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The New England Watercolor Society (formerly the Boston Watercolor Society) proudly announces the 125th Anniversary Members Exhibition
Plymouth Art Center, 11 North St., Plymouth, MA 02361
Exhibition: October 20-Nov. 14, 2010
Reception: Sat. Oct. 23 from 1:00 to 3:00.
NEWS is celebrating its 125th anniversary with an invitational signature members’ exhibit, featuring past and present members.
The Boston Society of Watercolor Painters held its first exhibit in 1885, with 13 participating artists. Early annual shows were held at the Boston Art Club and Vose Galleries. In 1939 a 50th anniversary show was held at the MFA. The MFA exhibit was a regular event from 1951 until 1969, when a museum policy change allowed no private groups to exhibit. The Guild of Boston Artists became the new venue for the society from 1971 to 2006, when NEWS opened its own gallery at the Emmanuel Church on Newbury St.
Changing the name in 1966 to The Boston Watercolor Society and in 1980 to the New England Watercolor Society, the society began hosting a national juried watercolor exhibition in 1988 at the Federal Reserve Gallery in Boston. This exhibit has been hosted by many prestigious galleries, museums and art centers around New England, including the South Shore Art Center and the Duxbury Art Complex Museum.
Membership has grown to 187, and includes such living legends as Loring Coleman and Carlton Plummer. Past members included John Singer Sargent and Childe Hassam. Andrew Wyeth was an honorary member. There is a strong contingency of members from the south shore and Cape Cod, including the current president and vice president.
This exhibit at the Plymouth Center for the Arts will honor NEWS past and present signature members and its place in history as one of the oldest and most prestigious watercolor societies in America. A gala reception will be held on Sat. Oct 23, from 1-3:00, featuring acoustic jazz by None of the Above. The exhibit will run from Oct. 20 through Nov. 14 and is free of charge and open to the public.
See the 2009 NEWS Regional Show Gallery for the complete catalog of the show.
"Well Worn"
...powerful, strong design
"Girls Just Wanna Have Fun"
...poetic use or imagery and graded washes
"Lavender Field"
...great handling of medium with collage
"Tommy’s"
Great gestural painting
"Embrace"
...excellent technical work
"View from a London Bus"
...mood, nuance, technique
"Low Tide, Maine"
...fine symphonic painting, simple pallette
"Dock at Digby"
Very well crafted, good pictorial quality
"Vintage Hats"
Difficult merging of mediums to create narrative
"Jenkin’s Farm"
Light struck
"Feather"
Happy exuberant open style
There is an old saying in art: everyone is a Winner!!!
In my selections, I looked for uniqueness, diversity, and technical excellence. It was difficult to trim down the entries to 60 from 340 images as there were many competent paintings entered, but it was accomplished. I feel that it is an exciting presentation and all that entered should be proud of their New England Watercolor Society.
Respectfully, Frank Federico, Judge
From the Newsletter
Here are some highlights from the most recent (Summer) newsletter. If you'd like to read the rest of the newsletter and you didn't receive it, you can download it here (Adobe Reader required). Back issues are also available for download here.
Artist Profile: Evelyn Dunphy
"IN 1989 WHEN I FIRST MOVED TO MAINE, AT A JOB INTERVIEW, THE INTERVIEWER ASKED ME "what would you be doing if you
could have your fondest dream come true," and I remember thinking to myself "how crazy is this" when I told her that "I’d be an artist, and painting would be my full time job." This was only a bit less preposterous than my saying "I really want to be an astronaut," even though there had always been an idea in the back of my mind that "someday" I would paint. "Someday" was way off in the future.
Six years later: finally took a first step. I signed up for a Tuesday night class with the local high school art teacher, and then an adult education class at the University of Maine. I started painting at night after work in the laundry room just to have something to take to the next class for a critique. I remember coming home one night with a little painting of asparagus, and waking my husband up to say "I think I’m going to be able to do this!..."
Regular Features
- Show Notes -ANNUAL SHOW AT THE EMMANUEL CHURCH
April 30 – May 23, 2010
Our thanks go to David Boyce, Curator of New Bedford Art Museum, for jurying, and to Richard Sabin for chairing the show. During the twelve days open, we had approximately one thousand visitors. We sold three paintings and had two demonstrations and a gallery talk; thank you Marla Greenfeld, Ray Andreotti and Gracia Dayton.
Congratulations to our award winners!12th BIENNIAL NORTH AMERICAN OPEN SHOW
September 24 – October 24, 2010
The NEWS National Show will be held at the North Shore Arts Association in Gloucester, MA. For this show, we will submit digital images of our artwork via the NEWS Website using easy to follow instructions, and mailing in the fee payment to complete our entry to the show. The deadline for uploading images is July 16th. John Salminen will be jurying the show and is giving a workshop in Gloucester September 27–29th. Having taken a workshop with John, I recommend it.
Judy Metcalf and Lenice Stohmeier will be co-chairing this show. -
Member News - Featuring Frank Costantino, Evelyn Dunphy, Wendy Hale, Becky Haletky, Nancy Howell, Mike Mazer, Judy Metcalf, Bob Noreika, Mary Jo Rines, Peter Spataro, Anne D. Sullivan, and Barbara Wylan.
- Associate Member News - Featuring Lilly Cleveland, Steve Hamlin, Steve Lush, and Betty Rogers.
If you've got news that should be included in the newsletter, you can submit it by emailing our editor, Wendy Hale. Please indicate whether you're an associate member or a signature member. If you're not a member, you can join here.
Upcoming Shows & Events
See Show Listings for additional events.
The 2010 New England Watercolor Society National Show, co-chaired by Judy Metcalfe and Lennice Strohmeier, will be held at the North Shore Art Association, in September and October (dates to be announced). John Salminen will conduct a workshop in conjunction with the show, September 27 - 29.
Special Offer!
If you missed the demonstration by Paul George at the Regional Show in Duxbury, or if you caught it and would like to see more, Paul has made a very generous offer. Buy his video "Painting White Roses" and he will donate half the purchase price to NEWS! Simply type "NEWS" in the organization field of his online order form and you'll get the terrific video and help our organization too.
History
History & Mission
The New England Watercolor Society (NEWS) was founded in 1885 as the Boston Society of Watercolor Painters, becoming the Boston Watercolor Society in 1896 and subsequently the New England Watercolor Society in 1980. Its 27 charter members included some of the best known names in American Art such as Charles Curtis Allen, Frank W. Benson, George Hallowell, F. Childe Hassam, Louis Kronberg, Otis Philbrook, Maurice Prendergast, Charles Woodbury, honorary member John Singer Sargent, and more recently Andrew Wyeth.
The mission of the New England Watercolor Society is to encourage and foster the excellence and advancement of the fine art of aqua media throughout New England.
NEWS sponsors two annual juried shows; one open to all artists residing in New England, and one for signature members only. In addition, a National juried North American Open Show, open to all artists in North America, is held every two years. Along with the exhibitions are receptions and award presentations, gallery talks, demonstrations and workshops led by nationally recognized water media artists. These are open to the general public.
Today, the Society has over four hundred members throughout New England. Anyone can support the New England Watercolor Society by becoming an Associate member which entitles the supporter to the NEWS quarterly newsletter, upcoming show prospectuses, invitations to shows and reduced rates for entries and workshops.
Any artist will become a candidate for Signature membership by being accepted into four juried shows sponsored by the New England Watercolor Society in a ten-year period, one of which must be a National Show.