Best Visual Artist
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29.34% Terry Ratliff*
Others with Votes (more than one):
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It’s entirely fitting that Terry Ratliff keeps winning the Best Visual Artist Whammy. He’s won it all five years it’s been offered; but then, he’s been leading up to it since he was a kid. “There is not a picture in a photo album where I’m not coloring or drawing something. When I was three or four yeas old, I would draw for hours and hours. I never cared for trains or trucks; I cared about coloring books and watercolors,” Ratliff said. There you have it, gentle readers. To win a Whammy Award - let alone five - you need to have been dedicated to your craft for a really long time. Ratliff, now 39, is one of Fort Wayne’s most recognized, prolific and popular painters. Still, he is more than a little unsure of what to do with all those damn Whammys. Every year, he is called to the stage, and every year he has the same reaction. “It feels good, but it’s not something I look forward to. Artists are different than musicians [who] love getting onstage. I’d rather have a painting beside me,” he said. Ratliff also winces at the very name of the award. “There are so many good artists in Fort Wayne, I can never feel I’m better than someone else. Just because someone likes your art does not mean you’re a good artist.” Well, someone likes his art. For years, Ratliff has been the house artist for Tom Casaburo’s Casa D’Angelo restaurant chain, providing paintings on commission for some of the city’s most popular restaurants. It may be like being signed to play for George Steinbrenner, but envy is generally dearly earned. Ratliff works constantly in different media, although oil is his preference, because “it stands the test of time.” His most recent accomplishment is hard to miss. Commissioned by Leadership Fort Wayne, he created a 27-foot-wide mural that now hangs at Fort Wayne International Airport. Titled something like The Heritage and Culture of Northeast Indiana, the mural greets visitors with scenes from the city’s skyline to a “600-foot-cardinal.” It’s hard for even a five-time Whammy Award winner to take himself too seriously. “The cardinal ended up that size because by the time I got to the other side of the mural everything kept getting bigger and bigger to fill the space,” Ratliff said. Such are reputations, Terry. (Alex Vagelatos) |
* On the ballot
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