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Winners Named in 2020 Miami University Young Painters Competition

Exhibition view of the 2020 Miami University Young Painters Competition for the $10,000 William and Dorothy Yeck Award

By Karen O'Hara, university communications and marketing

Hiestand Galleries and the College of Creative Arts congratulate Taylor Loftin of Fayetteville, Arkansas, the winner of the 2020 $10,000 William and Dorothy Yeck Purchase Award, for his work, die Erde V (2019.) The painting is now a part of the permanent collection at Miami University.

Loftin is currently an M.F.A. candidate at the University of Arkansas and received his B.F.A. degree from the Memphis College of Art, Memphis, Tennessee. He will have a solo exhibition in the Spring of 2021 in the Hiestand Galleries in conjunction with the 2021 Miami University Young Painters Competition.

Liz Moore, St. Louis, Missouri, won the Second Place Award of $2500. Moore is currently an M.F.A. candidate at the Sam Fox School of Design and Visual Arts at Washington University, St. Louis. She received her B.F.A. from the University of Kentucky, Lexington, Kentucky.

Warith Taha, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania won the $2000 Third Place Award. Taha is currently an M.F.A. candidate at the Tyler School of Art at Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received his B.A. from Boston College, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

$10,000 Yeck Purchase Award

die Erde V,  2019 acrylic, enamel on wood assemblages, embedded in cast concrete, 12 x 18 x 4 inches

Taylor Loftin
die Erde V (2019)
Acrylic, enamel on wood assemblages, embedded in cast concrete, 12 x 18 x 4 inches.

2nd Place Award

Liz Moore painting

Liz Moore
Untitled (Vitamin D) (2018)
Felt, mixed media, 72 x 42 inches.

3rd Place Award

Taha artwork

Warith Taha
White Paint, Porn Grid (2019)
Acrylic and enamel on paper, 66 x 45.5 inches.

About the Young Painters Competition

Through a generous gift from William (Class of 1936) and Dorothy Yeck, of Dayton, Ohio, Miami University has a unique opportunity to provide students and the community at large with opportunities to develop a deeper understanding of contemporary art through an annual national competition.

Started in 1999, the Young Painters Competition features artists aged 25 - 35, who demonstrate excellence. The juror, chosen from nationally recognized painters, museum directors, curators and art professionals, selects 10 finalists. Each year's winner is awarded the $10,000 William and Dorothy Yeck Award and the painting becomes a part of the permanent collection at Miami University. Alternating between representational/realism and non-representational painting, this competition assures a prominent national role for Miami University, rewarding and inspiring the creativity of talented young artists. We hope you enjoy our yearly competition as we navigate the visual, historical and critical development of painting through the 21st century.

The 2020 competition was juried by Ebony G. Patterson, known for her multi-media installations, drawings and tapestries. Her work is in numerous public collections, including The Studio Museum, Harlem, New York; Nasher Museum of Art, Duke University; 21c Museum Hotels, and the Museum of Art and Design, New York. Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Patterson received her B.F.A. from Edna Manley College, Kingston, Jamaica and her M.F.A. from the Sam Fox College of Design and Visual Arts at Washington University, St. Louis. She is represented by Monique Meloche Gallery, Chicago.

Our 2021 Competition Juror will be Kelly Baum, the Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon Polsky Curator of Contemporary Art, Department of Modern and Contemporary Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, New York.