Official Artwork
The 2024 Official Artwork by Artist Sharon Jones is Presented by
Each year, the North Carolina Azalea Festival President chooses an artist to create an artistic representation of the North Carolina Azalea Festival. The artist is honored at the Art Unveiling, and Limited Edition signed prints are available for sale in the Azalea Festival Ticket Office. Please note, not all prints are available for purchase.
Past Festival Prints are available for purchase at the North Carolina Azalea Festival Ticket Office. The current year’s print is $50, the immediate past year’s print is $25, and all other prints are $10. Please call the Festival Ticket Office for past print availability and prices at (910) 794-4650.
Artist Bio
Sharon Connolly Jones
A native of eastern North Carolina, oil painter Sharon Connolly Jones pays homage to both our rural and coastal areas with her colorful paintings. Shore birds, tobacco barns, historic homes, landscapes, and pet portraits are brought to life with strong composition and color. Sharon is drawn to subject matter with dynamic graphics and enjoys the construction process of painting from the starting composition to the final notes of color. Reflections and the play of light and shadow fascinate her as they capture a moment in time. It is her connection with these moments that Sharon strives to communicate with her art.
Sharon relocated from Greenville, NC, to Wilmington in 1985 to continue her banking career after earning a Business Administration degree from East Carolina University. After marrying Wilmington native Frank Jones and raising a family, the timing was right for Sharon to discover her creative passion and focus in the form of oil painting in 2015. Sharon began accepting commissions and participating in local art shows and sales in 2017.
Festival Artists
1984-2003
1987 Jeff Morvil
1988 None
1989 None
1990 Martha Grove Williams
1991 Samuel Bissette
1992 Ronald Williams
1993 Morvil Design
1994 Popular Design
1995 Jeff Morvil
1996 Morvil Design
1997 Cathy Maya
1998 Jodie Rippy
1999 Jodie Rippy
2000 Deborah Cavenaugh
2001 Deborah Cavenaugh
2002 Barbra Jamison
2003 Beth Ellis Harry
2004-2020
2004 Bruce Bowman
2005 Ivey Hayes
2006 Harry Lee Davis
2007 Cathy Poulos
2008 Bruce Bowman
2009 George Pocheptsov
2010 Sandy Nelson
2011 Jenny McKinnon Wright
2012 Terry Sellers Harrison
2013 Elizabeth Singletary
2014 William Mangum
2015 Clyde Edgerton
2016 Mary Ellen Golden
2017 Sean Ruttkay
2018 Virginia Wright-Frierson
2019 Bergen DeLeeuw
2020 Todd Carignan
2021-Present
2021 Rachard McIntyre
2022 Brooke Eagle
2023 Ana Brown
2024 Sharon Jones