October 29-December 3, 2025
Reception: Saturday, November 8, 11:00am – 1:00pm
The Athena Art Society will host their Fall Juried Exhibit at the newly-renovated Hickman Gallery in the Mahan Center for Art and Design at Adrian College in Adrian, Michigan from Wednesday, October 29 – Wednesday, December 3, 2025. A free, public Reception will be held Saturday, November 8, from 11am to 1pm.
The exhibition features paintings, ceramics, pastel drawings and more by members of the Athena Art Society, from across Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.
The Athena Art Society is honored to welcome Barbara Miner of The University of Toledo Department of Art as the Juror for the exhibit. Barbara Miner holds the position of tenured Professor and Chair in the Department of Art, at The University of Toledo, in Toledo, OH. Her mixed media sculptures, installation works, paintings & writings, informed by the nexus of human/nature interaction & the practice of meditative repetition, have been exhibited nationally (Maine to California) and internationally (Sweden and Poland) in over 107 exhibitions.
The Athena Art Society was formed in 1903 in Toledo, Ohio as a community of women artists. The non-profit organization supports other organizations through partnerships, encourages young artists with a scholarship program, and enriches the art scene in the Northwest Ohio region with their annual exhibitions.
Hickman Gallery, Mahan Center for Art and Design, Adrian College
Williams Street, Adrian, MI 49221
Gallery hours: Monday-Friday 9-5
Other times by Appointment.
AWARD WINNERS
Watercolor, Gouache, Colored Pencil
Best of Show
Jules Webster
This work is lyrical and bold and funny. The accomplished mark-making captures the
energy of defiant life through deceptively simple lines, shapes, colors and shadows.
There is an assurance in the rendering and an obvious connection to these exuberant,
showy, sassy flowers. But the flowers are also ephemeral which makes this moment of
perfection precious and compelling.
– Juror Barbara Miner
First Place
Moonscape Crater Vessel
Ann E. Vreeland
The body-scale of this work invites engagement. We are drawn to the shell/pod/egg-like form and its concave and convex surface. The quiet glaze treatment allows the silhouette and the deep interior space to guide our exploration. Spending time with the work, we are rewarded. Much like a fossil found, or a unique bone fragment, with an unknown story, we can construct our own story long after leaving the object.
– Juror Barbara Miner
Second Place
This work, while beautiful in its execution, creates something much richer because it
references the long history of serving objects. This is a work that draws on the traditions
of community and communing through food and drink. There is a solidifying of society and family through the sharing of nourishment. The work itself is nourishing for the eye as the details are rich and thoughtfully designed.
– Juror Barbara Miner
Third Place
The deft handling of the medium creates a work that is a dear memory; it is the sound of wind through fall grasses. The drawing does not strive to perfectly represent a walk in autumn, rather it captures the scent of the wet leaves and the shifting scudding clouds. It is a work that records that last look back as you leave the fields.
– Juror Barbara Miner
Honorable Mention
This is a very special, quiet piece. Especially in the 21st century. I think that the weight of this award “Honorable”, is especially fitting and important. The act of mending with purpose, without intent to hide a flaw is an honorable act, even an act of defiance. Valuing what is broken but precious is a rare thing in our disposably minded culture. This unassuming work’s message, the reverence for things imperfect is humbling. Add to this the very small scale of the work and the fact that it is not brightly colored, butquietly, intentionally present, makes it even more precious.
– Juror Barbara Miner
FALl JURIED EXHIBIT
Ann E. Vreeland, Moonscape Crater Vessel, Ceramic 
Jules Webster, Hafner Florist Arrangement #6, Watercolor, Gouache, Colored Pencil 
Lindsay Scypta, Coffee + Accoutrements, Porcelain 
Susan Dhaenans, Birch and Bramble, Soft Pastel 
Mary Weiss Chair, Obvara Fired with Kintsugi, Mixed Media 
Kay Kocher, Anna Maria Island, Watercolor 
Ellen Loeffler Kalinoski, Santa Fe’s Rays, Photography 
Lindsay Scypta, Celebration Plates, Porcelain 
Brenda Hofbauer, Angelwing Begonia, Collage (Paper) 
Michelle Arnold Paine, Sanctuary, Oil on Canvas 
Ruth Matthews, Girl with Fur Hat, Oil on Canvas 
Susan L. Dhaenens, Long Shadows, Soft Pastel 
Jane Williams, Portiuncula Chapel, Oil on Linen Board 
Katie Delay, Summer, Colored Pencil 
Sarah Speer, The Decoration of Eve, Sterling Silver with Ammolite 
Ellen Loeffler-Kalinoski, Your Move, Photography 
Claire Wilson, Stonewalled, Watercolor Collage 
Kay Weprin, Morning Commute, Oil Pastel 
Paula Davis, Last Light at Chimney Rock, Soft Pastel 
Randi Lowry, Scribble, Ceramic 
Lanna Pendleton Hall, Wednesday, 8pm, Oil on Canvas 
Mary Ellen Taylor, She Hears the Whales’ Song, Ceramic 
Carrie Hawkins, Dreamscapes: Renew, Mixed Media 
Lisa Barroso, Inquisitive Torso, Oil 
Mary Ellen Taylor, Platter, Ceramic 
Joan Rigal, Unbridled, Art Quilt 
Lisa Barroso, Repose, Graphite 
Ruth Matthews, Winter’s Warmth, Soft Pastel 
Carol Sicha, Ascending, Acrylic 
Patsy Camp, Splash, Acrylic
Juror’s Notes
Barbara WF Miner
October 31, 2025
Nearly a half-century on from feminism, simply being a woman artist is still a revolutionary act. And getting one’s work shown continues to be met by enormous
inbuilt resistance. Jerry Saltz-2018
According to AI: Barriers to creativity for women artists include systemic bias, lack of access to education and resources, and socio-cultural expectations. Historically, institutions favored male artists, and women faced issues like being expected to create art for social purposes rather than as a professional career, leading to less recognition and lower sales. Today, challenges include gender bias, lack of affordable childcare, and cultural conditioning that may discourage “bold” or “large” artistic expression.
I looked at the Athena Art Society’s Website and learned that the organization started in 1903, certainly a time when there was little support for women’s self-expression of any sort much less for a dalliance with the creative arts outside those which directly supported the running of a home. From your own website, Athena was created “to assist and encourage women in all branches of the Fine Arts”, and at 122 years young, “Athena continues to promote and develop the visual arts and stimulate community participation”. This is a powerful and wonderful mission to live up to and to build upon for the next 122 years.
Each of the works submitted for this exhibition was a testament to the enduring human need to create, to express, to make a mark and to be seen. The very act of creating a work of art, and being bold enough to show it to others, AND to risk rejection in the process, is a heroic deed. It is also generous act. Sharing our work, even if it is in informal encounters, encourages others to risk the same. I think this is important to remember for everyone who was willing to submit their work for jurying into this exhibition whether it was included or not this time. It is important to make work and to push it out into the light. It is meaningful and sustaining for artists to push one another and by so doing, continue the dialogue with one’s own practice.
It was my pleasure to see the breadth of styles, materials and content represented across the submitted artworks. I tried very hard to keep any personal bias out of the review process. I looked for professional finishing of the artworks, clean edges, clean framing, impeccable craft and perhaps above all, for a personal voice evident in the artwork. For artists, the first hurdle is to have a work included in an exhibition, check. The second hurdle is to rise to the level of award consideration, check. The final hurdle is to have created a work which goes beyond reproduction or representation, even if well crafted. The work needs to go beyond simply neat or even accomplished. The work that really rises to the top pushes some intangible boundary, touches one more note that makes the work sing, even if the voice is quiet. The exceptional work resonates with the viewer’s inner disquiet or solace or joy. In the end, even if you may not actually like the work, that connection to something deeper is what makes a work memorable.
These works were chosen for awards because each of the artists added “one more note” and as a result, their works sing.