BIG congratulations are in order for artist, photographer, festival friend and collaborator Liesa Cole!! She took home the Grand Prize in the PDN (Photo District News) Faces Portrait Photography Competition for this wonderful animal portrait entitled “Kiba the Ferret”. Click here to see all the winners.

We have been raving about the Guest Portraits she and her Omni Studio partner, Tony Rodio, create each year for #MCACBham’s Art Bash fundraiser party — a unique opportunity for festival supporters to be immortalized on film by this local photographer extraordinaire whose talent surpasses our borders. We are definitely lucky to have her talent with us in Birmingham. Whether it was “Sake To Me”, “Silver Leafed”, “Pistons & Pinups”, “Gaga for Art Bash”, “Flip”, “Midnight in Paris”, “WARHOLlywood”, or “Intergalactic”, Liesa always brings her A game to create a memorable, and always beautiful, portrait series for Art Bash and its attendees. She definitely gets our love and appreciation for the support of and vision she brings to Art Bash, but also our eternal admiration for the artful images she creates through her lens all year long. Wish we could give her an award too. But for now, just a “Way to go Liesa!”, and a prediction. She’ll need more shelves or displays to house all of the great honors to come.

Here’s a look back at some of the amazing Art Bash portraits by Liesa:

WARHOLlywood 2013

Gaga for Art Bash 2010

Midnight in Paris 2012

Flip 2011 – series 2

Flip 2011 – series 1

Sake To Me 2006

Silver Leafed Art Bash 2008

Pistons & Pinups 2009

Intergalactic Art Bash 2014