The Jurors:
Bryan Mark Taylor of Utah, Juror of Selection
A painter, lecturer, entrepreneur, and world traveler Bryan Mark Taylor is a renaissance man. As a painter, Bryan has won top awards in national and international shows, including 2nd place in the 2018 ARC Salon and exhibits in museums worldwide. In addition, he makes regular contributions to art and design magazines including Plein Air and Imagine FX.
Bryan is a Signature Member of Plein Air Painters of America and has had many successful one-person shows and won a gold medal at the California Art Club’s annual show. Galleries in New York, California, and Utah currently represent Bryan. In addition, you can find his artwork in private, corporate, and museum collections around the world, including in the US, Europe, and China.
Bryan is a sought-after teacher and lecturer and has taught courses worldwide, including at the Academy of Art University, Pixar, and the Scottsdale Artists School. In addition, Bryan has been a featured speaker at the Plein Air, CTNX, Fantastic Arts, Dragonsteel, and VisionX conferences. As a product designer, Bryan has developed a premier outdoor painting system called the STRADA Easel, used by Plein Air artists worldwide.
Bryan has traveled around the globe, carefully observing and capturing nature’s miracles. He was born in Portland, Oregon. He received his BA from Brigham Young University in 2001 and MFA from the Academy of Art University in 2005. He currently lives with his wife and four children in Utah, USA.
Shanna Kunz of Utah, Juror of Awards
Shanna Kunz of Ogden, UT is a naturalist painter of the landscape that surrounds her, interpreting the quiet and familiar places of the American West. Her work has been featured in numerous major art publications, including a feature article in Art of the West, Western Art & Architecture, Plein Air Magazine, Outdoor Painter, Southwest Art Magazine, Western Art Collector and Fine Art Connoisseur.
She won 2019 Best In Show For Body Of Work in The Hockaday Museum Invitational, The Coors Show – 2014, Maynard Dixon Camp Out 2015 – 2018, C.M. Russell Auction 2015, Rocky Mountain Plein Air Painters Best of Show 2016, member 2017-2019, American Impressionist Society Exhibition 2016 – 2012, exhibiting at The Salmagundi Club, NYC, Maynard Dixon Country 2010, 2018, the Jackson Wildlife Museum Western Visions Miniature Show, the Contemporary Art of the American West Invitational, The Western Masters Art Show, and was chosen for the Fine Art Connoisseur Award at the Artist of the New Century Exhibit, Bennington Center for the Arts.
Shanna is a signature member of American Impressionist Society and a member of Oil Painters of America, as well as The California Art Club Out of State Member. Shanna has been invited to exhibit at Catalina Island Conservatory Wild Side Show, 2021 and 2022 and has been a guest on The Artful Painter Podcast.
She owns and operates an online art school Inspired To Paint. Shana exhibits at these fine art galleries across the United States: Mockingbird Gallery, Bend, OR Montgomery Lee Fine Art, Park City, UT Turner Fine Art, Jackson, WY Kneeland Gallery, Ketchum, ID Illume Gallery, St. George, UT A. Banks Fine Art, Bozeman, MT