Water Mad-ness lays claim to top prize at annual 927 Art Show

All the Mad-ness over water inspired local artist William Barnhill to create some art, which wound up winning the top prize at the 927 Art Show.

The sculpture/water fountain “What, Me Worry?” — featuring the likeness of Mad Magazine mascot Alfred E. Neuman — fit right in with the zany theme of the annual exhibition. It was named Best in Show at an opening reception Friday, Sept. 2, at the Cambria Center for the Arts.

Sam Peck, a photographer and Allied Arts member, was the juror for the show.

Barnhill’s original ceramic and multimedia piece is a three-dimensional commentary about the persistent water situation in Cambria.

The fountain depicts local water concerns funneling into one side of Neuman’s head, then pouring out from a spigot as a stream of water on the other side, into a bucket.

Purple grapes, flames and a fizzled out baby El Niño symbolize water needs, along with a small water tank on wheels marked “748 GAL.” — a number familiar to Cambrians as a single unit of water as measured and billed by the Cambria Community Services District.

Barnhill has lived in Cambria full time for five years with his wife, Mary, who is also an artist. Both have participated in the 927 show many times as well as other Allied Arts events. The two will host three other artists at their studio for the upcoming Open Studios Art Tour, a program of ARTS Obispo, which takes place countywide over two weekends: Oct. 8-9 and 15-16.

Other award winners at the show were:

First place – “Wading for Equality,” a figure of a woman wearing wading boots, by Lana Cochran.

Second place – “Do You Know the Way to Morro Bay?” a papier-mache fish depicting Dory of “Finding Dory,” by Tish Rogers.

Third Place – “The Candidate,” a figure of Donald Trump giving a speech, by Art Van Rhyn.

Fourth Place – “And You Wonder Why I Hate Yardwork,” a shovel with a large spider, by Franz Affentranger.

Fifth Place – “Journal: The Light in the Window” by Ronn Harsh.

Sixth Place – “Stone Dragon from the Beaches” by Ed Tockstein.

Seventh Place – “Pothead” by Richard Morriss.

Honorable Mention – “A Bad Week in the USA” by Penny Fitzgerald and “Modest Mermaid” by Sara Blair-Field.

The award winners will be on display at the Cambria Center for the Arts, at 1350 Main St., through Sept. 25. The gallery is open from 1 to 4 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

This story was originally published September 7, 2016 at 10:31 AM with the headline "Water Mad-ness lays claim to top prize at annual 927 Art Show."