WAYCROSS — More than 50 entries were judged for top honors in five categories during the 2026 Judge Ben Smith Juried Art competition.
Judge Smith, who passed away October 4, 2014, retired as a State Court Judge of Ware County. He was a published writer and an accomplished artist.
The annual contest was started in honor of Judge Smith. The five categories were Graphics, Photography, Sketching, 3-D and Painting.
Cathy Janes was named the winner in the Graphics division with “Morning Dash”. Ariel Shulz was second with “Shimmer” with Kelson Cuervo placing third with “1# of the Reflections Series”. Honorable mention went to Diane Brown with “Church Lady #10”.
Madeline White captured top honors in the Sketching division with “Morning Dash”. Runnerup went to White with “Vineyard Autumn”. Placing third was Shulz with “Frog Tango”. Mary Kay LaFever’s “Freedom” was honorable mention.
Winning the 3D Art category was Steve Sikes with “Segmented Vase”. He was followed by his “Segmented Hollow Form” entry and John Jordan’s “Two Jays”. Katie Holton’s “Lily Pad” was honorable mention.
Susan Lutz captured the Photography category with “Storming Across the Marsh”. Allen Allnoch was second with “Bridge Over Untroubled Waters” and Wayne Morgan finished third with “Frog on Zinnia”. Larry Miller’s “Sunflower With Visitor” was honorable mention.
“Savannah”, painted by Jorah Mitchell, won the Painting category. He was followed by Tommy Cox’s “Fire in the Sky” and Jerry Luke’s “Interior/Exterior”. Xianagin Zhang’s “Lotus” won honorable mention.
Special thanks was given to Judge Kelly Brooks for his sponsorship of this year’s competition. Thanks was also given to the Okefenokee Heritage Center (OHC) Board of Directors and those who helped to provide refreshments.
The OHC Art Gallery is made up of Director Bob Brown, OHC Art Guild Chair Susan Newman and OHC Photography Guild Chair Allen Allnoch.
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