“How often do you get to go into an art gallery and laugh out loud?” the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery director said, referring to Topeka Competition 29, an exhibit of whimsy 3-dimensional arts and crafts, which opens on First Friday Nov. 6, runs through Dec. 30 and features 33 artists from across the country. The Alice C. Sabatini Gallery holds First Fridays from 5:30-8:30 p.m. More gallery events here.

From the traditional to the bizarre, the winning entries in this juried art competition will excite and stimulate the mind, said Sherry Best, gallery director.

“The work is charming and well-crafted. There are really innovative ideas here,” Best said. “Those pieces selected for the show represent the work of people on the cutting edge of 3-D art.”

This year’s winners were: Lip Chain (a 3-4 foot chain made out of lip casts) by Stephanie Lanter, a visiting artist in Washburn University’s Art Department, who took first; Prelude #1 (a multi-metal sculpture) by Jon Havener, a Lawrence sculptor, who earned second; and Ritual #5 (a delicate broach) by Amy Weiks, from Grand Rapids, Mich., who got third.

Some of the works reflect the social issues of our time, like gender roles, technology and disease.

Lick #1 and Lick #2, also by Weiks, may command a second look. In both works, beads depict saliva dripping off large tongues that are strung together to create a necklace.

“Weiks’ work begs the question, ‘what does it mean to be so hot guys are drooling over you, and do you want to be that hot,’” Best said.

As if a tongue necklace wasn’t weird enough, the works get even stranger. Two of the strangest pieces in the show are Self-portrait with Chickens by Justin Shaw, a pair of legs with a cage of chicken as a body, and Plaid Rhino, a giant plaid rhinoceros head with drawers in the horns.

One can only speculate on where those artists got their inspiration, Best said.

Some of the accepted entries have much darker roots. The inspiration for Molly Groom Alter’s work, best described as Petri dish-like pendants that look like cellular mutations, was her father’s battle and ultimate loss to cancer.

“She was working through her mourning process and her fear that she and her siblings would also get cancer,” Best said.

Topeka Competition is a biennial exhibit. Artwork must have been created in the last two years to be considered for the show. Two hundred forty-five works were submitted, but only 75 were accepted. The gallery director, with the assistance of her staff, will select purchase awards from among the accepted entries. Artist Joyce Jablonski juried the show.

Find out what it took to be accepted to this show during the Juror’s Talk with Joyce Jablonski Sat., Dec. 5 from 2-4 p.m. in Marvin Auditorium 101C.

Other gallery events include the First Friday Artwalk Dec. 4, 5:30-8:30 p.m. and A Special Look: Caring for Your Art Thur., Jan. 21, 7-8:30 p.m.

Gallery hours are 9 a.m.-9p.m., Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and noon-9 p.m. Sunday.