Weyburn and area residents chose a painting of a crooked tree, a Western-style swing and a handmade knife as their three favourite pieces in the 22nd annual James Weir Peoples' Choice Exhibition.

Fred Megenbir, Neil Johnston and Kevin Donald were the winners of the People's Choice Exhibition, as announced on Monday evening in a public reception at the Allie Griffin Art Gallery.

Photos of each entry and artist will be printed in the Feb. 9, 2005 edition of the Weyburn Review.

Megenbir won the top prize for his painting of the "W Tree," depicting a twisted tree trunk forming the shape of the letter W.

Megenbir said he based it on an actual tree located on the shelterbelt of his wife's farm.

"That's the way it's grown, I guess, with the snow piling on it," he said.

Megenbir is a first-time winner of the James Weir People's Choice Exhibition, having entered only once before. He has been painting off-and-on for a number of years, he said.

Second place went to Johnston's Western-style swing, which was decorated with horseshoes and wagon wheels.

Johnston was frequently asked how he got the swing, which is large enough to seat three grown men, into the Allie Griffin gallery.

"A piece at a time," he said.

A first-time entry into the James Weir, Johnston had actually made the swing for a cross-country wagon ride he intended to go on during the summer in honour of his mother, who died of cancer.

He had to delay the trip, however, because he needed a team of horses. He had bought some, but they were all broncos, he said.

Third place went to Donald, who lives in McTaggart. Donald had actually run into some trouble with his entry: on Jan. 23, someone visiting the Allie Griffin had walked off with it.

The knife had been placed in a display case, but it wasn't locked. Fortunately, Weyburn police were able to track it down quickly; Donald said he was told about the theft at 4 p.m., and three hours later, the police contacted him again to say they had recovered it.

Ironically, this is not the first time someone has walked off with one of Donald's knives. Three of his knives had been stolen while on a touring exhibition by the Organization of Saskatchewan Arts Councils (OSAC), back in 2000.

The tour had been at the University of Saskatchewan at the time. After some media coverage of the theft, the knives were returned anonymously, much to Donald's relief.

The next seven placings in the James Weir exhibition, in descending order from fourth to tenth, are as follows: Colette Horack, MaryLou Ast, Erna Murray, April Dammann, Doris Anderson, Barry Styre and Jean Fahlman.

Curator Sandra Hanni said roughly 400 people visited the Peoples' Choice Exhibition throughout January, and about 322 people voted.

There were 22 pieces entered in this year's competition.