Bradley Copeland named 2023 Walton County Artist of the Year

Bradley Copeland is a Walton County-based artist who creates vibrant paintings in her Santa Rosa Beach studio. Art has provided her the space to express and heal like nothing else in her life. Copeland’s work varies in style and subject matter and because of her intentional and essential emphasis on play and exploration. She looks at her creative process as a lifetime; it’s full of mistakes, wrong turns, good and bad things, but one can find beauty and necessity in it all. Copeland suffered injuries from a pot of boiling water which resulted in her being unable to walk or work her previous job. During her recovery, painting became a healing lifeline and helped rekindle her life’s passion. Now fully recovered, Copeland shares the healing power of art through weekly art classes with residents at the Walton Correctional Institution in DeFuniak Springs.

To learn more about Bradley, read her full story HERE.

Previous Artists of the Year

• 2022 – Joseph Messer
• 2021 – Chandler Williams
• 2020 – Doug Foltz
• 2019 – Jenna Varney
• 2018 – Kathleen Broaderick 
• 2017 – Marisol Gullo
• 2016 – Melody Bogle
• 2015 – Juan Adaro
• 2014 – Mary Hong 
• 2013 – Andy Saczynski
• 2012 – Allison Craft 
• 2011 – Allison Wickey 
• 2010 – Michael Granberry 
• 2009 – Michael McCarty
• 2008 – Donna Burgess
• 2007 – Bill Stephenson 
• 2006 – Phil Kiser
• 2005 – Justin Gaffrey 
• 2004 – Susan Lucas
• 2003 – Dorothy Starbuck