Judges
Meet our 2024 Apopka Art judges.
Patricia Karnes
Metalsmithing | Creative Crafts Judge
Patricia Karnes has always been creating objects of fine art and fine craft. She completed her B.F.A. at the University of Michigan, majoring in painting and also obtaining a teaching certificate. But metals and metalsmithing were what compelled her most. She began creating and exhibiting jewelry, enhancing the skills she already had by taking advanced study at the renowned Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, the Arrowmont School of Crafts in Tennessee, and at workshops taught by such masters as Heikki Seppa, Cynthia Eid, John Satterfield, Susan Elizabeth Woods, John Cogswell, and Jean Stark. She has also taken her turn at teaching at Valencia College in Orlando. Ms. Karnes has shown her work at local and national juried art festivals, and has been a consistent top award winner. Her work has been included in exhibitions at what is now the Museum of Art – DeLand, The Terrace Gallery in the Orlando City Hall, and The Armory Art Center in West Palm Beach, as well as galleries in Florida, Illinois, and Michigan. She was the recipient of an Individual Artist Recognition Award from the Orlando Art Services Council and three Honorable Mentions from the Florida Individual Artist Fellowship Program.
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After 50 years of creating and displaying her work, Ms. Karnes has retired from art festivals. She and her husband reside in Winter Park, Florida.
Diane Moore
Pine Needle Artist | Creative Crafts Judge
Diane Moore is a long-time educator and Pine Needle Basket artist living in Lake Helen, Florida. She is a self-taught basket maker who is passionate about making Florida history come alive through her pine needle creations. Throughout the past 22 years, she has participated in many fine arts and fine crafts festivals in Florida and has won numerous awards; She has also been a craft judge at several festivals in FL.
She describes her work as traditional with a contemporary flare.
She teaches Pine Needle Basket Classes at her studio in Lake Helen, Fl for beginning, intermediate and advanced basket makers.
Please contact Diane via her website for more information about classes and visiting her studio.
Richard Colvin
Artist, Art teacher, Museum Professional, & Musician. | Fine Arts Judge
Richard Colvin is an artist, art teacher, museum professional, and musician. Born in Olathe, Kansas (1957), Colvin's family relocated to Florida in the mid-1960s. Colvin received an art education courtesy of a succession of mentors: Barbara Bassett at the Art Workshop in Winter Park, Thomas F. Peterson at Rollins College, and through observing Central Florida's legendary painter/printmakers, including Maury Hurt, Bill Orr, Jerry Raidiger, and many others. In craftsmanship and spirit, Colvin's greatest mentor is his father, Ronald P. Colvin.
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CURRICULUM VITAE
Executive Director, Leesburg Center for the Arts, January 2023-present
Program Director, Mount Dora Center for the Arts, June-Oct. 2021
Instructor, Mount Dora Center For the Arts, January 2019-Oct. 2021
Executive Director, Lake Eustis Museum of Art (LEMA), April 2012-September 2018
Curator of Art and History, Art & History Museums Maitland, 2010-2012
Curator/Instructor, Maitland Art Center, 1998-2010
Community Relations Coordinator, Maitland Art Center, 1997-98
Exhibition Designer, Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida, 1980-1997
CURATORIAL
Exhibitions, Leesburg Center for the Arts, 2023-present
Exhibitions, Mount Dora Center for the Arts, 2021
All exhibitions, LEMA, 2012-2018
All exhibitions, Maitland Art Center (MAC), March 2009-2010
2+2, MAC, 2006
Andre Smith@125, MAC 2006
The Glory of Venice, 2002
Permanent Collection, MAC, 2001-2009
Beyond the Woodcut, Cornell Fine Arts Museum (CFAM), 1997
Portraits of Women, CFAM, 1987
SELECTED JUDGING/JURIES
Villages Art League, 2024
Pastel Society of Central Florida, 2022
Lakeland Art Guild, Judge, 2021
Apopka Art/Foliage Festival, 2021, 2016, 2014
Mount Dora Art Festival, Judge, 2018
Ocala Art Festival, Judge, 2017
Leesburg Art Festival, Judge, 2017
Lake Wales Art Festival, Judge, 2017
Mount Dora Art Festival, Judge, 2016
Leesburg Art Festival, Judge, 2015
Deland Art Festival, 2013
Naples Art Association, 2013
Villages Art Association, 2013
Apopka Art/Foliage Festival, 2013
Lake County Fair, 2013
Florida Division of Cultural Affairs, Individual Artists Awards, 2012
Maitland Art Festival, 2012
UCF Student Exhibition, 2009
Deland Art Festival, 2007
26th Festival of the Masters, WDW, 2006
Titusville Art League, 2006
Mt Dora Art Festival, 2005
Daytona Beach Art League, 2004
Vero Beach Art League, 2002
Osceola Art Festival, 2001
21st Festival of the Masters, WDW, 2001
City of Orlando Cultural Corridor Project, 1999-2000
UACF Individual Artist Awards, 1997-2000
SELECTED COLLECTIONS (AS AN ARTIST)
Private Collections
Mount Dora Center for the Arts, Mount Dora, Florida
Leesburg Center for the Arts, Leesburg, Florida
Cornell Fine Arts Museum, Rollins College, Winter Park, Florida
Florida Atlantic University, West Palm Beach, Florida
Maitland Art Center, Maitland, Florida
Katherine Mathisen
Ceramics & Professional Artist | Fine Arts Judge
Katherine has exhibited and taught ceramics for more than 30 years, working with many
masters in contemporary sculpture. Katherine has also had the honor of judging many fine art
festivals in Florida (Mt Dora Arts Festival, Maitland Art Festival, Osceola Arts Festival, Celebration Art Festival) . Currently, Katherine exhibits her award-winning ceramic sculpture in
galleries and art shows throughout the US. Her work can be found in both public and private
collections in the US, South America, Europe, and Australia. She continues to learn and create ceramic sculpture as well as other media. Jewelry, painting and drawing are other areas of art that she studies. She believes that learning is a lifelong endeavor that enriches our lives. She enjoys teaching clay workshops and classes to children and adults. Katherine obtained
her Bachelor's degree from the University of Central Florida, specializing in Art, Biological
Studies and business.
Laurie Jordan
Art Teacher | School Arts Judge
Laurie Jordan is a retired art teacher in the central Florida area. She began her career in the Orange County schools teaching elementary grades and eventually started a business, Countryside Art, teaching grades K-12 and adults in the Central Florida area.
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Mrs. Jordan graduated from Florida State University in Tallahassee with a degree in Art, Art History and Art Education in grades K-12. She has been a judge for various art contests including the Orlando Holiday Art contest for children formally sponsored by the Orlando Sentinel. One of her greatest joys is seeing former students succeed in the art field and beyond.
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Mrs. Jordan has 3 children and 4 grandchildren. The grandchildren love to come to grandma’s house and find the paints, paper, markers etc. to create masterpieces!She lives in Apopka with her husband, Zack and 2 dogs, Dolly and Casper.