Winners selected for ArtWalk cover

By Ben Olson
Reader Staff

Last month, we printed a blank cover and asked our readers to create their own cover for the issue coming out before ArtWalk. We received over two dozen submissions, several of them that showed a lot of promise. 

However, when it came time to choosing our cover for this week, the Reader staff and Pend Oreille Arts Council (POAC) staff met and agreed one submission was far and away the clear winner.

Nellie Lutzwolf’s winning cover design, entitled “Reverse Deconstruction of the Sandpoint Reader,” was the clear favorite.

The grand prize winner: “Reverse Deconstruction of the Sandpoint Reader” by Nellie Lutzwolf.

The piece features a mix of words and sentences cut out from old Readers, glued in such a way to paint a portrait of the Long Bridge, Lake Pend Oreille, Sandpoint and the mountains beyond.

“I was thinking about how you, as the Reader staff, always try to create meaning, so that automatically drew me to reconstruction,” said Lutzwolf. “I thought you guys do such an awesome job creating meaning through your articles, so I wanted to do something specifically from me, while using your words to do it.”

Lutzwolf recently put in her last year as an art teacher in Clark Fork, where she’s taught for five years.

“I wasn’t getting enough time in my studio,” she said. “I wasn’t giving myself enough time to create. It’s really fun to work with students, but I really want to create. I’m going full-time artist.”

For winning the contest, Lutzwolf earned herself $100 worth of drinks and food at either MickDuff’s location in Sandpoint.

Readers can see more of Lutzwolf’s work by typing her last name into Instagram.

For the kids’ division, Elyssa McKnight’s piece, “Adjunct” was selected as winner, which earns her a $25 gift certificate to Creations For Sandpoint.

The youth prize winner, “Adjunct,” by Elyssa McKnight.

McKnight, 13, has been creating art since she was 8 years old. She plans to take art classes this fall when she enters the ninth grade.

Her piece, “Adjunct” was created with colored pencils.

“I was thinking about Sandpoint and trying to summarize it,” she said. 

McKnight said her favorite medium is “definitely colored pencils. You can use them for a variety of things.”

POAC’s 41st annual ArtWalk kicks off with opening receptions planned for Friday, June 29, from 5:30-8 p.m. at 20 different locations around Sandpoint. Many venues plan to have live music and refreshments, and all will highlight the work of over 100 local artists. 

There will also be an after party from 8-9:30 p.m. with live music from Bright Moments Jazz at Evans Brothers Coffee Roasters.

Plan your ArtWalk route by picking up a brochure at any of the participating businesses, and if you can’t get to all of them in one night, have no fear, the art will hang in place all summer until Sept. 6. 

Locations include:

•Columbia Bank

•Pend d’Oreille Winery

•Idaho Pour Authority

•Sandpoint Reader

•Baxter’s on Cedar

•Pend Oreille Arts Council

•Azalea’s Handpicked Style

•Northwest Handmade

•Cedar Glen Gallery/Jerry Ferrara Wildlife Photography

•Galaxy Gallery (the alley between First and Second Ave.)

•Music Conservatory of   Sandpoint

•Realty Plus, Inc.

•La Chic Boutique

•219 Lounge

•ArtWorks Gallery

•Santosha

•Hippie Chic Boutique

•Monarch Mountain Coffee 

•Evans Brothers Coffee

Submissions that didn’t win the ArtWalk cover contest will all hang in the stairwell of the Sandpoint Reader office building at 111 Cedar St. in Sandpoint.

For more information about ArtWalk or POAC, check them out at www.artinsandpoint.org or call (208) 263-6139.