The titled work is “One Shot” and she has carefully crafted the thoughts that she imagines went into every design aspect a town founder, town architect, and town planner must have when they begin the process of placemaking. She chose The Chapel at Seaside as a focal point as it resides in the heart of our community and it is where we hold our annual Seaside Prize Awards ceremony.

Allison Wickey is a local artist, and she shared the following message about this particular work.

"I’ve painted the Seaside Chapel a few times but this time I was inspired by the creation of the chapel from the architect’s point of view. The Seaside Institute is hosting the Seaside Prize this weekend and I was invited to exhibit some pieces in the conference space. The event recognizes and celebrates innovative leaders in the urban development arena; critical thinkers focused on making our daily lives better.

I don’t know the architect/artist, Scott Merrill, but I do understand how commissions work. I don’t even know he came to be the architect of the last major public building constructed in Seaside so I used my imagination to create the story of how it may have happened.

I first added a big replication of an architectural map of Seaside and went from there using vintage NatGeo images, sewing patterns, Venetian plaster, embroidery floss, acrylic paint and oil pastels.

I thought a lot about what a huge honor it would be to win the bid/commission to design the chapel - and the anxiety an artist feels when they have an opportunity to create something that may end up sky rocketing their career or could wipe them from the map.

Creativity comes from source, the ether, and artists have been chosen to receive this information and bring it to life.

Concepts move through us and are filtered through our individual hearts and minds and this can make or break the outcome. When you are creating it’s so important that your heart is open and your state of mind isn’t cluttered or overthinking so that source can work through us without doubt, fear or impostor syndrome getting in the way. It’s a real 'trust the process' trust fall.

But the catch, at least for me, is that the assignment itself still causes doubt and anxiety - but that is for another day, or even a whole book.

I was really inspired thinking about how every texture, image, smell, etc. Scott Merrill experienced his entire life led him to this masterpiece. I wonder if he stands in front of his legacy and wonders ‘How the hell did I pull this off?’"