Twenty-three artists participated in SLOPOKE’s 10th annual Art of the West Exhibition and Sale, held on Sept. 25 through 27 at Flag is Up Farms in Solvang. Three awards were presented by featured artist and jurist Jim Wodark of the California Art Club, and two additional sponsored awards were presented by SLOPOKE owner and developer Tom Burgher during the event.
Best in Show was presented to Lisa McLoughlin, an Arizona-based artist and rancher, for her display of multiple paintings of contemporary life on a modern horse ranch. Best Painting was awarded to Simon Lok, an artist and California Art Club member from Arcadia. Lok also received the Artist Choice award, sponsored by Western Art and Architecture magazine, during the event.
Also a California Art Club member, sculptor Dino Mehaffie received the award for Best Sculpture, while Morango Valley-based artist Carolyne Hawley took home the award for Best Wildlife, sponsored by Art of the West magazine.
The dates for SLOPOKE’s next Art of the West Exhibition and Sale have been announced as Sept. 24 through 26, 2021. This year’s event marked SLOPOKE’s first live, in-person art show since the COVID-19 mitigation measures began in March. The 100-acre open-air venue helped facilitate social distancing, and attendees received free commemorative SLOPOKE cowboy bandanas.
Find out more about SLOPOKE at the-slopoke.com.
This article appears in Oct 8-15, 2020.