Lake County farm painting winners to be announced

Finalists in The Farm: Images from the Heartland 2012 farm art competition will display their artwork at the Lake County Discovery Museum from Saturday, Aug. 25, to Sunday, Nov. 4. The Artist Reception will be held from 1-4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 26, at the Discovery Museum, located at the Lakewood Forest Preserve, Wauconda. At that time the award-winning artists will be announced. Members of the public are invited to attend the free reception and view the exhibition.

Awards of Excellence will be presented in the amount of $300, $200 and $100 for first-, second- and third-place positions. Since the exhibit has Lake County roots and origins, a Special Award of $250 will be given for a Lake County, Illinois, image and will be provided by the Friends of the Lake County Discovery Museum. The Lake County Farm Bureau will sponsor the $100 award.

High quality works in various media were submitted, with artists from many Illinois counties — Lake, DeKalb, Warren, DuPage, Champaign, Cook and Rockford participating. Valparaiso, Madison and Williams Bay are also represented. A total of 225 works was submitted, with a number of well-known local artists participating. Names of the 49 finalists can be found on the foundation's website, www.lchff.org. Jurors Didier Nolet, Joy Horwich and Nancy Schumm agreed that the quality of works submitted made their process enjoyable and challenging. Art works on display will be offered for sale to museum members and the general public.

The Lake County Heritage Farm Foundation, an organization dedicated to preserving the farming history of Lake County, recently conducted this competition for artists in the tri-state area of Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana. The competition and subsequent exhibition are a cooperative effort of the Lake County Heritage Farm Foundation, the Friends of the Lake County Discovery Museum, the Liberty Prairie Foundation and the Lake County Farm Bureau.