High school art teacher wins top honors at 2024 Bluff Park Art Show
Danielle Tickell with her best in show piece at Bluff Park Art Show in Hoover on October 5, 2024. Photo by Savannah Schmidt.
Reposted from the Hoover Sun by Jon Anderson
An art teacher from McAdory High School won Best of Show at the 2024 Bluff Park Art Show on Saturday.
Danielle Tickell, who has taught art at McAdory for five years, captured top honors with a painting that is designed to show the connections between families and houses. It shows two large veins like those that pump blood into the heart feeding into the base of a two-story house much like a root structure.
The house has some imperfections, much like families do, Tickell said.
“A home is not perfect, and the people that are in it are not perfect, but it’s those people that kind of make up the life of that family,” she said. “There are a lot of dings and dents, and a lot of things fall apart on a regular basis, like it does with our family also, but I love it.”
The judge for the art show loved Tickell’s work.
“I don’t know a ton about her or the work, but just seeing it visually was an incredible thing,” said Rod Bigelow, the executive director and chief diversity and inclusion officer for the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. “It just pops off the canvas. It’s gorgeous. She’s a very technically astute painter, so it’s really great.”
Tickell was one of about 120 artists chosen for this year’s show. A significant number were from Alabama, but others accepted into this year’s show came from Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi, Virginia, Indiana, Texas, Kentucky and Rhode Island.
Thousands of people flooded into Bluff Park Community Park for the 61st year of the show, which is put on by the Bluff Park Art Association. The show ran from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and made it through the day with sunshine and no rain.
Visitors wandered through the park, browsing the artists’ tents as live music was played by James Quackenbush and Alice Bargeron. A kids’ art corner managed by Girl Scouts gave children a chance to make their own creations.
Show goers also had a chance to partake of food and drinks from G.R.’s Smokehouse, Chicks N Doughnuts, Birmingham Wings & Waffles, Alabama Peanut Co., Cookie Fix, Kona Ice and Travelin Tom’s Coffee.
Bluff Park residents Jim and Darcy Terry were among the crowd and said they always love it when they’re able to come to the show. “There’s just so many cool things,” Darcy Terry said.
They don’t necessarily come to see a particular artist; they mostly like to browse and see what they can find each year, Jim Terry said.
This year, they left with a painting by Juanita Weldon of Tyrone, Georgia, a wool cover-up by Loretta Brown of Silverhill and three paintings of gummy bears by Katie Adams of Birmingham. They bought the gummy bear paintings for some of their younger grandchildren who love Black Forest gummy bears.
Tickell won $2,500 for producing the best in show winning entry, but a total of $10,800 was given out in prize money this year. Here’s a complete list of winners:
Best of Show ($2,500) — Danielle Tickell, Hueytown, 2D/3D mixed media
Show Judge Award ($1,800) — Ahmad Austin, Alabaster, painting
Bluff Park Art Association President’s Award ($1,000) — Bill Bowen, Charleston, Indiana, ceramics
August A. and Cary Moore Memorial Award ($1,000) — Brittany Carol Moore, Birmingham, photography/digital
Sara Perry Memorial Award ($1,000) — Paveen Beer Chunhaswasdikul, Gadsden, ceramics
Hugh Dye Memorial Award for best new artist ($1,000) — Mark Harris, Anniston, woodworking
Bluff Park Art Association Board of Directors Award ($500) — Chelsea Bird, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, jewelry
Bluff Park Art Association Board of Directors Award ($500) ‚ Sundi Hawkins, Pell City, painting
Hoover Arts Alliance Award ($500) — Steve Carmichael, Riverside, painting
Henly Hager Award ($500) — Michelle Prahler, Decatur, Georgia, 2D/3D mixed media
People’s Choice Award ($500) — Hannah Lewis, Montevallo, printmaking