Posted by SMAD November 26, 2007
Story by KATHY LEUTNER

HARRISONBURG, Va. - It seemed that competition was no match for our very own SMAD professor, Dietrich Maune, who placed 3rd in the 6th Annual Juried Show at the Bank of the Arts in New Bern.

Professor Maune’s award winning piece was a color photograph. The title of the picture was “Barn, Pouch Cove, Newfoundland.” This photograph was taken while attending a professional arts program in Canada at the Pouch Cove Foundation Artist Residency.

According to the Journal Sun, the Juried Show featured more than 450 works of art. The types of art that were shown included photography, oil, watercolor, silver crochet, ceramics, stained glass, basketry and much more.

Artists were only allowed to submit three works of art into the show. Of those three, judges made the decision as to which pieces would be included in the actual juried show. Professor Maune ended up submitting three, but only two of his pieces were selected to be shown in the contest. Having two works submitted was quite an accomplishment. Including him, only three other artists had more than one piece of work accepted into the show, while some did not have any of their pieces accepted at all.

The Pouch Cove Foundation provides a retreat for visiting artists from around the world to come work on their artistic abilities. When professor Maune attended, he went through an application process, and was accepted. He attended the program in the summer of 2005. According to the Pouch Cove Website, the residency program usually lasts about 60 to 120 days.

This place offers a location where artists can work on their creativity. “The experience charged my art making,” said Maune. “Immersing myself in a new environment with new experiences and subjects provided the stimuli that I needed to begin a new direction in my work. Associating with other professional artists also provided needed criticism one does not get in their own studio.”

Professor Maune’s father is an architect and an artist himself. Art was always something that “my parents encouraged,” said Maune. He can remember practicing art at a young age, and always being involved in different art projects. His passion for art followed him all the way to college, where he graduated with bachelor’s and mater’s degrees in fine art from East Carolina University.

As for the future, Professor Maune is planning to attend another artist’s residency program in Montana in the summer of 2008. “I am looking forward to finding new inspirations out west that may guide my new work,” said Maune. “My wife and I lived in the Black Hills of South Dakota for two years. The land there is breathtaking, but living in that climate can be challenging. It was all very inspiring to my work then, and I feel Montana will have a similar effect today.”