If you don't believe art is alive and thriving in Florida, try visiting the 39th Annual All Florida Juried Exhibition, opening today and continuing on display through Sept. 23 at the Boca Raton Museum of Art.

This year's competition attracted 1,110 entries by 431 artists from around the state. Juror Diane Waldman, deputy director of New York's Guggenheim Museum, was duly impressed with the output, and said so in her juror's statement.

"The level of quality, and the variety of work was exceptional," she wrote. "As colleagues of mine have already noted, photography in Florida is alive and well. So too are painting, sculpture and collage. I was impressed with the beauty of the works, their unusual variety and keen sense of color and form they revealed."

Waldman selected 71 works by 38 artists for display. The exhibit consists of 10 sculptures, 29 photographs, 26 paintings and six multimedia works. Six artists were singled out for special recognition and a $500 award, including Felipe Redondo Luque and David Leenher of Boca Raton. Also recognized were Sharon Leslie of Gainesville, Norman Liebman of Miami Beach, Gregory A. Nachazel of Orlando, Karen A. Rifas of Miami and Rez of Palm Beach.

Leenher, a 42-year-old commercial photographer, was stunned to be an award-winner in only his second show.

"I entered the Hortt show (Fort Lauderdale Museum of Art) last year, and I got -really excited when they accepted one of my prints," Leenher relates in the living room of his 1925 Spanish bungalow on Boca Raton Road. "Some of my friends urged me to enter the Boca Museum show, so I did. I can't believe they accepted my series of three photos. I would have been happy to get just one in the show. "

Juror Waldman regularly accepted series rather than just choosing a representative work, museum curator Tim Eaton said.

"She is interested in the depth and breadth of an artist," Eaton said. "I think she achieved a good mix between unknown artists and people we've exhibited before, in different contexts."

Eaton notes that a compliment from Walden carries weight: she has been at the Guggenheim for more than 25 years, a rare tenure in the volatile world of art.

"She was not patronizing in the least; she was truly impressed with the quality of work," says Eaton. "I think the show is a great advance for Boca Raton and Florida art at-large. Now we'll see how the critics and public respond."