Page 76 - South Mississippi Living - October, 2018

WHERE DO YOU BLUE MOON?
GAUTIER ARTIST WINS BLUE MOON ART PROJECT CONTEST
STORY BY LYNN LOFTON PHOTOS COURTESY OF OCEAN SPRINGS CHAMBER AND BY DONN HUPP
Gautier artist Dan Eckenrode won the 2017 Blue Moon Art Project contest with his painting, Take Time to Blue Moon, and Biloxi artist Tonya Hebert captured the People’s Choice Award with her piece, After the Storm: Tranquil Blue Moon.
It was the eighth year for the art contest as part of the annual Peter Anderson
Arts & Crafts Festival. The winning artwork is then featured in
the following year’s festival promotions, including signage and souvenir cups.
Eckenrode,
executive director of the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute Gulf South Region, was involved with art in high school and initially went to college
to study art, but changed his major to psychology. In the following years, working in
the construction industry and family responsibilities left little time for art.
“Last year’s submission was
the first time I had picked up a brush in 10 to 12 years. Life has a way of keeping you busy,” he said. “My wife and I moved to Gautier last year and saw the advertisement for the Blue Moon art contest. It seemed like the perfect time to get back into the art world, so I gave it a try.”
Eckenrode was shocked at winning. “It was like a sign to me that I need to make time
to engage in an activity that has always brought me great joy and satisfaction,”
he said.“I think the Blue Moon art contest is an awesome opportunity for any artist to showcase their talent using a popular subject matter. It’s
very humbling and satisfying
to have a piece of artwork selected for use as the backdrop for such a large festival.”
As a Coast newcomer, he wanted to take the contest theme, Where do you Blue Moon?, and apply it to the entire Gulf of Mexico. “I decided on the general outline of the land mass surrounding the Gulf to anchor my design.
76 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • October 2018
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