Barbara Lawlor, Nederland.

The people walk slowly through the halls, studying the artwork on the walls, reading the bios of the artists, choosing finger food for the plate held in their hands, looking for a place to set down their glass of wine while they fill out their voting cards.

Art at the Center is always a treat for the senses: the eclectic, realistic, abstract and embellished photographic works of our creative local artists bring to life our landscapes, our emotions, our favorite living entities.

Last Thursday, the new art show opening reception featured Invisible Boulder County, a dramatic display of photographs of people who are often marginalized and underserved members of our communities. Each photograph included comments from the immigrant, the working poor, the transgender, homeless and youth-in-crisis communities.

One of the photographs had a message that said, “How can I be a good a mom when I never had one?”

Art at the Center also featured many new artists, two of whom shared the People’s Choice First Place Award.

Dawn Buckingham retired from her teaching job in 2012 and jumped into her pastel landscape paintings of seasons. Her work has been exhibited in local and juried national shows. She teaches the pastel medium through “No Fear - Just a Play Day” classes.

“Becoming an artist has given me the gift of seeing and experiencing the world in a new and enhanced way. I believe that art is a tool for raising awareness of the effects of global warming and of the human activity on our planet.”

Dawn shared the first-place award with Leslie Rothmans, a long time Nederland resident who began her formal art education at the age of 15. She studied art in New York and Philadelphia. When she was an undergraduate she discovered photography, and has focused her creative energies on the other side of the lens ever since.

In 1991, she moved to Nederland, where there was an abundance of natural subject matter. Last year she began creating new works by deconstructing her photographs and reconstructing them to form the collages on display.

Second place People’s Choice went to watercolor artist Steve Griegs, who has won many awards for his work in the Gilpin County Arts Association Juried Show. Third place went to Lorelei Stumbo for her fire sculpted wall art.

Lorelei, the daughter of an art professor, studied at the University of Iowa and worked in sculpture and found object art. Later she began using burned wood as raw material for her art. She believes that each person should look at her art without a preconceived idea of intent, so she asks people to look at the work before looking at the titles.

New participants in the show included local resident Lois Ott, who after many years of photographing the scenery she loves, finally entered them in the Art at the Center. She sold one of her landscapes on opening night.

Watercolor artist Annie Thayer, who helped start the Art at the Center receptions and has kept them one of Nederland’s most popular art venues, introduced the winning artist at the end of the evening. The winners were chosen by those who attended the reception and voted for their favorite artwork.