News

Jackie Szafara, Executive Director and Maren Crestani, Asst. to the Chairman of the NAP recently attended the awards ceremony for the Fifth Annual Pinellas County Exhibition. Maria Reilly, Human Resources Coordinator, was presented with the Fifth Anniversary Award for her tireless dedication to the program each year.

For the past nine years, our Union County, NJ show has been coordinated by Libby Reid, the Arts Coordinator for the Union County Office of Cultural & Heritage Affairs. However, Libby is not only a coordinator, but a practicing artist who understands the importance of showcasing the artistic talent that is inside all of us.

In November of 2010 Jim Wollenburg took over for our beloved Coordinator Dan Moede, who just retired. We will miss Dan’s dedication and positive attitude, but are looking forward to many years of success with Jim who has just been brought on as the new Recreation Coordinator for the Parks and Recreation Department.

Amateur Artist, Virginia Palyka, was honored with three separate awards this year at the Fifth Annual Salt Lake County NAP Exhibition. Her photograph entitled “Cards with Mangosteen” (pictured below) won First Place in the Amateur Category, Best of Show, and was also recognized by the Salt Lake County Art Collection Committee and presented a Purchase Award. The photograph will become part of the county’s permanent collection for all to enjoy.

Coordinator Sandra Baughman organized a tremendous show for Oakwood Healthcare System’s Fourth Annual NAP Exhibit. There were 180 artworks displayed, which was a twenty-five percent increase from their previous year.

AUSTIN (KXAN) - The gallery space in the City of Austin's Mexican American Cultural Center is big and bright. The sun streams through skylights and spotlights are trained on dozens of sculptures and paintings. They all have one thing in common: They were created by employees of the City or by members of employees' families.

This year Fulton County held their Fourteenth Annual National Arts Program® Exhibit. The show was open from September 30th through October 13th and included 117 artworks from county employees and their family members. First time Coordinator Jeffry Loy did a wonderful job displaying the artwork in the Government Center Atrium and offered a first class reception to the guests that attended the award ceremony on October 7th. Jeffry commented that the scholarship monies were a great help in adding all the extra special touches that raised the overall quality of the show.

After taking a short break, Samaritan Health Services in Oregon rejoined the National Arts Program® with great success! For the second year, the NAP exhibition has showcased artwork from both the Valley and Coast locations which encompasses six total hospitals separated by hundreds of miles. The show displayed a total of 200 pieces of artwork, spread across the six different sites. The artwork from each location was hung at the corresponding hospital so that the employees would have a chance to see the talent of their own co-workers and their family members.