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2014 Juried Exhibition
The Pennsylvania Watercolor Society's
35th Annual International Juried Exhibition
At the State Museum of Pennsylvania, 300 North St., Harrisburg, PA 17120
November 8, 2014 – February 8, 2015
Opening Reception
Sunday, November 16, 2014
2:00 - 4:00 PM
People’s Choice Award
Each year at the Annual Juried Show we ask all the visitors to the exhibit to carefully study all the paintings and select their favorite one. Ballots and pencils are provided for the visitors to record their favorite painting title and artist name. We remind all visitors to vote only once per visit. A locked ballot box is provided into which the votes are deposited. The ballots are collected several times during the course of the exhibition and carefully tallied. When the exhibition ends, all the ballots are tallied and a careful count is made to determine the painting/artist who will receive the “People’s Choice Award”. With this distinguished award comes a $300 check to the selected artist from PWS.
We are pleased to announce that Don Lenker’s painting, “20th and Swartara - Harrisburg”, is the 2014 “People’s Choice Award” winner!
Congratulations, Don!
PWS 35th Anniversary Celebration
The Pennsylvania Watercolor Society celebrated its 35th Anniversary November 15-16, 2014 with several activities over the weekend. The afternoon of Saturday, November 15, 2014, renowned artist and teacher, Dick Ressel, led a spellbinding Gallery Walk through the Society’s Juried Exhibition. Dick took the participants on a guided tour in art history from the cave man to the present. He also discussed the many ways that watercolor as a medium has been used over the years. The varied types and examples of watercolor painting displayed in the exhibition were pointed out as the entourage followed Mr. Ressel back and forth through the Museum. Dick’s mesmerizing tour was the highlight of the afternoon.
Following the Gallery Walk, society members and guests then retired to a local restaurant for the annual members meeting and dinner. Authentic Italian cuisine was enjoyed by all, topped off with a special anniversary cake for dessert. Ginny Walker, Membership Chairman, provided an after dinner diversion with an exciting PWS History trivia game that had even some of the old timers stymied. President Walker introduced the 2015 slate of officers to the gathering after which they were elected by acclimation. The officers for 2015 will be:
- John W. Walker President
- Caryn Husowech First Vice President
- Karen Frattali Second Vice President
- Jane DeGruchy Secretary
- Diane Delozier Treasurer
Sunday, November 16, 2014, found 400-500 members and friends of the Watercolor Society meeting at the State Museum for the Opening Reception of the 35th Juried Exhibition. A presentation of 117 outstanding paintings along with a sampling of paintings done by PWS founder and first president, Nick Ruggieri, were on display. The awards ceremony commenced at 3:00 pm when President Walker introduced Mr. David Dunn, Director of the State Museum, for welcoming remarks. President Walker then reviewed with the audience some of the events that took place in the founding year, 1979. From the beginning of McDonald’s Happy Meals to TMI and the founding of the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society were touched upon.
President Walker then surrendered the podium to Membership Chairman, Ginny Walker, who presented Signature Status pins to 17 members. Two members were also presented with the most prestigious Sylvan Grouse Guild Award.
Second Vice President and Awards Chairman, Karen Frattali, and President Walker then proceeded to present over $12,500 in cash and merchandise awards selected by our Awards Juror, Sterling Edwards.
Great artwork, music and food combined to make a very enjoyable afternoon for the attendees and the.
President Walker closed the awards ceremony by thanking the PWS volunteers who made the 35th Anniversary celebration and the Juried Exhibition possible:
- Karen Frattali – who worked all year to obtain donations and sponsors for our awards
- Daniel Vangeli – for making all the special artist name tags
- Dick Ressel – for providing a most enthralling Gallery Walk
- Diane Delozier and Beverly Spitzer – who were responsible for organizing the opening reception
- Irina Miljkovic and Catherine Gebauer – for serving as hostesses at the reception
- Debra and Scott Kreiger, Linda Young, Debi Watson,Diane Delozier, J.B. Heyde – for hanging the juried exhibition
- Virginia Walker – Membership/Newsletter Chairman, show catalog designer, and the President’s personal reminder
Juror’s Comments
"You're asked to jury an art competition; not just any competition but an international competition. What an incredible honor and responsibility. Artists from around the globe will be entering their finest work in hope of being accepted into the show. They have all put their best foot forward and if accepted may be selected for an award. Having submitted to numerous competitions myself, I can readily identify with all of them. It takes a lot of self-confidence to enter a large competition and there is always the possibility that your work may not be accepted. The truth of the matter is that sometimes you are and sometimes you are not. The juror of the competition often has certain criteria that they use when judging a show and deciding who will be accepted and who will win an award. It varies from juror to juror. A painting that is rejected from one show may be an award winner in another. What I feel is most important is that you entered the show. I applaud every artist that entered this competition whether they were accepted or not.
My criteria for judging a competition is based on four things. I look for work that shows a high degree of skill. It does not matter what the subject is or in what manner it was painted. I have awarded best of show to pinpoint realism and to abstract expressionism and everything in between. Originality is another criteria that I often consider. This does not mean that you have to paint something that has never been painted before but you have perhaps presented the viewer with a personal interpretation that is uniquely yours. Composition and color selection are often a consideration as well. The last and maybe the most important criteria is whether the painting impresses me. This is especially true when considering the awards. A really good piece of art speaks for itself and commands attention.
If you are one of the artists that were not selected, I encourage you to continue to perfect your skills and enter competitions as often as possible. If your work was selected then I applaud you for your wonderful contribution that you made in helping to make this show possible. Lastly, if you are one of the award winning artists then I offer my congratulations.
I would like to thank the Pennsylvania Watercolor Society for the wonderful job that they did in putting this show together. It truly is a beautiful show and one that I am very proud to have been selected to judge."
Sterling Edwards, CSPWC, TWSA