

Winner! MFA Juror's Choice Award
Small Wonders Competition 2024!
Mushroom Court with a Stinkhorn Majority
Juror's Choice
This is the fungi supreme court justices including some of the most beautiful, colorful and stinky mushrooms found all over the world.

Cecelia Arrington accepting her award at the MFA Small Wonders Competition Celebration

From left to right: 1. Justice Clathrus Archeri, AKA the Devil's Fingers Stinkhorn 2. Justice Black Helleva 3. Justice Clathrus Ruber, AKA The basket Stinkhorn, AKA Caged Fury 4. Justice Morchella Conica, AKA Morel 5. Justice Lysurus Cruciatus, AKA Lizard's Claws Stinkhorn

Two Pink Chicken of the Woods Mushrooms

Cecelia Arrington accepting her award at the MFA Small Wonders Competition Celebration
The Small Wonders show is for artists who dream big but work small. Work is limited to under 11 inches in all directions, but there’s no limit on creativity or media. Maryland Federation of Art (MFA) invited all artists residing in any of the states or territories of the US, Canada, or Mexico to enter our 21st annual Small Wonders exhibition. All original 2D or 3D work under 11 inches in all directions (including the frame and display!) and following exhibition guidelines was considered.
Reference: https://mdfedart.com/
Background
This piece was started in 2018 when both of my daughters were on the Mock Trial team at their school. My oldest was a lawyer and my youngest started out as a witness. We stayed up many nights practicing their opening and closing remarks, voir dire and witness statements. It was one of the happiest times in our home because our entire family participated. Around that time, I came across a blue mushroom when we went to Deep Creek on our annual vacation.
While researching mushrooms, I came across many Stinkhorns that had various geometrical shapes and colors. I started following different fungi experts on tictoc and Insta and it was on those sites, that I learned more about Stinkhorns. I thought it would be fun to create stinkhorns and have them represent the supreme court where regular mushrooms would have to plead their cases to.
I immediately tried to create them and over the next two years, I did, but I was not satisfied. I put the project to rest until 2023, when I was cleaning my studio I re-discovered it. I thought, well, maybe I need to finish this. I redid most of the mushrooms and created a hollow log for them. I still love the law so I wanted to combine two of the things I like the most. Fungi and the law. So here you have the supreme court justices with a majority of Stinkhorns.