Bizzarro congratulates Erie County artists on being named finalists

Three artists from Erie named finalists in Art of the State exhibition

ERIE, Aug. 8 – In reflection of their continued dedication to the arts, three Erie County artists have been named as finalists to an annual statewide juried exhibition, state Rep. Ryan Bizzarro announced.

Works by Erie’s Matthew Coté, Passle Helminski and Fred Scruton will be on display and open to the public as part of the Art of the State Exhibition at The State Museum of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg from Sept. 11 through Jan. 15, 2023. The finalists were selected from 1,850 entries from 542 artists.  

“I’m excited to see three members of our community earn statewide recognition for their work and commitment to the arts,” Bizzarro said. “They all deserve to be recognized and congratulated. It also gives me great pride to see a friend of our office, Passle Helminski, honored for her work.”  

Art of the State has showcased the work of Pennsylvania’s artists at The State Museum of Pennsylvania since 1968. Through the years, artists have shared their ideas and engaged viewers in the categories of painting, photography, craft, sculpture and work on paper. The exhibition will be open to the public at noon Sunday, Sept. 11, in conjunction with Harrisburg’s Gallery Walk. Museum admission will be free on Sept. 11.

Selection jurors reviewed and scored all of the submitted works. Those with the highest ratings in each category are featured in the exhibition. The awards juror will determine the first-, second- and third-place recipients in each of the categories.

More information on the exhibit, including the background of the selection jurors, is available here: https://www.media.pa.gov/Pages/PHMC-Details.aspx?newsid=412