Celebrating the Riverscape: Winners of Our 50th Anniversary Art Competition

Our Competition for Images of the Riverscape and the Artists who won the Prizes Inspired by the success of the art competition and exhibition held for our 40th, we decided to try to do the same for the 50th. Again it was held by the Cambridge Art Association but this time, due to a major change in their yearly schedule, it could not be organized as an independent show but as part of the Mary Schein Fall Salon. Fran Amacher and Pat Sekler judged the art works and were very pleased that images appropriate to the two main awards had been submitted. The Isabella Halsted Prize of $250. was awarded to Linda Okun for “On the Banks of the Charles,” a very delicate watercolor/drawing of the wild vegetation typical of some sections of the riverbank, with an egret amid the foliage. The Riverbend Park Prize of $150. went to Cynthia W. Smith for a color photograph, “Sundays at Riverbend Park,” that in a single image captured the majesty of the allée of plane trees as it sheltered a very crowded roadway full of happy bikers, strollers, and pedestrians. Due to their quality, the judges decided to award two Honorable Mention prizes of $!00. each. One went to Carol Schweigert for her depiction of the Cambridge side of the river by Dunster House, seen from the far bank, “Summer on the Charles,” the other to Hildreth Potts for her ingenious sculpture, “Charles River Fox,” created from steel wool pads with cast facial features. We are most grateful to the director, Candice Driver, and her assistant, Anna Fubini, for making all this possible and for introducing the Trust and its activities to such a wide group of people, hundreds of whom were gathered for the presentation of the awards at the opening of the show held in the association’s Lowell Street Gallery on September 13, 2025 from 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM. Special thanks go to all the artists who on such short notice created works pertaining to the riverscape.