World’s Best Sculptors (Non-Representational) Named By America’s 25 Best Galleries: MICHAELS, WALLS, JURGENA, BARNY, FERNÁNDEZ VÁSQUEZ, DAVIES, ORTIZ, KOENIG, MELNIKOV & ASHBOURNE / 2021 AMERICAN ART AWARDS

7 min readOct 4, 2021

Each May the American Art Awards organization selects the 25 Best Galleries and Museums in America, then in autumn these revered art institutions vote on online art to decide the world’s best contemporary artists.

The 25 Best GALLERIES + MUSEUMS In America, 2021 - American Art AwardsAmerican Art Awards

The AAA board chooses only one gallery or museum per state per year. Among other criteria, selections are based on…

www.americanartawards.com

America’s Best Galleries & Museums scored almost 2,000 works in 50 categories from 64 countries.

Winners in Category 50 are from USA, LATVIA, GUATEMALA, GERMANY, RUSSIA & CANADA.

BIO OF 1ST PLACE WINNER Tesa Michaels:

Art and creativity are deeply rooted in Tesa Michaels, a fifth generation artist and third generation fine artist. From a young age she was immersed in a creative atmosphere that offered constant inspiration and a family that nurtured her artistic endeavors.

At the age of 12 her mother taught her oil painting, and she began painting murals for local schools. At age 16, Tesa was accepted into her first national show.

After High School, Tesa attended The Art Institute of Colorado, studying fine art and graphic design. Upon graduation, she worked as an art and marketing director for a health products company, and in advertising at J. Walter Thompson as an art director working on Ford Motor Company commercials. Realizing she had moved too far from her roots as a fine artist, Tesa began a new career as a professional fine artist focusing on oil paintings.

As a Colorado native, Tesa has always been fond of lakes and mountains, and has always been inspired by nature. Tesa now lives in the San Diego area, where she enjoys the ocean and beach. Creating is Tesa’s life; it is who she is! It is interwoven in every fiber of her being.

Tesa is known as “The Semi Precious Stone Artist” because she incorporates a multitude of varieties of semi precious and precious stones such as diamonds and rubies into her paintings. She integrates fine art with elements of the earth that she gets from all around the world.

As a mixed media artist, Tesa uses her own unique process of combining her intuition, artistic creativity and imagination to then seamlessly incorporate the semi precious stones with the painting itself. In doing this she adds such depth, texture, dimension and character to her paintings that they showcase an opulence of their own. Creating the end result of a unique, one of a kind painting that will move you and touch you on all levels.

Tesa is represented nationally and has collectors from all around the world. People continue to be profoundly moved and in awe of Tesa’s work, which brings her immense gratitude and joy in being a fine artist. https://www.tesamichaels.com/

ARTIST CONTACTS FOR ART COLLECTORS:

Category 50. SCULPTURE — NON-REPRESENTATIONAL

1st Place-Tie TESA MICHAELS USA https://www.tesamichaels.com/ “Athena” 72x192" Acrylic on panel with semi precious stones.

1st Place-Tie TESA MICHAELS USA https://www.tesamichaels.com/
“Zeus” 34x52" Panel with all semi precious stones.

2nd Place-Tie STACIE WALLS USA www.staciewallsartist.com
“Rainbow” 13x13" Alcohol Ink on Yupo.

2nd Place-Tie GALINA JURGENA LATVIA www.jurgena.com
“Galaxy Jewelry Box” 7.5x23.5x13.5cm Precious woods, mahogany, mother-of-pearl inlay, Swarovski crystals, brass, metal, satin fabric, 18k gold leaf.

3rd Place-Tie TESA MICHAELS USA https://www.tesamichaels.com/ “Neptune” 19x38" Panel with all semi precious stones.

3rd Place-Tie TESA MICHAELS USA https://www.tesamichaels.com/ “Fresh” 35x21" Tryptic Panel with all semi precious stones.

4th Place-Tie T BARNY USA www.tbarny.com “Due Cuori — Two Hearts” 30x24x14" Massachusetts steatite.

4th Place-Tie DIANA FERNÁNDEZ VÁSQUEZ GUATEMALA https://www.dianafernandez.art/ “Nature” 44x52x40cm Green metallic sculpture with metallic paint.

4th Place-Tie MIKE B DAVIES USA www.SloMotionArts.Artspan.com “Musical Fountain” 9x4' Rotating assemblage, built in lighting.

5th Place LOLLIE ORTIZ USA https://lollieortizartgallery.com/Welcome.html “Crystal City” 26x24x24” Acrylic plastic and crystal on checker tile wood base.

6th Place-Tie LOLLIE ORTIZ USA https://lollieortizartgallery.com/Welcome.html “Rainbow Wave Spirit” 36x24x2” Acrylic plastic on wood frames.

6th Place-Tie ULF KOENIG GERMANY www.art-koenig.de “New York — Chaotic Pent & Pile Houses” 32x32x9" Photos, wooden strips.

6th Place-Tie VILGENIY MELNIKOV (OFELYART) RUSSIA www.instagram.com/ofelyart/ “Father Sergius” 59x32x36cm Blown metal, welding, chemical coloring.

6th Place-Tie TOM ASHBOURNE CANADA www.tomashbourne.com 15x4x4” “Passion” Peach alabaster, marble base.

Click below to see the relaxing hour-long movie revealing 2021’s hundreds of winning artworks:

Artworks from 59 countries won among the 50 categories: paintings, drawings, photography, digital and sculpture. (Americans won more because Americans entered more since the competition is better known here.)

Number of winners per country: Argentina 1, Australia 12, Belarus 2, Belgium 2, Brazil 3, Bulgaria 2, Canada 30, China 85, Croatia 2, Cyprus 1, Denmark 2, England 2, Finland 1, France 7, Georgia 3, Germany 18, Ghana 1, Greece 3, Hungary 2, Japan 1, India 10, Iran 1, Ireland 1, Israel 1, Italy 14, Kazakhstan 1, Kuwait 2, Latvia 6, Lithuania 27, Macedonia 5, Malaysia 2, Mexico 2, Moldova 1, Morocco 1, Netherlands 3, New Zealand 1, Nigeria 8, Norway 1, Oman 1, Pakistan 1, Philippines 5, Poland 8, Republic Of Korea 12, Romania 2, Russia 45, Serbia 1, South Africa 8, Spain 11, Sweden 3, Taiwan 7, Thailand 1, Turkey 3, Uganda 1, UK 10, Ukraine 5, USA 264, Uzbekistan 1, Zambia 1, Zimbabwe 2.