MANAYUNK

By Rachel Jenkins

What a weekend we had in Manayunk! For the 28th year in a row, our neighborhood drew hundreds of talented artists from across the country to display and sell their beautiful pieces on Main Street. A little rain didn’t stop the preparations for the festival, with artists and staff working hard to set up in the wee hours of the morning. Mother Nature kindly pushed better weather our way for the rest of the weekend - just in time for everyone to enjoy diverse art pieces in Glass & Ceramics, Fiber, Jewelry, Mixed Media, Painting & Drawing, Photography, and Wood & Sculpture categories.

While locals and visitors ooh-ed, ahh-ed, and purchased unique works of art, our panel of judges were faced with the difficult task of choosing the best of almost 300 artists. After much deliberation, here were the winners of this year’s contest:

Glass & Ceramics

Best in Category: Peter Cunicelli
Honorable Mention: Stefani Threet

Fiber

Best in Category: Nanako Miller
Honorable Mention: Gretchen Hulse

Jewelry

Best in Category: Jon Black
Honorable Mention: Ndidi Kowalczyk

Mixed Media

Best in Category: Nick Duvall
Honorable Mention: Wayne Gao/Michelle Chang

Painting & Drawing

Best in Category: Anastasia Alexandrin
Honorable Mention: Tsolmon Damba

Photography

Best in Category: Greg Knott
Honorable Mention: Jim Spillane

Wood & Sculpture

Best in Category: Kevin Duval
Honorable Mention: Tristan Sopp

Best in Show

Lia Mira

In between admiring everything from handmade jewelry to African-inspired paintings, festival-goers could also enjoy plenty of perks from our restaurant and sponsor booths. The over-21 crowd got exclusive access to gin cocktail samples from the Hendrick’s Gin tent, and everyone got a chance to taste Hormel’s chili dogs and Honest Tea samples, listen to music from MORE FM, get sneak peeks from The Philadelphia Museum of Art, and much more!

We truly appreciate all the talented artists who came out and made the show lively and successful. And a big thanks to all of our staff, judges, Manayunk partners, and sponsors - we couldn’t pull off our biggest event of the year without you!

And with that, we’ve got another Arts Festival under our belt. See you next year!