“Friendsheeps” Wins People’s Choice Award at Embracing Our Differences

“I have found myself in symbolist paintings”, notes Ruth Schmidt, from Budapest, Hungary, whose work, “Friendsheeps”, won the People’s Choice award at Embracing Our Differences’ 2024 outdoor exhibitions celebrating kindness, respect, and inclusion at Sarasota’s Bayfront Park and St. Petersburg’s Poynter Park. “My wish is to achieve paintings that speak the unspeakable. My goal is not only copying the visible world, but also capturing the intangible world, including affection, child-like faith, human cooperation, God-to-human relationship, grief, hope, love, loss, pain, and humor. They are based on my own experiences, situation, and concepts, and because each of them is a small piece of my soul, these are the closest to my heart.” Schmidt received a $2,000 cash award for her work. The People’s Choice award was determined by a survey that was available to the nearly 425,000 visitors who attended this year’s exhibits, which ran January 21 through April 14. Learn more about Embracing Our Differences at embracingourdifferences.org.