City of Santa Rosa Coordinator Pulls Off Amazing Virtual NAP Exhibit
The City of Santa Rosa celebrated their 18th Annual NAP Exhibit with another successful display of talent from their community! There were 200 artists that participated this year in a virtual showcase that was made possible by long time coordinator Jessica Rasmussen. Jessica told us she couldn’t believe they pulled off their exhibit in the year of COVID! She said, “it was more than worth the effort- I can’t count the number of emails and thank you messages I received for maintaining some normalcy and putting on our 18th Annual National Arts Program exhibition. It really gave our community something to look forward to. “
Each year Jessica invites new judges to select the winning pieces for the showcase. Each judge offers a different opinion and a unique point of view. This year the judges were Anne Baumgartner, an artist and art teacher that works with paint, printmaking, collage, postal mail and cardboard installations and Rima Makaryan, an 18 year old artist and activist who is the founder of The Monarch Project. The judges looked for works that connected to broader themes or created an emotional pull towards the viewer. They resonated with pieces that had a sense of immediacy and an interesting perceived story. They were thoughtful in their selection process and were very impressed with the show as a whole. All of the incredible artwork entries as well as the winning selections are available online by visiting https://www.insideoutthere.com/nap2021/
Jessica was able to have a beautiful and professional online exhibit built by utilizing some of her non-matching funds. Showcasing this collection of artworks online also offered some unexpected benefits such as allowing artists to share the show with family and friends that were out of state.
Jessica also thanked us for continuing the National Arts Program through the pandemic. She told us “It was everything art should be from cathartic to uplifting, and Santa Rosa is grateful to be part of this program!” We at the National Arts Program are so privileged to work with people like Jessica who happily faced the challenges of the pandemic and pulled off something wonderful for her community!