Returning champ wins the 2019 ‘Art in the City People’s Choice Award’ by a landslide

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Credit: Contributed

Credit: Contributed

Votes have been counted and the reigning Art in the City champ will keep his spot on top.

Dayton artist Eric Wright won "City People's Choice Award" with the most votes following the Art in the City Juried Art Show. The art show was "a radically open, local art competition in 15 bars, restaurants, hair salons, lobbies and other businesses within one-square-mile of downtown Dayton."

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This is Wright’s second year winning Art in the City’s People’s Choice Award. With 1,172 votes, Wright won the contest by nearly 835 votes. Voting ended at noon on August 16.

"Moon over Frozen Tree" 2019 photographic print by Eric Wright

Credit: Eric Wright

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Credit: Eric Wright

Wright, a Dayton native, moved to Kansas City to pursue higher education and start a career. When he returned about 10 years ago, he came with a fresh perspective on the Miami Valley.

“I think sometimes you have to go away from something so you can come back and see it with different eyes. ... Plus you get out and realize very few states care as much about state parks as much as Ohio does,” Wright said.

Natural landscape photographic prints are Wright’s bread and butter when it comes to art, making the Dayton-area’s many parks a perfect playground for the photographer.

“I like to be outside and that helps. It gives me an opportunity to slow down. I’m a destination person--  always got to get to the next campsite, etc. The camera makes me slow down,” Wright said.

Wright’s artist’s statement read: 

“Until I discovered photography, art was always something done by someone else, but the camera provided me a way to create; to express visually something I feel and sense in the world around me. In a world fueled by hatred, envy, greed, and anger, I want to add beauty.

I grew up in Dayton and left, like many do, for about 20 years to attend college, to earn my master’s degree, and to start a career. I returned a little more than a decade ago, and when I returned, Dayton was different. I was different. I saw the city with fresh eyes and realized a beauty in our city I had never seen before. The bulk of my photography centers on capturing the beauty of Dayton and sharing it with others. My goal has been to help people see Dayton and the world around us differently; to see its beauty, and be inspired to make it a better place.

My inability to draw and paint with brush and canvas has left me to paint landscapes with light and capture it with my camera.”

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"Cold and Alone 2" A 2019 photographic print by Eric Wright.

Credit: Eric Wright

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Credit: Eric Wright

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