“ADELINE AT THE WINDOW”: This work by Meta Dunkly Arnold was named Best in Show at the West Windsor Art Council’s “Fiction: The Art Show,” on view through May 17 at the West Windsor Arts Center.  An opening reception is Sunday, March 31 from 4 to 6 p.m.

Running now through May 17, the West Windsor Arts Council will showcase the work of many of its member artists in the exhibition “Fiction: The Art Show.” The theme was chosen in conjunction with the spring theatrical performance of Fiction by Steven Dietz and produced by the Pegasus Theatre Company, to be staged at the West Windsor Arts Center. The play blurs the boundaries between fact and fiction, life and the written word, and so members were likewise invited to submit artwork based on the concept of real vs. imaginary, the merging of visual arts and literary arts, and the image with the written word.

An opening reception will be held Sunday, March 31, 4 – 6 p.m. Artists will be on hand at the opening to discuss their work.

The juror, Michael Joseph, is a rare librarian at Rutgers University and the founding director of the New Jersey Book Arts Symposium. Joseph has published in the fields of children’s literature, book arts, and poetry, in particular the poetry of Robert Graves. In collaboration with various artists, Joseph has written fourteen artists books, text for a series of lyrical compositions by the late Herber Rothgarber, and exhibited original artwork in group shows.

The exhibition consists of 39 artworks, representing 26 artists, three of which were selected by the juror to be awarded prizes for their outstanding work and relevance to the show theme.

Best in Show, with a $100 prize, went to Adeline at the Window by Meta Dunkly Arnold; second place, with a $50 prize, went to Tender is the Night: An Homage to F. Scott Fitzgerald by Brigitte A. Calderon; and third place, with a WWAC membership, was awarded to Midnight in the Garden of Art and Science by Lucretia E. McGuff-Silverman.

Arnold makes found-object assemblages. Her background in English literature lends a narrative quality to many of her pieces, and her work as an educator inspires her to try to capture the excitement of discovering new things. As she explains, “Many of my assemblage pieces are kinetic and interactive, inviting the audience to share my creative process by going on a “treasure hunt” of their own.”

Artists featured in the show also include Zakia Ahmed (Princeton Junction), Sherri Andrews (Cranbury), J.Bettina (Princeton Junction), Clara Sue Beym (Bayville), Margaret Kalvar Bushnell (Princeton Junction), Tom Chiola (Trenton), Joann Donatiello (Princeton Junction), Ilene Dube (Princeton Junction), Johanna Ericson (Atlantic Highlands), Carlo Fiorentini (Princeton), Alice Grebanier (Branchburg), Joy Kreves (Ewing), Renee Kumar (West Windsor), Eleni Zatz Litt (Princeton), Mark Moscarello (Bordentown), Renata Surel Piccione (Princeton), Bill Plank (Lawrenceville), Thomas Shanahan (Hamilton), Margaret Simpson (Hamilton), Janice Strickland (Edison), Cathy Tsao (East Windsor), Barbara Weinfield (Princeton Junction), and Andrew Werth (Princeton Junction).

The West Windsor Art Center Gallery is at 952 Alexander Road, West Windsor, NJ. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and Saturdays, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. For more information, visit www.westwindsorarts.org.