November 12, 2006 

UM Student Wins Award
in Juried Art Competition

University of Mobile (UM) student Regina Fenton Byrd of Citronelle, Ala., recently won a Robinson Brothers Merit Award in the Mobile Art Association Fall Juried Exhibition 2006 for her oil-on-canvas painting, “Mini Lily.” 

Of the over 50 pieces entered, only 31 were juried into the show, and two of those pieces were Byrd’s: “Mini Lily” and “Sacred Garden,” a three-dimensional collage piece. 

Byrd said she became involved in the arts at a very young age, and that she has always been able to “clarify things in paint better than any other form of communication.” 

“I think that I paint because it’s a way that I communicate and interact with the world. All of my subjects are found in nature…many of the flowers I paint have been grown myself, so it gives me the chance to explore my curiosity about nature and do what I love most: produce art,” said Byrd. 

Byrd is married to Jason Byrd and is the daughter of Karen Dickinson of Citronelle. A 2002 graduate of Citronelle High School, she is a senior majoring in art with a minor in business management. Byrd is president of UM's Art Guild and volunteers at Space 301, a contemporary art gallery in downtown Mobile, where she also works in the Second Sunday at the Space program. 

“Regina is extremely talented, and her work shows a maturity beyond her years,” said Wanda Sullivan, assistant professor of art at UM. “I think she’s an amazing student, and she’s going to do great things with her art in the future.” 

For more information about the University of Mobile, call the admissions office at 251-442-2273 or toll free at 1-800-946-7267, or visit the website at www.umobile.edu.