Selby Gardens Announces Winners of 43rd Annual Juried Photo Exhibition

September 1, 2023 – Sarasota

Marie Selby Botanical Gardens’ 43rd Annual Juried Photographic Exhibition is now on view in a virtual gallery that can be accessed at selby.org.

                The show includes over 300 photographs that were taken by visitors at one of Selby Gardens’ two campuses and selected for display by an expert panel of jurors. The jury awarded honors for top photographs in the exhibition, with Best in Show going to Gary McNulty for his colorful photo of a red-bellied woodpecker in a silk cotton tree, titled Afternoon Repose. The web gallery will remain on view through September 30.

In addition to Best in Show, awards for first place were given in each of the five exhibition categories:

·         Living Art: “Leaf” Imitating Art, by Christopher Harrington 

·         Make a Splash: Welcome to Selby Gardens, the Water Is Great!, by Betsy Roe

·         Plant Portraits: Solitude, by Caryn Koffman

·         The Birds and the Bees: Blue Dasher Dragonfly Portrait, by Christopher Harrington

·         Black + White: Circle of Life, by Gonzalo Hernandez Jr.

The jury also selected second- and third-place winners in each category and recognized three additional photos with honorable mentions.

Selby Gardens received over 300 entries for this year’s juried exhibition. Entrants could submit up to three photos, which had to be taken at either the Downtown Sarasota or Historic Spanish Point campus of Selby Gardens within the past year. All submissions were reviewed by the panel of volunteer jurors, who were invited for their expertise in photography, art, and curation. The jury included:

·         Olivia Marie Braida-Chiusano, artist and head of Selby Gardens’ botanical illustration program

·         Christopher Jones, Stanton B. and Nancy W. Kaplan Curator of Photography and Media Art at The Ringling

·         Keith Monda, philanthropist and Selby Gardens Trustee

·         John Pirman, artist and illustrator 

·         Walter Gilbert, Selby Gardens vice president for diversity and inclusion and namesake of the Gilbert Mural Initiative public-art project

“Selby Gardens is so grateful to our jurors for their time and care in evaluating over 300 photographs for this show,” said Selby Gardens President & CEO Jennifer Rominiecki. “They were impressed by the talented artists who participated, and we are pleased to share these diverse and stunning images that illustrate why Selby Gardens is known as The Living Museum®.”

To view Selby Gardens’ Virtual 43rd Annual Juried Photographic Exhibition, visit selby.org. This exhibition is presented in partnership with the Observer Media Group.