Kauai artist Sally French’s self-portrait titled “The Gilded Fly” is the winner of the Jurors’ Choice Award for the Schaefer Portrait Challenge 2022. The artwork will be on display through March 19 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center’s Schaefer International Gallery.

The honor sponsored by Carolyn Schaefer comes with a $15,000 cash prize, one of the most substantial cash awards in the United States for portraiture, according to MACC.

French’s self-portrait addresses the challenges she faced in 2021, beginning with the COVID-19 pandemic and continuing more recently with a breast cancer diagnosis, chemotherapy and a double mastectomy. Her mixed-media work on the panel is composed of atomized acrylic, wax pencil, sanded resin, gold leaf and an errant fly that became part of the work during its creation and inspired its title.

This year’s jurors, Carl Jennings, Codie King and Jan Sato, selected 48 portraits by 47 artists out of 166 submissions from across the islands. The selections include works in classical and contemporary styles in painting, drawing, sculpture and mixed media.

French was a featured artist in the 2008 Schaefer Gallery exhibit “Wunderlust — The Keeper’s Tale,” and also served as a juror in the 2012 portrait challenge and was a selected artist in the 2015 exhibit. Her works have been displayed at the Honolulu Museum of Art and the Hawaii State Foundation on Culture and the Arts Public Places Collection, and have been part of group exhibits across the U.S.

The Gene and Ruth Freedman People’s Choice Award, which carries a $5,000 prize, will be announced at a reception Sunday in the MACC gallery in Kahului. The exhibit is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday with free admission.