Ashtabula Arts Center announces winners of 2025 Tikkanen Prizes, totaling $42,000

What are they thinking? That’s what artists wonder when they submit their work to juried shows, and what audiences must often wonder when they go to the openings. The jurors of the 2025 Paul and Norma Tikkanen Prize for Painting, administered by the Ashtabula Arts Center had interesting things to say. The jurors—all based in Florida–were artist and educator Pip Brant, artist and curator Francesco Lo Castro, and artist Gavin Perry. The winners were announced during a reception Saturday (October 4).

From Francesco Lo Castro: “Art in the United States often finds itself relegated to safe boundaries, where risk-taking and aesthetic exploration are subsumed by the priorities of stakeholders, governments, and funding bodies. The tension between creative freedom and societal acceptance is not a new one, but it remains a challenge for artists who seek to push beyond the prescribed narratives of our time.”

From Gavin Perry: “To submit your work for review takes tremendous courage. Rarely is that effort recognized. Regardless of outcomes, never forget, what you do is the work of heroes.”

From Juror Pip Brant: “I love work that seems like an effortless response to an experience. When it surprises me, I feel a sense of delight.”

The Tikkanen Prize offers the region’s biggest unrestricted cash prizes for painting (in both realist and abstract styles).  This year, top awards were $12,000 for each of the categories, with $6,000 awards offered second place winners, again in both the realistic and abstract categories.

That makes the awards announcement at the Ashtabula Arts Center exceedingly suspenseful. Artists get a great sense of validation that comes with acceptance into any show, but when they learn that their painting will be included in the Tikkanen show, the notification comes with the additional possibility of winning the significant cash award, and the spotlight that goes along with it.

So without further ado:

Winning first place award for Abstraction this year was Ryan Humphrey, for his work Starry Night.

Winning the first place award for Realism was Baldwin Wallace painting and drawing instgructor Lilly Buttitta, for her painting Only Minutes Left.

Each of the top prize winners took home awards of $12,000.

Second place winner for abstraction was Phillip Buntin, for his painting Not Titled.

Second place for realism was Katy Richards’ painting, for So Tonight that I Might See.

Buntin and Richards each won awards of $6,000.

Runners up were H. Maria Armijo, Leigh Brooklyn, Melissa Bollen,  Misty Morrison, Melissa Bloom, and Jeffery Stager. Each of the runners-up won a prize of $1,000.

Artists selected for inclusion in the show were Carol Langley, Davis Louis Cintron, Hilary Gent, Kate Kisicki, Elizabeth Emery, Ryan Humphrey, Phillip Buntin, Clare Murray Adams, Susan Squires, Patty Flauto, Ronald Bayuzick, Suzan Kraus, Mark Giangaspero, Tom Hubert, Josh Chefitz, Toni Fiderio, Toby Griffiths, Douglas Utter, Francis Demaske, Nate Jeffery, Paige Hemke Kleinfelder, Justin Elliot Poole, Misty Morrison, Toni Fiderio, Jeffery Stager, Robert Wagner, Lilly Buttitta,  Katy Richards, Melissa Bollen, Melissa Bloom,  Robert J Putka, Jack St John, Diane Hoeptner, H. Maria Armijo,  Frank Oriti, Andrea Dawson, Steve Ziebarth,  Nancy Minter,  Robert Wright,  Tim Buckett, Tom Jackson, A.D. Peters, Leigh Brooklyn, Ken Coon,  Jeska Losonsky,   Joseph Randolph, and Jamie Borowicz.

CAN Journal congratulates the winners and all the participating artists.

For details about next year’s Paul and Norma Tikkanen Prize for painting, watch Ashtabula Arts Center.