Meet DC's Winners of the Beacon’s Celebration of the Arts

AARP DC congratulates all the artists 50 and older who participated in the Beacon’s 2020 Celebration of the Arts, a biennial competition that drew nearly 600 submissions from amateur artists from the District, Maryland, and Virginia.

Artists from the District of Columbia received awards in the categories of mixed media, photography, and painting. Read about a former art teacher and school administrator who has devoted more time and attention to her creative outlets since retiring, a photographer who has honed her skills in photography by snapping pictures at street festivals, and an architect who picked up a paintbrush for the first time in decades after retiring.

Bevadine Terrell, Second Place, Mixed Media
Bevadine Terrell, 69, moved to D.C. to attend Howard University and never left. “I fell in love with D.C.,” Terrell said, “because of the museums and accessibility of everything.” Terrell has loved art for most of her life, graduating with a bachelor’s and then eventually a master’s in art from Howard. She taught art at junior high and high schools in the District and spent several years working as an assistant principal and principal. After 38 years of working with students, she retired from full-time work. “I vowed I would get back to my art after I retired,” Terrell said. But the drive to help kids and make a difference in their lives was strong. Terrell took a job teaching art part-time at a private school and directed a summer camp at the Langston Terrace Dwellings housing project. During that time, with humanities grants, she helped children create documentaries about the history of the community and the older adults who lived there. When Terrell finally retired (again), she committed to returning to art. In 2017, a friend gave her information about an exhibit at the Maryland Art Place, which was seeking masks.

She spent months brainstorming and then created a mask in her mother’s honor. “I found I kind of liked making masks,” Terrell said. She has created 60 masks that serve to represent special memories, events, emotions, stories, and friends. She said her award-winning piece, “Sister Circle,” represents the symbol of divine energy, the circle of girls and women who have been with her throughout her life, through thick and thin. Terrell hopes to eventually create a coffee table book with all of her masks and the many life stories she has to share.

Beth Altman, Third Place, Photography
Beth Altman works in private practice as a psychotherapist in downtown D.C. But when she’s not working, she pursues her longstanding interest in abstract and street photography. Altman has been interested in photography for much of her life, but she began devoting more of her attention to it about 10 years ago. She has since participated in many formal workshops and classes and is an active member of the North Bethesda Camera Club as well as the NIH Camera Club. Altman now regularly shows her work and has participated in exhibitions at local galleries, including the Maryland Federation of Art, the BlackRock Center for the Arts, Penn Place at Garrett Park and Joseph Miller Abstract Photography Exhibits. Her award-winning photograph, “Kitty,” was shot at an event in Baltimore’s Graffiti Alley, where photographers and aspiring models are given a chance to work together. “This particular woman [Kitty] was a natural and was fun to work with,” Altman said. “I liked her expression and the way her presentation blended in with the background in terms of color palette and the grunge factor.”

Ray Goodrow, Second Place, Painting
Ray Goodrow worked as a commercial architect in DC for decades. After he retired five years ago, he picked up a paintbrush for the first time since he was a child. First, he took several art classes at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandra, Virginia. “That’s a good way to get involved in the art scene in our area,” Goodrow said. “The more you do it, the better you get.” Goodrow has had a successful year. One of his cityscapes won a “best in show” award at a Torpedo Factory competition in June. He sold 15 paintings in 2020. He’s also president of the McLean Art Society, a local group that meets once a month to watch artist demonstrations. With a background in historic preservation, Goodrow started out painting buildings and cityscapes. Lately, the artist has moved on to living subjects. “Now, I’ve really gotten to where I like doing people, different scenes with people. I don’t paint just one thing.”

Goodrow’s winning watercolor, “Munich,” is based on a photograph he took on a trip to that city more than 20 years ago. “I delve back into my photo archive that goes way back because now I have time to paint,” Goodrow said. “Sometimes the buildings are demolished. Sometimes the scenes don’t exist anymore, so it’s kind of fun.”

Visit thebeaconnewspapers.com/COTA2020 to view all the winning entries in the categories of painting, photography, sculpture, carving, ceramics/pottery, mixed media/textile and stained glass/jewelry.

AARP DC served as a co-sponsor The Beacon's 2020 Celebration of the Arts. This article was adapted with permission from The Beacon Newspapers.