2007 All Florida Juried Show

It's easy to take for granted what comes easily. But the thing about a showing of local or regional art: It gives you perspective on the pool of talent you're swimming in. The "2007 All Florida Juried Show" offers 70 works by 59 artists in diverse media including watercolor, oil, acrylic, graphite, mixed media, collage, pen and ink, wood, and digital and traditional photography. Miami sculptor James Mastin took Best of Show for Young Boy, a life-sized figure in epoxy whose reflective gaze is mirrored in relaxed posture and musculature. It's a traditional approach to a traditional medium, which there is plenty of in this exhibit, whereas some — like Kathy Omeara, who created Ephemera from found objects — deviate from the path to explore new avenues. The other thing that's useful about a juried exhibit: You get to appreciate that winning isn't everything. Juried by Delray Beach gallery owner Ora Sorenson, the show features winners who aren't necessarily the best, though an Award of Excellence was certainly due Grief, a photograph whose composition invokes the oil paintings of the old masters. An Award of Excellence went to Demetrious Balderes Jr. of Fort Lauderdale for Still Life With Artichokes for a competent but unremarkable rendition of the vegetable with grapes and wine. But the lesser prize, Judge's Recognition, went to a more creative, expertly crafted War Stories quilt by Naples artist Pat Kumicich. Gloria Rejune Adams bestowed the Cornell Museum Director's Award on Karen Stene for a commissioned acrylic painting, ZAC, I Walk Alone, though her Sundance painting also features the same geometric repetitions in its architecture and better rendering of the human form. (Through September 8 at Cornell Museum, 51 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. Call 561-243-7922.)