Democratizing Art: Polls Now Open for The Artful Home's 2008 Portfolio Competition

MADISON, Wis.--(Business Wire)--
The "polls" are now open at
http://portfoliocompetition.artfulhome.com for the public voting phase
of The Artful Home's Portfolio Competition to determine which of 10
artists' works will be turned into giclee art prints and sold through
The Artful Home(R) catalog and Web site. The field of candidates
ranges from emerging artists with day jobs to full-time artists at the
height of their careers.

The finalists are:

-- Gerry Biron, of Saxtons River, Vt., an artist whose Native
American-inspired paintings are currently on tour;

-- Jeff Carpenter, of Fall River, Mass., a filmmaker turned
artist whose work played at the Cannes Film Festival;

-- Peggy Hansen, of Boulder Creek, Calif., a doctor gaining
recognition for her photography;

-- Scott Kahn, of Brooklyn, N.Y., and Old Lyme, Conn., an artist
with a painting in the American Embassy in Moscow;

-- Kathrine Lovell, of Barrington, R.I., an artist who's painted
scenery for Madison Square Garden among others;

-- Meredith MacLeod, of Clinton, Wash., a printmaker and glass
tile maker once commissioned through Seattle's Bus Shelter
Mural Program;

-- Bonnie McCann, of Kaneohe, Hawaii, a photographer who
homeschools her three children;

-- Owen Mortensen, of Logan, Utah, one of AmericanStyle's "10
emerging artists to watch";

-- Jaimi Novak, of Minneapolis, an advertising agency associate
creative director who creates photos with a vintage viewfinder
camera; and

-- Todd Stone, of New York, an artist who received a National
Endowment for the Arts painting fellowship in 1976.

Their work was chosen from hundreds of images, submitted by
artists throughout the United States and Canada, by a jury of experts
led by David A. Ross, former director of the Whitney Museum of
American Art and other museums.

Public voting closes at 11:59 p.m. on May 27. A portion of the
proceeds from the sale of the resulting giclee prints will benefit
Splashes of Hope.

The Guild, Inc.(R) is the leading online retailer of original art
and fine craft items shipped direct to customers from the studios of
top North American artists. The Guild's catalog, The Artful Home(R),
presents collections carefully selected from the 10,000 items
available through The Guild's artfulhome.com website. Since 1985, The
Guild has also published annual sourcebooks helping design
professionals locate commissionable artists for special projects.

Manager of Public Relations and Partnerships
Julie Kolka, 608-227-4105
jkolka@guild.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008