Arlington Hts. panel announces photo contest winner

The Arlington Heights Arts Commission has announced the photo by local photographer Nevin Nelson is this year’s winner of the commission’s photo contest.

Nelson was honored during the Arts Commission’s semiannual Artist Outreach event on April 20 at the Arlington Heights village hall. The framed photo will hang in the village hall for one year.

The Artist Outreach event featured a performance by dancers from the McDonald Dance Academy and a discussion on the current season at the Metropolis Performing Arts Centre by Charlie Beck, the centre’s new executive director.

Sculptor Fran Volz, author Margaret Hawkins and photographer Lou Nettelhorst participated in a panel which focused on their creative experiences. Volz stated that his motivation for pursuing sculpting was to give back to the community and establish a relationship with the people who came to view his work in the early days of his career when he created the snow sculptures in front of his home on Arlington Heights Road.

Margaret Hawkins, whose latest book is “A Year of Cats and Dogs,” is also an art critic, has published several nonfiction books and teaches creative writing at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

During the presentation, she emphasized the importance of being willing to devote the time and accept the isolation necessary to pursue a writing career.

Nettelhorst said that his photography has given him new outlets for expression in his retirement years.

The evening ended with an opportunity for the audience to network with Charlie Beck and the panel members.

The next Artist Outreach event will be held Nov. 2.