Calling all artists. Today is your last chance to take part in this year’s Lathrop Mayor’s Art Purchase Award and Sale, now in its 26th year. Entries are accepted from 9 a.m. until noon in the Council Chambers at City Hall located at 390 Towne Centre Drive just west of the Target shopping center along Interstate 5.

The judge this year is Susan Stephenson, an artist and art professor at California State University, Stanislaus. She will select the first three top entries in the following categories: oil and acrylics, watercolor, pastels and drawings, photography - traditional, photography - photo art, and sculptures and miscellaneous. All first-prize winners will receive cash awards of $100 each, with the other winners receiving ribbons.

There are several prizes given away at every show. The top honor is a $500 cash given to the entry selected as 2019’s Mayor’s Art Purchase Award.

Local businesses or individuals also participate in this annual art competition by being Sponsor Awards. The entry selected by each sponsor receives $100. Two other prizes, each earning $50, are the People’s and Students Choice awards which will be based on the viewers’ votes.

Entry fee for each art work is $10. Artists can submit up to three entries.

All winners will be recognized on Friday, May 10, when the winning artists will receive their prizes during a reception held at City Hall from 6 to 8 p.m.

The accepted entries will be displayed at City Hall and open for public viewing 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from April 30 to May 10.

he art work selected to receive the Mayor’s Purchase Award will become part of the city’s permanent art collection and will be displayed in the Joyce Gatto Art Gallery at City Hall.

From the time of its inception, when City Hall was still located in temporary quarters at J.R. Simplot on Howland Road, the Lathrop Mayor’s Art Purchase Award Show and Sale has been an all-volunteer community effort.