2010 Mighty Mo Photo Show


The area’s premier summer events, Riverboat Days and the Summer Arts Festival, are just around the corner. In the meantime, Yankton Area Arts has just unveiled a perfect compliment to the annual celebrations: The Mighty Mo Photo Show. The theme for 2010 is “The River: Through the Seasons”, and we received a fantastic selection of submissions for the annual photographic competition.

Jake Kidney of Yankton won both Honorable Mention Awards with his stunning photographs Wonderland and Storm Over Yankton. Regarding Wonderland; Kidney explains, “I went out along the river after a blizzard to photograph the first snowfall where everything is covered in a soft blanket of fresh snow.” Jake said that after shooting a half dozen photographs his camera’s sensor froze over and that the absence of any person in the picture is due to the chilling cold that evening; as no one else was out in the storm. The black and white photograph is a beautiful depiction of the long cold winter we experienced here in Yankton.

Storm Over Yankton captures one of the largest and most destructive storms from the summer of 2009. This particular storm produced baseball size hail, causing damage to both structures and vehicles across the Yankton community. Both of these photographs capture a fascinating side of Mother Nature that we do not often get a chance to see and Jake does a terrific job photographing these moments. To see additional pieces of Kidney’s work, a link to his homepage can be found on the Yankton Area Arts website.

The two Honorable Mention awards were provided by Yankton businesses, Harold’s Photo Center and LilyCrest Cottage. Judging was held prior to the opening and was based on relevance to the competition theme, artistic quality, presentation and the quality of the submission as a whole.

This year’s competition also included four Promise-to-Purchase awards sponsored by Avera Sacred Heart Hospital, Bank 360, the National Park Service and John Day from the University Art Galleries at USD. Our sponsors were invited to preview the show and select their photos the week before the exhibit was open to the public. Avera Sacred Heart Hospital selected Wonderland by Jake Kidney; Bank 360 purchased Lazy, Hazy Days of Summer by Ed Seaver; the National Park Service purchased Transitions by Ed Seaver and Pebbles by Sean Potas and John Day chose Mist’ terious by Jane Hesse.


Congratulations to all of the participating photographers and thank you to our sponsors for helping make the competition a success! The photographs are on display and available for sale at the G.A.R. Hall Art Gallery from now through September 7th. This year’s entries demonstrate the strong commitment of people who love to take photographs. The Yankton Area Arts Exhibit Committee noted the wonderful quality and energy of these photographers throughout the judging process, and I am sure you will love seeing them too!

Upcoming Exhibits:

September 9-October 19
Native American Art Work

October 21-November 30
Connecting Artists Annual Show

December 4-31
Crimson Door Holiday Gift Show



Prior Exhibits: