The La Jolla Art Association (LJAA), located at 8100 Paseo del Ocaso in La Jolla Shores, inaugurated a new and unique annual competition recently, which it called the Southern California Black & White Juried Exhibition. All art submitted had to be in black and white — not a drop of color was allowed. One hundred and eleven artists submitted 279 individual works of art. Thirty-nine artworks made it to the final round and are currently on exhibition at the LJAA gallery until Oct. 10. The show runs the gamut from painting, water color, photography, sculpture and mixed media. There is even a rotating plate and tea cup piece and a life-size sculpture of an ostrich! Awards were given for first, second and third place, plus an additional Award of Merit (honorable mention). The entire collection was judged by Manuelita Brown, a local sculptor who created the Triton Fountain at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Price Center and “Almas Del Mar,” a dolphin sculpture in the fountains at UTC Westfield shopping mall. “There is something to intrigue every visitor, from Keiko Tanabe’s China watercolor to a rhinoceros etching by Jerome Walker to Lois Adler-Roussell’s jazz linoprint to the show-stopping first place blue ribbon photo of an Afghan woman,” said Cindi Klong, a retired medical equipment buyer from Kaiser Permanente and new LJAA member, who volunteers at the gallery. Brown, who has a master’s degree in psychology from UCSD, has a small bronze sculpture titled “Nubian Bather” in the show. Brown said that it was difficult for her to make the final selections because of the overall quality of the submissions. “I was impressed by the range and diversity of media, style and subject of the works,” she said. “I looked for work which conveyed to me cohesion of thought, deliberation and intentionality, in addition to skillful use of the medium.” First place went to Russian-born Lev Tsimring, who works as a physicist at UCSD, for a photograph of a weathered, wizened and wrinkled older Afghan woman with a look of “what now?” on her face. Second place went to Ally Penbrook for a watercolor painting of a sad dog waiting for its master to come home, titled “Patience.” Third place was awarded to Joan Nies for a rectangular abstract work called “Abstract Hills,” and the Award of Merit was given to Roxanne Smith for a mixed media piece that used text, newspaper print and paint, called “Chaotic Times.” There were a number of other works that could have just as easily won awards in the show. Lois Adler-Roussell submitted a wonderful linoprint of a jazz trumpeter and two dancers, while Peggy Hinaekin’s abstract mixed-media piece in gray, white and black is truly outstanding. Jill Rowe has a wonderful digital painting of lily pads on view, and John Ford’s photograph of a tree on a foggy lake in Tasmania is exquisite. Robert Boyd’s wall sculpture of an abstract piano keyboard is lovely, and Joan Everds’s large photograph of weathered shovels helps us to appreciate the beauty to be found in everyday objects. For further information, see www.lajollaart.org or call (858) 459-1196.