Local artist wins prestigious award
St. James City resident Peg Cullen recently was awarded second place in the “Harvest of Art” juried exhibit being held at the Visual Arts Center in Punta Gorda. According to Cullen, this is the oldest and most prestigious annual juried exhibit held in Charlotte County. This year, the exhibit entries were judged by Greg Biolchini, Master P.S.A. On judging Cullen’s painting, Biolchini wrote “This one really holds together, strong, graphic, rhythmic, bold painting.”
The painting entered by Cullen was a mixed media portrait of another well- known island artist, Mel Meo and is simply titled “Mel”.
“I have always admired Mel as a person and an artist and over the years we have followed each other’s careers.” Cullen said. “I had gone to a local gallery last year when Mel was showing and took a picture of her. She is such a beautiful woman and so colorful that I knew she would make a good subject because I love to work with lots of bright colors.”
Cullen also recently was accepted into a show with the Alliance of the Arts, Art Royal.
“The theme this year for Art Royal is elements and while I normally do portrait style paintings, this was a little different,” Cullen said. “I decided my statement would be wind, so my challenge was to show visually what wind felt like.”
No stranger to winning awards, Cullen is a nationally known and recognized artist who has shown her work at numerous exhibitions. In addition to having her work hung in galleries, her art is found in many private collections as well as public collections, including the Rockford Art Museum in Rockford, IL, the Teachers Retirement System in Springfield, IL, Wisconsin Power and Light in Milwaukee, WI, the Charles Wustum Museum, Rancine, WI, the Promega in Madison, WI. Cullen also was named teacher of the year by the Chicago Artists Coalition and was selected by the Easter Seals Foundation to produce a painting for an Easter Seals.
Cullen’s works also have graced more than the walls in museum and galleries, but has also donned the covers of several CDs including that of “Walter Tipton’s Old Time Fiddlin” which was featured in publications such as the chicago Art Review, Artists News of Chicago, IL, the Seafood Leader in Seattle, Washington, We Exist in Barrington, IL, Common Threads in Dodgeville and The Heart in Woodstock, IL.
Cullen also has spent time promoting her art by presenting in solos shows in Wisconsin, Illinois, Fort Myers, Punta Gorda and on Pine Island. Currently Cullen’s work is on display at the Arts For Act in Fort Myers.
Cullen is a past president of the Southwest Chapter of the National League of American Pen Women. This organization is dedicated to promoting the arts and does so by providing scholarship for young women in the arts through fund raising activities.
This year, the Pen Women will show their work at Arts for Act and during Big Arts held on Sanibel Island.
Not limited to skills with the paint brush, Cullen plays the fiddle in the Pine Island based bluegrass band, St. James Creek. The St. James Creek Bluegrass Band had appeared at various local venues and benefits, most notably the annual Breast Fest held in St. James City each March. The first performance of the season by St. James Creek will be at Earth and Spirit Garden Gallery in St. James City on Nov. 27 and again on Dec. 18.
The Harvest of Art exhibit is open for public viewing at the Visual Arts Center located at 210 Maud Street in Punta Gorda. The Visual Arts Center is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with this juried exhibit on display through Dec. 2.