Annual Metro Montage Exhibition Returns to Marietta Cobb Museum of Art

MARIETTA — The 24th annual Metro Montage juried art exhibition returned to the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art on Saturday and will run into September.

The exhibition features artwork from over 100 artists from across the United States, ranging in medium, genre and style.

Curator Madeline Beck described the selection process as rigorous and incredibly competitive. A panel of anonymous jurors made of museum board members, staff and local art professionals meticulously evaluated over 1,000 submissions.

The submissions were ranked using a numeric system, allowing jurors to rank artwork without knowing who the artist was and where they were from. Beck then sorted through the top ranked submissions to ensure there was a diverse variety of media and subject matter represented.

This year, almost 90% of the selected artwork came from Georgia-based artists, with many from the Marietta area.

Beck said a limiting factor for out-of-state submissions could be the cost of shipping.

Jennifer Fox, the museum’s director of operations, also believes sometimes that’s “just the way it goes” when the staff judges blindly.

Fox has worked at the museum for 16 years and has enjoyed watching the Metro Montage exhibition grow over time. Since then, she has seen more and more artists submit their work from not just the Southeast but from as far as Alaska and Hawaii.

“Metro Montage is my favorite exhibition every year. … Every year it just gets better and better and this is no exception,” Fox said. “It has something for everybody which is one of the reasons I love it so much.”

According to Beck, the exhibition is a fan favorite with many of the museum’s patrons looking forward to it each year.

“People love how eclectic it is… Some of the more featured shows could not be up your alley, but here you’re going to find something that you like, whether it be the medium, subject matter, scale or whatever,” Beck said.

This year’s first-, second- and third-place winners all differed greatly in style, subject matter and medium.

First place went to Mina Duffie for her Hanji, or Korean-traditional-paper sculpture “Shoe Seller,” which depicts two figures in traditional clothing. Gail Wegodsky’s “Book Sale at the Forum,” an oil painting on linen, won second place, while Patsy Rausch’s “5 a.m. Light,” a mixed-media piece, took third.

All winners received a cash prize ranging from $250 to $750, which Beck said adds a competitive edge to the exhibition.

“It’s torture trying to rank one piece above another,” she said. “Every single piece here technically could win an award because when you get into such a competitive show, you really get that quality.”

In the current digital age, she believes the human element of art is more important than ever.

“People want that human experience and they want that true human element, that artist’s touch,” Beck said. “(I want) to show people art is valid, valuable and important to human expression, history and coping with our society.”

As the Metro Montage exhibition grows, Fox and Beck hope the museum continues to as well. Beck hopes the museum will get more fundraising to be able to bring in more high-caliber artists and exhibitions.

The Metro Montage exhibition is on display at the Marietta Cobb Museum of Art, located at 30 Atlanta Street Southeast, until September 8. The museum is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

For more information on Metro Montage XXIV, visit https://mariettacobbartmuseum.org .