Herradura Awards $100,000 to Atlanta Artists Micah and Whitney Stansell for Tequila Barrel Art Creation during Miami Finale Event

MIAMI, Dec. 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- After a nationwide contest to find the most artistic and inspiring barrel art creation from 80 uniquely handcrafted pieces of art, Tequila Herradura awarded a $100,000 cash prize to Micah and Whitney Stansell from Atlanta. The brand partnered with Thrillist to host the "Barrel Art Collection" competition finale, at LMNT in Miami on Wednesday, December 4. Micah and Whitney Stansell were among eight regional winners who already took home $10,000 for creating one-of-a-kind artworks using Tequila Herradura's oak barrels; these finalists included:

• NY: Kim Holleman
• Atlanta: Micah and Whitney Stansell
• Austin: Raul De Lara
• Chicago: Adam Toht
• Santa Fe: Max Lehman
• San Francisco: Adam Feibelman
• Miami: Kiki Valdes
• Los Angeles: Jocelyn Duke

(Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20131209/LA29942) 

The event, which was attended by artists, media and influencers, benefitted Creative Capital, a renowned arts organization, dedicated to supporting innovative and adventurous artists nationwide. The organization will receive $70,000 donation from Tequila Herradura, to support its Professional Development Program workshops.  

The idea for Micah & Whitney Stansell's piece titled "Look Inside, 2013" came after they spent time with the barrel and therefore, started thinking about the barrel as a utilitarian object rather than an aesthetic object. Then they struck upon the idea to create the work on the inside of the barrel and keep the outside unchanged with a marquee sign including a simple call to action: "look inside". The art drew parallels – aesthetic and historic with the art of making tequila. Part of their work was to pay homage to early cinema with a zoetrope, and serendipitously they were able to reference Herradura elements such as the agave and the horseshoe.

"It's hard to overstate what one hundred thousand dollars means to a working artist. More than anything it carries with it a feeling of freedom; the sense that we are free to continue making art on our own terms," said Micah and Whitney Stansell. "For Herradura to stand up and say 'we think that art and artists are important and we're going to put a significant and substantial amount of money behind that belief' is incredibly encouraging and truly vital. We are humbled and honored to have been awarded this prize from among this incredibly talented group of artists."

In each city, art critics, gallery owners and editors served on the judging panels to select the "Critic's Choice" winners to compete in the grand finale event. Art fans also had the opportunity to vote for their favorites online to crown the "Fan Choice Award" winner in each city, all of whom will be guaranteed a spot in a Creative Capital professional development workshop. "Fan Choice Award" winners included:

• NY: Cosme Herrera
• Atlanta: Kesha
• Austin: Jim Mossman
• Chicago: Dolan Geiman
• Santa Fe: Sam Orlandi
• San Francisco: Emma Webster
• Miami: Cynosure
• Los Angeles: Nina Long

All works of art were judged based on originality, creativity, overall quality and the inclusion of elements and values that represent Tequila Herradura. Judges for the grand finale event in Miami included:

• Rodman Primack, owner/founder of global design firm RP Miller and former chairman and auctioneer for Phillips de Pury & Company, London
• Barbara Becker, art collector and well known home furnishing designer in Miami
• Cheryl Dunn, documentary filmmaker and street photographer
• Steve Wilson, owner/founder of 21C Museum Hotels
• Ruben Aceves, International Business Director for Tequila Herradura
• Sean McCaughan, editor of Curbed Miami and design critic contributor to various publications
• Randy Alonso, part-owner and vice-president at La Epoca Department Store

Art lovers in the eight cities will have the opportunity to see the art firsthand as the pieces will be showcased at select venues in each city in early 2014.

To learn more about the "Herradura Barrel Art Collection" and view the bios of all participating artists, visit http://www.herradurabarrelart.com/. For those looking to share via social media, please use @HerraduraTeq or the hashtag: #ArtHerradura.

About Tequila Herradura   
Tequila Herradura is an ultra premium 100% agave tequila crafted using traditional production methods. Crafted by Casa Herradura using only the most mature blue agave and artisanal methods, such as slowly cooking the agave in traditional clay ovens and fermenting naturally with wild yeast. Only naturally occurring airborne yeast produced by the agave plantations and fruit trees surrounding the distillery influence the fermentation process. Casa Herradura is one of Mexico's most historic and renowned tequila producers. Casa Herradura has been hand harvesting, handcrafting and estate bottling fine tequilas from the small town of Amatitán, Jalisco since 1870. For more information, visit www.Herradura.com.

About Creative Capital
Creative Capital supports innovative and adventurous artists across the country through funding, counsel and career development services. Since 1999, they have committed $29 million in financial and advisory support to 419 projects representing 529 artists, and their Professional Development Program has reached more than 6,000 artists in 160+ communities. For more information, visit www.creative-capital.org.

About Micah and Whitney Stansell
Micah and Whitney Stansell, husband and wife and frequent collaborators, live and work in College Park, GA. Their body of work ranges from fibers, sculpture, painting and drawing, to single and multi-channel film and video works, and installations. The work often explores ideas of family history, narrative traditions, and binary relationships that pull from contemporary issues influenced and informed by environment and location. The Stansells' work has been reviewed in numerous publications including Art in America, Moviemaker Magazine, FiberARTS Magazine, and the Atlanta Journal and Constitution. Exhibiting in galleries, museums, contemporary art centers, and film festivals, the Stansells' work has been experienced in cities around the world including Beijing, Vienna, New York, Los Angeles, and Atlanta and can be found in the permanent collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia, Cornell University, and SCAD-Atlanta and Hong Kong.

SOURCE Tequila Herradura