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Pictured from left are RAL Art Center Executive Director Sharon Stone, Art in Transit winner Sarah Marshall Elliott, and Bay Transit Director Ken Pollock.
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Richmond-based artist Sarah Marshall Elliott was this year’s Art in Transit's first-place winner for her oil painting of racing sailboats entitled, “Cruisin’ and Racin’.”
Bay Transit, the public transportation division of Bay Aging, and the RAL Art Center announced the winners of the 2023 Art in Transit judged competition at the Art in Transit Awards Ceremony on May 19th at the RAL Art Center in Kilmarnock. The culmination of the reception once again occurred when a copy of the first-place winner’s artwork was unveiled on the side of a Bay Transit bus. “We had a record number of attendees at this year’s awards ceremony and that really increased the excitement surrounding the unveiling,” noted RAL Art Center Executive Director Sharon Stone.
Richmond-based artist Sarah Marshall Elliott was this year’s first-place winner for her oil painting of racing sailboats entitled, “Cruisin’ and Racin’.” "It's beyond an honor, and a bit surreal, seeing my artwork on the side of a Bay Transit bus,” Ms. Elliott said. “My intention in painting this scene was to capture the energy, beauty, and colors of the Northern Neck in a way that literally, and figuratively, transported those who saw it. I thank Bay Transit and RAL Art Center for coming together to provide a wonderful opportunity to raise awareness for their shared mission to serve and support our community. I encourage all local artists to join in this fun and purposeful competition." In addition to having a copy of “Cruisin’ and Racin’” reproduced on the side of a Bay Transit bus, Ms. Elliott also took home the first-prize payment of $700 and she sold her painting the same evening. “The night truly couldn’t have gone any better,” Elliott added.
The former publisher of Southwest Art magazine, who only got into painting after leaving the corporate world a few years ago, Ms. Elliott decided to sign up for oil painting lessons and try to move past her perfectionist tendencies. In that class, Ms. Elliott “learned Thomas Merton was so, so right when he said, "Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time". I found so much more than I lost. I reconnected with my inner joy and discovered the perfect conduit for creative expression.”
The second-place award of $500 went to Carol Vaughn for her painting entitled “Rappahannock Rockfish.” Former RAL Art Center Executive Director Doug Mock was the third-place winner, and received a $300 check, for his vibrantly colored “Summer Fun” painting.
Reflecting on another successful Art in Transit, Bay Transit Director Ken Pollock said, “The artwork on Bay Transit’s buses is so beautiful. It’s really something special. And, thanks to the incredible sponsors we had again this year, Bay Transit awarded four continuing education scholarships that allow front-line employees at Bay Transit, such as bus drivers, mechanics, schedulers, and dispatchers, to take classes at Rappahannock Community College (RCC) or apply for the scholarship for a member of their family. “We see how hard our bus drivers and other front-line staff have to work,” Pollock said. “Scholarship assistance that helps an employee, or employee’s family member, provides Bay Transit with a powerful employee recruitment and retention tool that ensures we continue to provide the highest levels of customer service despite an industry wide shortage of drivers.”
Pollock added that the remainder of Bay Transit’s Art in Transit revenues are being used to support their popular New Freedom program. New Freedom is a transportation service providing seniors and individuals with disabilities the ability to attend medical appointments, shop, work and attend social and recreational events even for travel outside of Bay Transit’s service area and/or service hours. Participants pay a nominal fee for each round trip. For round trips of fifty miles or less, there is a five-dollar fare. For round trip journeys greater than fifty miles the fare is only ten dollars. “For example, New Freedom transports Veterans to doctors’ appointments at the VA Medical Centers in Richmond and Hampton,” Pollock said. “We would love to be able to do more New Freedom trips for people, so fund raising for this program is also a priority.”
For RAL Art Center Executive Director Sharon Stone, this year’s awards ceremony was an opportunity to speak about future collaborations with Bay Aging and using their share of the Art in Transit revenues to introduce new initiatives at the RAL Art Center. “We are working on a program tentatively called “Artful Aging” to bring art instruction to the seniors living at Bay Aging’s Tartan Village income-restricted senior apartments in Kilmarnock. We submitted the grant application in early April and hope to hear back in June. If this pilot is successful, we hope to expand it to other income-restricted senior apartments,” Ms. Stone said. “We are also looking at investing more resources into our summer youth art camp and may even introduce a new kids’ category for next year’s Art in Transit judged competition.”
For more information about Bay Transit, please visit www.BayTransit.org. To learn more about the RAL Art Center, please visit www.ralartcenter.com.