The City of Roanoke and Roanoke Arts Commission have announced the Winner of the People’s Choice Award in the temporary exhibition AIR (Art in Roanoke) at Elmwood Park. Voters chose “Ask the Fish 2.0” by Stephen Fairfield as their favorite sculpture in the exhibit with the theme The Natural City. Fairfield will receive a $1,000 honorarium. During the weekend of Festival in the Park, May 22 to 25, nearly 800 votes were cast to determine the winner of the award.
According to Susan Jennings, arts and culture coordinator for the city, “We are thrilled that so many citizens voted for their favorite work of art. Our goal was not only to select the People’s Choice Winner, but to get an idea of which pieces the public might like to become a part of the city’s permanent collection. There were several works close behind “Ask the Fish” in the vote tally. We hope to find underwriters to help us keep some of the art in Roanoke.”
This is the third AIR (Art in Roanoke) temporary exhibit but the first one where all the work is concentrated in one area. Three sculptures were purchased from the previous two exhibitions including “Trojan Dog” by Ann Glover which sits in front of the fire station on Memorial Avenue, “Recoil” by Mark Yale Harris on Wells Avenue, and “In Flux” by Bland Hoke and Matt Rink in Vic Thomas Park.
