Schlow Library and the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts are pleased to present the awards reception for Images 2026, a juried exhibition. Images is an exhibition of drawings, paintings, mixed media, photography, hand-pulled prints, watercolors, fiber, and paper, by artists aged 16 and older whose primary residence is in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Amanda H. Hellman is the juror for this year's exhibition. Dr. Hellman is director of the Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State. Previously she held positions at Vanderbilt University Museum of Art and the Michael C. Carlos Museum of Emory University where she was the curator of African art. Her exhibitions include And I Must Scream (2022); Strata: an installation by Shannon Collis (2021); Press Here (2021); Between the Sweet Water and the Swarm of Bees (2016); and Southern Connections: Bearden in Atlanta (2014).

Dr. Hellman’s research on museum development in West and East Africa reveals how heritage formation and artistic practice are inextricably linked. Recent publications include The Making of Museums in Nigeria: Kenneth C. Murray and Heritage Preservation in Colonial West Africa (2023), And I Must Scream: the monstrous expression of our global crises (2022), “Die and Do: Egungun as a form of resistance and recovery,” in Visible Man: Fahamu Pecou (2018).

For more information about the exhibition and the jurors, or to view the show online, visit the Festival's website.

The exhibition will be open during library hours. (Visitors, please be aware that some portions of the show may be unavailable during library programming.)

A total of $1,800 in cash prizes will be awarded, including Best of Show — $500, Best Painting — $200, Best Pastel — $200, Best Photograph — $200, Four Merit Awards — $150 each, and Best Student Submission — $100.

Visitors to the Images Exhibition will be able to vote for a Viewers’ Choice Award, too.