Alumni+ Art Show Winners Announced

Winning entries in Kalamazoo Valley's Alumni+ Art Show were announced during the exhibit opening at the Center for New Media on June 2. A total of 28 alumni submitted 58 works for inclusion in the show. Entries were accepted in multiple media, including video, mixed media, sculpture, painting, drawing, carving and photography.

First Place - "Frog on Mushroom", Stephen Maronto $400
clay and crystalline glaze
This was Maronto's third year submitting his work to the Alumni+ Art Show, having won Best of Show in 2021 and Second Place in 2022. He attended classes at Kalamazoo Valley from 1991 to 2020. In 2017 Maronto's work was chosen to be sold in in the Kalamazoo Institute's A Gallery Shop.

Second Place - "Chinese Wood Ducks", Xiaoying Li $300
Traditional Chinese painting pigments, rice paper
Xiaoying Li previously entered work in the 2015 and 2020 Alumni+ Art Shows. She attended Kalamazoo Valley from 2014 to 2018. Li has been a teacher and artist at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts since 2014.

Third Place - "Sunset Flight", Jodi Arnett-Fleckenstein $200
acrylic
This was Arnett-Fleckenstein's first Alumni+ Art Show. She attended Kalamazoo Valley from 1988 to 1996. In 2015 she was one of a seven-artist group that conducted a living painting event as part of the March Art Hop.

Honorable Mention - "Obsidian Spheres", Alex Menzor $100
acrylics on canvas
Menzor earned a degree in illustration at Kalamazoo Valley in 2021 and this is the self-employed freelance illustrator's first Alumni+ Art Show. In 2022, Menzor completed the artist residency program at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts.

Honorable Mention - "Symbiosis", Matt Brandt $100
colored pencil, ink
Brandt is another first-time entrant in the Alumni+ Art Show. He earned two degrees at Kalamazoo Valley, science in 2013 and illustration in 2021.

Honorable Mention - "Winter Mosaic", Tracy Kleinsteker $100
soft pastel on UArt 400 paper
This year marked Kleinsteker's seventh Alumni+ Art Show. Her first show was in 2015 and she has entered each year since 2018, earning a Second Place award in 2019, Best of Show award in 2020 and First Place in 2021. She has been exhibiting her work and garnering awards since 2014. Learn more about her work at https://tracy-klinesteker.format.com/.

Best of Show "Sharehouse 1", Alex Menzor $500
acrylics on canvas

Director's Choice "Man-Spider", Ben Street $500
acrylic and Sharpie
Street has shared his work at every Alumni+ Art show since 2015, making this his ninth show. He has also done large mural projects in Kalamazoo and Knoxville, Tenn. He earned two degrees at Kalamazoo Valley, graphic design in 2011 and illustration in 2012.

See photos from the exhibit opening and awards ceremony at https://www.flickr.com/photos/kalamazoovalley/albums/72177720308824291.