“Michele – After Zorn’s Jewelry Box,” a photo montage by Richard Ventre of Norwalk, won Best in Show at the 36th annual Community-Sponsored Awards Exhibition at the Rowayton Arts Center. The exhibition of high-quality art in all media continues through April 26. The RAC Gallery at 145 Rowayton Avenue is open from 12:00-5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from 1:00-4:00 p.m. on Sunday (closed Monday). Admission is free. For information visit the web site at www.rowaytonartscenter.org or call 203-866-2744.

Category winners are: Acrylics – 1st Ann Kromer (Ridgefield), 2nd Jeannine Soper (Rowayton), 3rd Ishita Bandyo (Branford), honorable mention Lisa Thoren (Darien); Drawings, Pastels & Prints – 1st N. Robert Cestone (Rowayton),2nd Dan Long (Westport), 3rd Joel Sobelson (Weston), honorable mention Margaret Esme Simon (Greenwich); Mixed Media – 1st Pierre Lahoussois (Rowayton), 2nd Amy Schott (Wilton), 3rd Gregg Welz (Norwalk), honorable mention Nancy Gramps (Darien); Oils – 1st Yasemin Tomakan (Old Greenwich), 2nd Sean Murtha (Norwalk), 3rd Tetiana Chaboryk (Ridgefield), honorable mention Eunice Roy (Rowayton); Photography – 1st Laure Dunne (Norwalk), 2nd Ben Larrabee (Darien), 3rd Robert Sachs (Norwalk), honorable mention Tom Kretsch (Westport); Sculpture – 1st Ginny Awn (Norwalk), 2nd Susan Acker (Stamford), 3rd Ilana Appleby (Rowayton); Watercolors – 1st Lynn Stephens Massey (Norwalk), 2nd Maria Formoso (Riverdale, NY), 3rd Andrea Padula (Westport), honorable mention Susan Spivak (Westport).

Jeffrey Price, owner of Artists’ Market in Norwalk, selected the winners from entries submitted by 97 RAC exhibiting members. He says, “The excitement here is seeing artists going beyond the limits of their medium and using their technique to express something really interesting. In this exhibit one will find not only skillful and beautiful pictures, but also quiet revelations and astonishing excitement.”

For more than 50 years the Rowayton Arts Center has been a community cultural hub that provides a welcoming environment for regional artists to exhibit and sell their work, exchange arts-related ideas, and participate in classes and workshops for creative people of all ages and at all levels. The RAC Gallery and Art School are located on the banks of the scenic Five Mile River in Rowayton, CT.