By Arthur A. Bowden Jr., Special to the Post

T he Salisbury/Rowan County Senior Games and SilverArts Program has hosted yet another outstanding competition of artwork created by the talented local seniors.

This event was held at the Salisbury Civic Center and was led by Rowan County SilverArts Coordinator Phyllis Loflin-Kluttz. Phyllis and her staff have worked diligently all year to ensure that every participant was accounted for and that all operations ran smoothly on the day of the event.

It all paid off when they saw their vision being displayed in a well-designed, organized manner.

The SilverArts competition is set up into categories, which are Heritage Arts, Visual Arts, Liberal Arts and Local SilverArts. These categories are broken down into sub-categories. For Heritage Arts, there is woodturning, woodworking, knitting, crocheting, quilting, stained glass, basket weaving, jewelry and needlework. For Visual Arts there is watercolor, oil, photography, drawing, acrylic, pastel and sculpture. Liberal Arts display essays, poems and short stories. Local SilverArts demonstrates food, sewing and puzzles.

The judges came in at different times to judge the artwork on the scene. The judges evaluated the specific sub-category of artwork they specialized in based on the criteria of the score sheet. The criteria varied depending on the particular artwork, but the basics were originality, color, eye appeal, purpose, composition, perspective and skills and workmanship. The judges provided a score between 0 and 10 on each section of the score sheet with 0 being the lowest and 10 representing the highest score.

The competition was extremely stiff this year. Judges had to reevaluate certain pieces of art to prevent the scenario of a tie. The most common pieces of art were watercolors and drawing, but the most eye-catching art pieces were definitely woodturning and stained glass. Every piece of artwork in every sub-category was astonishing and stood out in its own unique way.

The Salisbury/Rowan County Senior Games and SilverArts Program is a nonprofit organization and has operated smoothly and fluently for years but not without the help of annual staff and interns from various counties and schools. The sponsors of this program have also helped in a tremendous way. In 2016, sponsors are: Premier: Trinity Oaks; Gold Level: American Retirement Counselors, Carillon Assisted Living of Salisbury, Comfort Keepers of Salisbury, Laurels of Salisbury, Magnolia Gardens, Novant, and Salisbury Center Genesis HealthCare; Silver: Humana and Moose Pharmacy of Salisbury; Bronze: Carolina SeniorCare of Lexington.

For more information on how to sponsor, volunteer or participate in Salisbury/Rowan County SilverArts and Senior Games, contact Phyllis Loflin-Kluttz at 704-216-7780 or phyllis.kluttz@rowancountync.gov