At juried art shows, you rarely if ever get a rationale for why the judges of the particular event selected the works they did for awards and prizes.

The same can be said for “Brushstrokes—Here and Now,” which is the name for the 80th anniversary Women’s Art League of Akron exhibit on display at Summit Artspace, a Knight Arts grantee.

There is a Best of Show – for artist April Cameron’s acrylic work “Journey’s End” (a crisp but dark and mysterious landscape). First- and third-prize awards have gone to Barbara Zimmerman’s acrylic, “Garden of Blue”; Nicki Lanzi’s oil cityscape, “St. Augustine’s Charm”; and Shirley Ende-Saxe’s stitched collage, “Secret by Decree.”

So just maybe awards went for what was regarded as best by media (that is, by kind), like at other categorical events.

For fun, then, make up your own criteria for how to pick out winners, go see the exhibit (there are some accomplished women represented on the gallery walls) and make up your own mind what gets to the top of the list.

If you decide to go by what really catches your eye, makes you pause and consider, and say that you can see this in your own home, then here are some other suggestions of works beyond the judges’ choices to look at in particular.

Check out for starters Karin Warner’s photograph “Urban Palms,” a work that the artist said was taken during a trip to California. The work has the benefit of a distinct upward perspective, making the palms seem as towering as they probably are but merging into a luxuriant sky to create a sense of grandeur and might. The almost incidental inclusion of the edge of a tall building adds to sense of scale in this work.

Karin Warner, “Urban Palms.” Photo by Clint Beeler

A second work focusing on trees and a natural background is Betty Wolfe’s “Sentinels,” an acrylic study that is a dense wash of stately somber trees rising high to watch over the troubled world around them.

Betty Wolfe, “Sentinels.” Photo by Clint Beeler

Barbara Johns’ watercolor “Early Morning” is a lovely piece of a stark wintry landscape with a house in the background. The interest is in the choice of pinks and yellows to catch an early morning light that softens the scene.

Barbara Johns, “Early Morning.” Photo by Clint Beeler

Donna Cetnarowski’s mixed media rendering “Medusa” depicts the tentacled frenzy of the Greek goddess’s lure and danger. The image is abstract, as though suspended in liquid like an octopus, yet menacing in its beauty.

Donna Cetnarowski, “Medusa.” Photo by Clint Beeler

Another abstract work, Nancy Wilson’s “Chemistry of Life,” is an eye-catching work of integrated color choices (red, through deep and light blues, greens, rust and coral) against a golden background.

Nancy Wilson, “Chemistry of Life.” Photo by Clint Beeler

The Women’s Art League of Akron’s exhibit “Brushstrokes—Here and Now” can be seen noon-9 p.m., Thursday and noon-5 p.m., Friday-Saturday through June 1 at Summit Artspace, 140 E. Market St., Akron; 330-376-8480; www.akronareaarts.org. Admission is free.