YOUNGSTOWN — For 89 years, the National Midyear Exhibition at the Butler Institute of American Art has provided artists from across the country with an opportunity to place their work before one of the nation’s most respected juried exhibitions.

This year’s exhibition, which opened Sunday and continues through Aug. 30, carries that tradition forward with 84 works by 79 artists from 15 states selected from a field of 829 entries submitted by 320 artists from 28 states. The exhibition remains one of the country’s longest-running juried shows dedicated to contemporary American artists.

Juried this year by Butler Director Emeritus Louis A. Zona, the exhibition reflects a wide range of artistic approaches, from intimate figurative paintings and portraits to expansive landscapes, industrial scenes and imaginative realism.

For Liz Hicks, the Butler’s chief curator and collections manager, the Midyear remains one of the museum’s most important programs.

“The Midyear directly supports one of the Butler’s core missions: to champion American artists,” Hicks said. “While many museums have phased out juried exhibitions over the years, the Butler has remained committed to providing emerging artists with a meaningful opportunity for professional recognition and national exposure.”

Artists from across the country continue to seek inclusion in the exhibition because of its reputation and history.

“Receiving more than 800 submissions tells us that the Midyear continues to be a respected destination for artists across the country,” Hicks said. “That level of trust is something we don’t take for granted.”

According to Hicks, one of the most notable characteristics of this year’s exhibition is the extraordinary technical ability displayed throughout the galleries.

“I was particularly drawn to the compelling sense of narrative present in many of the figurative works and portraits,” she said. “Many artists used gesture, symbolism, setting, color and composition to enrich their work with emotionally resonant themes and invite deeper engagement with their subjects.”

This year’s exhibition also continues the Butler’s renewed tradition of featuring invited artists alongside the juried entries. The 2026 invitees are Columbiana painter Nancy Hawkins and Canfield artist Christopher Leeper, both known for their landscape work inspired by the Mahoning Valley.

Hicks said the museum selected the two artists because their paintings capture the character and beauty of the region.

“Their deep connection to the landscape and their commitment to painting directly from observation make them wonderful representatives of our region,” she said.

For Hawkins, 81, the invitation was unexpected.

“The knowledge was a bit overwhelming,” she said. “I had not heard that the Midyear could be invitational.”

A plein air painter, Hawkins works outdoors, painting directly from observation rather than photographs. She describes the experience as immersive and deeply emotional.

“There is a sort of electrical sense I feel as I work within the actual location,” she said. “The scents, sounds and light all add to the emotional connection to the felt sense of place.”

That connection is central to what she hopes viewers experience when they encounter her paintings.

“Sitting in the landscape I feel the beauty and joy of God’s creation,” Hawkins said. “I want to capture a bit of it in my work.”

She believes the Mahoning Valley continues to inspire artists because of its rich visual diversity.

“The hills of Appalachia, the rivers and streams, the green landscapes, the orange wheat fields, the farms that are disappearing, old brick buildings — just to start,” she said. “Yet, as an artist, anything can inspire one when they observe the way the light hits a landscape or object.”

Among the exhibition’s award-winning artists is Samantha Conrad-Vanranden of Wyoming, Michigan, whose oil painting “Uprooted” received the Expressive Storytelling Award.

The painting draws upon both gardening and motherhood. Conrad-Vanranden said the inspiration came from a yearly ritual in her dahlia garden.

“Every fall, I dig up the tubers to see how many new ones they’ve produced over the season,” she said. “That ritual reminded me of my own C-section and how, in a single moment, your body and your entire life can be transformed.”

The resulting painting uses the dahlia as a metaphor for growth, sacrifice and renewal.

“I hope other mothers feel seen,” she said. “We don’t often see postpartum bodies represented honestly in fine art. A mother’s body tells the story of everything it has carried, endured and created.”

Another award winner finds inspiration not in gardens or domestic spaces, but in the vast industrial landscape of the Midwest.

Tony Bianco of Chesterton, Indiana, received the Innovative Technique Award for “US Steel — Gary Works,” an acrylic painting based on an aerial view of the massive steel-making complex in northwest Indiana.

The painting originated during a flight with his son, who is a pilot.

“What inspired me in this painting is the size and scope of this industrial melting pot,” Bianco said. “Mile after mile of mills and factories and refineries.”

While viewers may first be drawn to the painting’s visual design, Bianco hopes they also consider what the industrial landscape represents.

“I want viewers to enjoy it from an artistic viewpoint, of course, for its shapes, colors and tones,” he said. “But also to remember what it represents and that from this conglomerate of structures comes your washer, dryer, car, buildings and anything else with steel in our life.”

Bianco has been making art since childhood and describes himself as a representational painter who seeks beauty in ordinary places.

“I enjoy painting the everyday stuff in a way that I hope might elevate it from just mundane,” he said. “Freeze it for the viewer. Allow them to see things that weren’t noticed before.”

The Mastery of Medium Award went to Thomas Paquette of Warren, Pa., for “GH Old Growth Forest,” an oil painting inspired by one of the few remaining ancient forest tracts in the eastern United States.

For several years, Paquette has sought out untouched forests, searching for places that offer a glimpse of what the landscape may have looked like centuries ago.

“I find such forests very moving,” he said. “I wish to share through my paintings that sense of excitement and deep content that I get from them.”

The forest that inspired the painting is privately protected, and Paquette said visiting it felt like stepping into another era.

“It was a wonderful feeling to set foot in this place which probably looked very similar to this for the last several thousand years,” he said.

His hope is that viewers experience some of the same wonder he felt.

“I hope viewers see the deep solace as well as excitement that this location — and others like it — inspires in real life.”

Paquette’s artistic journey began as a child during visits to the Minneapolis Institute of Art, where a painting by Vincent van Gogh left a lasting impression.

“I remembered being drawn to van Gogh’s Olive Trees as a very young child,” he said. “It left an indelible impression on my young mind.”

The Experimental Vision Award was presented to Carl Gombert, 67, of Maryville, Tennessee, for “Farush Dreams of Freedom,” a portrait rooted in friendship and immigration.

The painting depicts Farush Dauti, a Kosovo refugee whose family was sponsored by the college where Gombert taught in 1999. Over the years, the two developed a friendship that inspired multiple paintings.

For this work, Gombert focused on Dauti’s closed eyes and the idea of dreaming.

“I liked the ambiguity of the closed eyes, and the double meaning of the idea of dreaming,” he said, referencing the family’s difficult path to citizenship and freedom.

Gombert hopes viewers leave the painting with a renewed appreciation for human dignity.

“I am captivated by the human face,” he said. “I believe the best way to know someone is through face-to-face interaction, even when that entails looking at images.”

“Fannie in Florida” by A.D. Peters of Middlefield was the recipient of the Interim Director’s Award.

According to Hicks, the painting immediately caught Zona’s attention during the jurying process.

“What many of us found particularly intriguing is the subtle presence of the helicopter high in the composition,” Hicks said. “It’s an unexpected detail that invites questions and multiple interpretations.”

The painting depicts a young Amish woman named Fannie, who once worked for Peters and agreed to sit for a portrait.

Originally, Peters planned to place her against a simple wall. The concept changed after a winter visit to Sarasota, Florida.

“I discovered many Amish in Sarasota,” Peters said. “I finished the painting with Fannie up against the sea and added a sightseeing helicopter as a juxtaposition with her lifestyle.”

The resulting image creates a quiet tension between tradition and modernity, simplicity and tourism.

Peters is a veteran of the Midyear Exhibition, having participated numerous times during the 1970s and 1980s before returning in recent years.

As visitors moved through the galleries, they encountered a wide range of artistic voices, but Hicks believes the exhibition’s enduring strength lies in its ability to bring artists and audiences together.

“For many artists, making art can be an isolating experience,” she said. “The Midyear brings together artists from across the country and places their work in conversation with one another.”

The 89th National Midyear Exhibition is on display through Aug. 30 at the Butler Institute of American Art, 524 Wick Ave., Youngstown. Admission is free.

The winners are ….

• Master of Medium — Thomas Paquette of Warren, Pa., for oil on linen, “GH Old Growth Forest.”

• Innovative Technique Award — Tony Bianco of Chesterton, Indiana, for acrylic “US Steel-Gary Works”

• Expressive Storytelling Award — Samantha Conrad-Vanranden of Wyoming, Michigan, for oil, “Uprooted.”

• Experimental Vision Award — Carl Gombert of Maryville, Tennessee for oil, “Farush Dreams of Freedom”

• Emeritus Director’s Award — Emma Hostetler of Orville, for oil on canvas, “Still.”

• Interim Director’s Award — A.D. Peters of Middlefield, for oil on canvas “Fannie in Florida.”

• Gerald Zona Memorial Pastel of Excellence Award — Douglas Unger of Peninsula for pastel on canvas “The Dancers-Holmes County, Ohio.”

• Merit Award — Chris Krupinski of Downingtown, Pa., for watercolor “Alyssa’s Plate.”

• Merit Award — Kala Carlile of Springfield, Oregon, for oil on canvas “Murmur.”

• Merit Award — Judith Peck of Great Falls, Virginia, for oil “Give me Shelter.”

• Merit Award — Leah Mitchell of Sugar Grove, Illinois, for oil on linen “Pandora.”