CONTEST 2: Quarantine Stories with Patrick McGrath Muñiz
Winner Announcement:
Congratulations to Taylor MarshalI (Tempe, AZ) for her beautiful artwork!
 Quarantine Stories, I Pick Up Hobbies Like Bad Habits, 2020, Photograph (Small).jpeg)
Taylor Marshall (Tempe, AZ)
Quarantine Stories: I Pick Up Hobbies Like Bad Habits, 2020 Photograph
I pick up hobbies like bad habits. I eat out too much. I hoard trinkets and figurines like shiny objects to a crow. I hold onto my loved one like a precious keepsake. I stifle sneezes. In my future I see a T-shirt that reads, “I spent three months in isolation and all I got was this self-inflicted haircut.” In my future I see myself occupying a public space with my teeth bared - maybe I’m smiling, maybe I’m just sucking in air. Maybe you’ll be there, in all your glory, and we’ll be like two familiar strangers meeting again for the first time.
Artist / Exhibition Background:
Born in Puerto Rico and a current resident of Houston, Texas, Patrick McGrath Muñiz is influenced by Roman Catholic iconography as well as Spanish colonial art found throughout Latin America. Patrick’s paintings are satirical narratives that comment on a variety of socially relevant issues, including consumerism, social class polarization, deterioration of the environment, debt and economic slavery.
Contest Overview:
Members of the community are invited to create their own visual story, using items around their household “symbols” to represent their own lives under quarantine. Patrick will select his favorite narration, and the winner will receive a 2021 print calendar (valued at $200) in Dec, when the new calendar is available. The winning artwork will be publicly shared via Mesa Arts Center social media and featured on the museum’s collection page alongside the collection piece.
Eligibility / Submission Process:
- Open to all mediums, ages and backgrounds (You don’t need to be a professional artist to enter!)
- Email to: mesacontemporaryarts@mesaartscenter.com
- Entries must include: Contestant’s Full Name, City and State and Contact (if different from message email)
- Contestants are encouraged (but not required) to include a written description behind their visual story.
Collection Artwork Sample:
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Patrick McGrath Muñiz, La Emperatriz, 2013
Oil and metal leaf on panel, 47 x 27 inches
Collection of Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum at Mesa Arts Center; Gift of the artist from his Devocionales exhibition, 2013.
DEADLINE: Oct 5 (midnight Pacific Time)
WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT:
Congratulations to Natalie Featherston of Providence, RI, for her beautiful poem:
Peace is hopeful on
Fragile wings, rising above war
Despite our efforts
Artist / Exhibition Background:
Corinne Geertsen is a digital artist from Mesa, Arizona, who draws from her amassed collection of more than 60,000 photographs to create whimsical visual narratives that span the psychological, the surreal and the humorous. This contest is inspired by Corinne Geertsen's second solo exhibition at Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum, The Footnote Chronicles (Sept 2016-Jan 2017), where she invited writers from across the globe to create written stories to accompany her displayed artwork.
Contest Overview:
Members of the community are invited to create stories for a piece by the artist in the museum’s collection that was not part of this exhibition. Corinne will select her favorite narration, and the winner will receive a framed limited-edition 8½ x 11” print of the same artwork (valued at $300!). The winning story along with the collection piece will be publicly shared on Mesa Arts Center’s social media and featured on the museum’s collection page. Winning author also agrees to let the artist share the story on her social media and PR.
Eligibility / Submission Process:
- Open to all ages and backgrounds (you don’t need to be a professional writer to enter).
- Email to: mesacontemporaryarts@mesaartscenter.com
- Entries must include: Contestant’s Full Name, City and State and Contact (if different from message email)
Collection Artwork to be Narrated:
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Corinne Geertsen, Delivering Peace, 2009. Digital print on archival photo paper, 21 x 31 inches. Collection of Mesa Contemporary Arts Museum; Gift of the artist from her Psychological Sightseeing exhibition, 2011.
