‘Impressive entries’ raise the bar in Bridge Capital’s art contest

 Bridge Capital LLC named the winners of its 3rd Annual CNMI Art Competition at the opening ceremony for the 31st Annual Flame Tree Arts Festival on Saturday.

One of the company’s owners, Shawn Scott, flew to Saipan to join the five-member panel of judges and present the prizes to the winners. Scott, in an interview after the awarding, described this year’s entries as “very, very impressive.”

“They’ve exceeded the previous two years by a fair amount and I think the talent just continues increasing,” he said.

All competition entries were original works of art illustrating an island theme.

Scott said it was “very, very hard” to judge all entries in the various categories because of the quality of work that the aspiring and professional artists put in.

“In our view, everyone’s a winner. All the participants are winners. We very much appreciate it,” he added.

While the number of entries for the K-12 categories decreased, Bridge Capital’s Rowena Relado noted an increase in the submissions for the open category, which totaled 42.

Scott, during his remarks, said that there were so many more photo entries this year that they are thinking of having a separate category for these prints.

“This is our third annual art competition for Bridge Capital so we believe that the future is very bright for the CNMI artists and we want to become more involved and foster more talents to come and join the festival every year,” said Scott.

Winners for the K-12 categories were Ashley Jeon Ji Hye, Ellala Limoico, Michelle Jeon Ji Yeon, Eun Bi Choi, William Blake Deleon Guerrero, Michael Ren, Jeremie Tanghal, Veeney France Revilla, Autumn Dileo, Yong Jeong Kim, and Janela Revilla. The young winners received $100 each.

For the open category, the winners were Michael Finey, $2,500, grand prize, Master Navigators; Eduardo Elenzano, $1,500, first prize, Father and Son; Joseph Weaver, $1,000, second prize, Peek-a-Boo; and Robert Hunter, $500, third prize, Managaha Bound.

All winning entries were put on display at the 31st Annual Flame Tree Arts Festival, which Bridge Capital sponsored this year for $10,000.

“I think the entire arts festival just seems to get better every year. It’s an honor for us to be a sponsor. We hope to become more involved in the future as it goes along,” said Scott.

He noted that they are “exploring” the possibility of putting up an art gallery to better foster local artists by giving them a place where they can display their creations in addition to regular exhibits organized by the Arts Council.

A known supporter of the arts, Bridge Capital is an international investment banking and asset management company headquartered on Saipan. The company is involved in a wide range of community activities and makes significant contributions to non-profit and charitable organizations serving the islands.

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