Five winners for the third annual #ArtPopPocono billboard competition were announced at a special reception on Tuesday, December 19, 2017 at Adams Outdoor Advertising, 6053 Route 209, Stroudsburg, PA. The 2018 winners were joined by previous ArtPopPocono billboard competition winners and congratulated by representatives from the Pocono Arts Council, ArtPop Street Gallery and Adams Outdoor Advertising Northeast PA. Artwork will begin to appear on local billboards in January 2018.
New ArtPop Billboards Coming to a Highway Near You!
Written by Jack Swersie
In what proved to be a challenging exercise in decision-making, representatives from the Pocono Arts Council’s Board of Directors and Adams Outdoor Advertising selected five new billboard recipients for ArtPop 2018. With 84 top-notch artist submissions this was not an easy process! Thanks to all the artists and congratulations to winners Jillian DeLuca, Will Rothfuss, Laurinda Faye Rubin, Hal Sadler and Grace Spezzano.
Brooklyn born Jillian DeLuca who was selected as one of our “2017 Emerging Artists” draws her inspiration from nature. Her work has been featured in N.Y.C. and, of course, right here at home. Soon to be seen on a billboard near you, her ink & watercolor “Deep Roots” will leave you in awe of her immense artistic competence!
Multi-talented and prolific Will Rothfuss specializes in a variety of mediums and technique including geometric abstraction with fabric, collage and mixed-media, assemblage and installations, and hyper-realism in watercolor or oil. Coming soon will be a larger-than-life rendition of his striking abstract “Tree”, compiled from his collage of the same name and one of his assemblages called “Excavation”.
Laurinda Faye Rubin, a passionate photographer who loves to share her vision of the world through the lens of her camera will have a chance to do just that with the thousands of people passing through the Poconos every day! Her colorful photo titled “Love”, featuring two affectionate parrots, will surely catch your eye!
Painter Hal Sadler is known for his bold colors and loose interpretations of nature and landscapes. Along with his burgeoning art career, this 1989 graduate of the School of Visual Design currently runs his own design studio. His masterful oil painting “Trout” is sure to translate into an eye-catching billboard.
Proud to join the ArtPop Class of 2018 is Brooklyn born self-taught Pocono artist Grace Spezzano. Grace has been painting since her teens and it’s her love of animals coupled with her desire to raise awareness for rescue adoption which inspired her beautiful acrylic painting, “3 Dogs”. Her own three dogs are pictured in this upcoming billboard and her love for them shines brightly through her work.
As you drive down Rt-33 or Rt. 209 you will no doubt catch a glimpse of one or more of these winning 2018 ArtPop creations. When you do, please know that these billboards show not only the individual artist’s expertise. They also represent the level of incredible talent we have right here in the Poconos. It makes all of us proud to be members of the Pocono Arts Council.
Congratulations to winning artists:
Jillian DeLuca of East Stroudsburg for Deep Roots, Ink and Watercolor
Will Rothfuss of Stroudsburg for Tree, Collage of Art Magazines
Laurinda Faye Rubin of Stroudsburg for Love, Photography
Hal Sadler of Saylorsburg for Trout, Oils
Grace Spezzano of Stroudsburg for 3 Dogs, Acrylic on Canvas
According to Laura Goss, executive director of the Pocono Arts Council, “There were 82 entries this year. All of the submissions were outstanding, and we thank everyone who participated. It was a challenge for our judges to select the five winners that will have a strong visual impact on the highway billboards and celebrate the diverse array of mediums and talent that make up the artist community of the Poconos.”
According to Wendy Hickey, executive director and founder of ArtPop Street Gallery, “We are proud and grateful to work with the Pocono Arts Council in supporting local artists in the Pocono region. The ArtPop program initiated in northeast Pennsylvania, thanks to our partnership with the Pocono Arts Council and Adams Outdoor Advertising Northeast PA.”
#ArtPopPocono shines the spotlight on talented local artists in Northeastern Pennsylvania by placing their work on available billboards throughout the region. Local artists in all mediums, 2-D and 3-D, were invited to submit entries for five available billboards circulating the region in 2018. The competition is open to local artists living or working in Monroe, Pike, Wayne, Lackawanna, and Luzerne counties and the Slate Belt area of Northampton County.
ArtPop is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization whose mission is to promote local artists’ work and make art accessible to communities through available media space. It works with local arts councils and media companies to give local artists a voice, create public street galleries and energize residents’ commutes. Currently, ArtPop is on the streets of 14 cities in 9 states and growing quickly! 205 artists have been featured in the program since 2014. Art + Public Outdoor Project = ArtPop
