Focus Point announces 2026 photo contest winners

The Tuscarawas County-based amateur photography club Focus Point, in partnership with the Tuscarawas County Center for the Arts, announced winners of the 2026 photography contest and exhibition.

Thirty local photographers submitted 196 photographs for review by three professional photographer jurors, Terry Barnhill, Shellyn Leeper and Dennis Valentine. The jurors selected 26 photographs to receive awards in five categories: Landscape/Cityscape, Animals/Insects/Nature, People, Architecture and Open. The competition invited participants to submit their best work, with entries evaluated on composition, subject matter, processing (editing) and presentation.

Rick Schnuerer won best in show for his photo, “The Wave.” Schnuerer also won first and second place in the Landscape/Cityscape category and second place in the Open category.

Susan Cramer-Stein won first place in the Animals/Insects/Nature category and first place in the Open category.

Garen DiBartolomeo won first place and an honorable mention in the People category and third place and an honorable mention in the Architecture category.

John Murray won first place in the Architecture category and third place in the People category, along with two honorable mentions, one in Landscape/Cityscape and one in Open.

Dennis Jones won second place in Animals/Insects/Nature, and Dan Lux won second place in People.

Julie A. Murray won second place in Architecture and third place in Open.

Bill Roloff won third place in Landscape/Cityscape.

Mark Archibald won third place and an honorable mention in Animals/Insects/Nature.

Karen Felix won an honorable mention in Landscape/Cityscape. Bonnie Bauerbach won an honorable mention in Animals/Insects/Nature. Ted R. Allison won two honorable mentions, one in People and one in Architecture. Sarah Curtis won an honorable mention in Open.

The exhibit is on display in the Foland Gallery of the Tuscarawas County Center for the Arts, 461 Robinson Drive SE, New Philadelphia. Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and noon to 4 p.m. Saturday. Admission is free, and donations are accepted.

Many of the photographs are for sale but cannot be removed from the exhibit until after the closing reception. A free public closing reception will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 28. Awards will be presented at 2 p.m., after which participants may take their photographs home. Refreshments will be provided, along with piano music by Christine Rober. The exhibition is sponsored in part by the Ohio Arts Council, Troyer and Associates and the Kimble Foundation.

Focus Point hosts photography presentations, workshops and field trips and coordinates the annual Atwood Area Fall Festival photo contest in early October. Find the group on Facebook under Focus Point or email j.a.murray@roadrunner.com to be added to its contact list.