Coastal Alabama Art Students Earn Top Honors at Biennial “Five” Show

During the month of April, Coastal Alabama Community College art students earned top honors at the biennial “Five” Art Exhibition, hosted by the Mobile Arts Council in downtown Mobile.

The awards reception took place on April 7 in the Mobile Arts Council Gallery and coincided with the city’s LoDa ArtWalk, bringing together student artists from across the region.

The juried exhibition featured 67 works from five colleges and universities, with 14 Coastal Alabama students selected to participate. These students represented campuses in Bay Minette, Brewton, Fairhope, and Thomasville.

Six awards were presented during the exhibition, with Coastal Alabama students earning two of the top honors. Tayla Ellison of the Bay Minette Campus received Third Place for her charcoal piece Call to God, while Gloria Fowler of the Brewton Campus earned a Judge’s Choice Award for her mixed media collage Aquatic Mosaic.

Additional honors included Best in Show awarded to Phoebe Graham of the University of Mobile for Katrina, and Second Place awarded to Amelia Weeks of Spring Hill College for Fish. Judge’s Choice Awards were also presented to Lilith Shamback of the University of South Alabama and Amanda Boucher of Spring Hill College.

Students representing Coastal Alabama Community College in the exhibition included:

Bay Minette Campus: Tayla Ellison, Kennedi Grace, Kennedy Hite, Charles Breland
Instructor: Phillip Counselman

Brewton Campus: Alice Harris, Sheridan Salter, Mary Charles Akridge, Gloria Fowler, Jimmy Brock
Instructor: Holly Lowery

Fairhope Campus: Melody Van Cleave, Jennifer Horton, Kayliegh Sprute, Veronika Honcharenko
Instructor: Steve Strickland

Thomasville Campus: Allie Atchison
Instructor: Phillip Counselman

“The ‘Five’ show is a great opportunity for our students to grow as artists,” said Holly Lowery, instructor at the Brewton Campus. “Juried exhibitions like this allow students to connect, learn from one another, and showcase their work. We are incredibly proud of them and already looking forward to ‘Five’ 2028.”

Coastal Alabama Community College congratulates these talented students and the Fine Arts Department on their outstanding achievement.