By PHOEBE DONALD ROBINSON / Community Columnist

A precious jewel of Shelby County dwells in a small building in Columbiana that has a huge impact on our county. The Shelby County Arts Council is directed by the vision and determination of Terri Sullivan and her dedicated board “to support, nurture, and promote the arts and cultural opportunities in Shelby County.”

Whether it be taking 5,000 students to hear the Alabama Symphony in Montevallo to teaching creative writing in our schools by poet Tony Crunk; whether it be teaching art to our special needs children or photography to our at risk teenagers; whether it is providing interesting classes to our seniors or sponsoring a reception to see the work of sports artist Daniel Moore on Oct. 30 at St. Vincent’s 119; the venues of the SCAC extend to every age and town in Shelby County. The SCAC has enriched the lives of thousands of our students and our citizens since its inception in 2005.

Recently, the third annual juried art competition was held to a swelling of entries from the past two years. Darius Hill, chair of the visual arts department at the Alabama School of Fine Arts, judged the competition. A reception was held on Sept. 8, when the winners were announced by Susan Dennis Gordon, executive director:

BEST OF SHOW “MIXED MEDIA, DeAnne Thorn, “Industrial Strength

ACRYLICS Winner, Glenn McWaters, “Hunting Shells”

ACRYLICS Honorable Mention, Martha S. Summey, “Mother Winter”

CERAMICS Winner, Alexander Schmidt, “Primal Vessel #2”

CERAMICS Honorable Mention, Melinda Doriety, “Scarlett Morning”

OILS Winner, Mike Dodson, “Jenn”

OILS Honorable Mention, Scott Owen, “Just Kidding”

PHOTOGRAPHY Winner, Madelyn Carr Bonnett, “Cataloochee Trail Trees”

PHOTOGRAPHY Honorable Mention, John B. Shadrick, “Natural Pipelines”

MIXED MEDIA Honorable Mention, Lynn Schmidt, “A Lady Always Wears Gloves”

WATERCOLORS Winner, Jeanie Robertson, “Koi-The Series”

WATERCOLOR Honorable Mention, Terry Freeman, “Danielle Sleeping”

2D MEDIA Winner, DeAnne Thorn, “Curious Calico”

2D MEDIA Honorable Mention, Shirley Robinson, “A Pair of Pears”

3D MEDIA Winner, Palo Pallas, “Alt Nue”

3D MEDIA Honorable Mention, Arthur Umlauf, “Dancer Adrift”

The Juried Art Show Exhibit sponsor was Wallace, Ellis, Fowler and Head, and the opening reception sponsors were Rux Carter Insurance and Columbiana Chevron. Thorn won a $500 cash prize for “Best of show” and each first place winner in each category received $125.00.

Drop by the SCAC and see some of Shelby County finest artist’s works on display until the end of September.

Phoebe Donald Robinson can be reached by email at phoeberobinson@bellsouth.net.