500 Hoover Arts Alliance Award honoring Sara Perry and Winnie Cooper: Steven Reid of Headland, woodworking
$500 People's Choice Award (sponsored by The Collins Group): Brittany Carol Moore of Birmingham, photography