Backyard: A Themed Exhibition
We are delighted to announce that juror Judy Tedford Deaton has selected 40 images for Backyard. A complete list of the exhibiting artists and the Juror's Remarks are below. Heartfelt congratulations to the selected artists and warmest thanks to everyone who generously shared their work for consideration. We hope you can join us for the closing reception at the Center for Contemporary Art, in Abilene, Texas on March 28, 2026 from 3-5pm.
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR BACKYARD ARTISTS! (Award winners and honorable mentions in bold.)
1st Place: Ashton Thornhill | 2nd Place: Saba Sitton | 3rd Place: Gail Foley | Eliot Allen | Laurel Anderson | Frank Armstrong | Collin Bachman | Michael Banschbach | Brandin Barón | Kari Bishop | Adam Chapin | James Cooper | Chuck Davis | Sierra Dienhart | John Diephouse | Cecelia Feld | Christy Garcia | Jeanne Garrett | Jim Geitgey | Steve Goff | Tom Griffithe | Douglas Henry | Jessica Hilvitz | Marie Ketring | Gerald Klein | Walt Kosty | David Lang | Sarah Malakoff | Ellen Mitchell | Lara Moffat | Jodi Pena | Jelisa Peterson | John Puffer | Dave Shafer | Robert Silance | Beckwith Thompson | VC Torneden | Jo Ann Wanamaker | Corey Williamson | Debra Witter
JURORS STATEMENT
This year’s entries made my job as juror very difficult. Trimming 430 photographs down to 40 was a reminder of the many different and expressive ways photographers create images. The notion that "everyone is a photographer" today because of cell phones is definitely not supported by the active and creative artists involved with the Texas Photographic Society.
The theme of backyard is a broad category as is the public consensus of the definition of photography and professional photographers working today. The outcome of competitions such as this depends on the number and quality of the entrants and of course the juror. The outcome would be different if another juror were chosen. So for those not selected, it is a proverbial roll of the dice every time.
As Chief Curator at The Grace Museum, I have curated many exhibitions featuring historic and contemporary photographers and expanded the museum's photography collection in the process over the past 20 years. Because I typically curate exhibitions around a theme, artist or idea, I took the Backyard idea as a unifying aspect of what a viewer would expect and experience. I hope you will agree that we do not all have the same concept of backyard and of what exactly photography is or was or can be; obviously it is a continuing conversation well worth exploring.
Respectfully submitted,
Judy Tedford Deaton
February 2026
ABOUT THE JUROR - Judy Tedford Deaton, Chief Curator, Director of Exhibitions and Collections of the Grace Museum, Abilene, TX
Courtesy of TPS
Judy Tedford Deaton, Chief Curator and Director of Exhibitions and Collections, has been curating exhibitions and overseeing the art and history collections at The Grace Museum since 2006. She is responsible for concept development, installation and interpretation of twelve art exhibitions annually. Before joining The Grace staff, Deaton was an associate professor of art history and gallery director at McMurry University (1995-2006). She earned a BA from the University of Texas Austin and an MFA in art history from Southern Methodist University where she was a recipient of the SMU Meadows Artistic Scholarship Graduate Award in Art History.
She is an author, art historian, frequent guest speaker, art consultant, art juror and panelist at museums and conferences including the American Alliance of Museums (AAM), Texas Association of Museums (TAM), Contemporary Art Dealers of Dallas (CADD), Mountain Plains Museum Association (MPMA), and the Center for the Advancement and Study of Early Texas Art (CASETA). Deaton is currently a member for the CASETA board of directors and served on the 2015 Arts Create Grant Panel for the Texas Commission on the Arts (TCA) and was recently featured in the National Endowment for the Humanities, Humanities publication article on the exhibition Spanish Texas, Legend & Legacy curated in 2016. She is also the recipient of CASETA awards for outstanding publications and exhibitions in 2014, 2015 and 2016 and the MPMA 2009 award for art exhibition publications. Monographs and solo exhibitions on Seymour Fogel, Loren Mozley, Kelly Fearing, Janet Turner and Michael Frary are among recent early Texas art projects.
Backyard is made possible through funding from the support of Texas Photographic Society (TPS) Members