Nationally known sculptor and ceramics artist Claudia Reese has been selected as one of the artists to be featured in a new exhibition at Austin City Hall. Reese will include two of her sculptures among the more than 150 pieces of art created by Austin-area artists that will be exhibited on the first three floors of City Hall during the 2012 People’s Gallery.

“It’s an honor and a privilege to be included in this show,” Reese said from her Lake Hills studio. “The artists get a chance to show the world that enters City Hall what a vibrant art community we have here and to have their work seen and appreciated. And the city gets yearly updated lease- free art placement.”

The opening reception for the exhibit is set for Friday from 6-9 p.m. at Austin City Hall, 301 W. Second Street. The eighth annual exhibition presented by the City of Austin Cultural Arts Division will run through mid-January 2013. Viewers are invited to vote for their favorite artwork in the exhibition and the piece that receives the most viewer votes will win the People’s Choice Award for 2012. Often the city will purchase the winning artwork to add to its permanent collection.

A short ceremony will be held at 6:30 in the Council Chambers to announce the winner of the People’s Choice Award for the 2011 Exhibition. The ceremony will be followed by a presentation of short films collectively called “Faces of Austin.”

Reese was selected to be a part of the year-long exhibit through the Art in Public Places jury. The artist was previously included in the 2010 People’s Gallery. Two pieces from Reese’s collection will be featured at this year’s exhibit, Blue Mama Laugh and Blue Mama Cringe. Both are female heads that depict one mother’s response to her teenage son’s shenanigans, Reese said.

“As long as I’ve been making figurative sculpture, I’ve found that it is the head that fascinates me,” she said. “As the clay comes to life bit by bit, the personality begins to form. It always seems that the piece itself decides its own facial features. There are so many possible expressions, and I find myself working faster and faster just to see who it is that is emerging.”

Visitors to City Hall can view the People’s Gallery from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday. Hours are extended Thursday evenings during Austin City Council meetings.

To get a peek at some of Reese’s work, visit her website at cera-mix.com.