BWS Highlights Newsletter • May 2025

It’s time to plan your submissions to the 2025 Mid-Atlantic Regional Watercolor Exhibition

by Jim Sandford, BWS Mid-Atlantic Exhibition Chair

Submissions will be accepted starting June 6

It seems like we just did this, but the Mid-Atlantic Exhibition process is set to begin again next month. As previously announced, the 2025 Mid-Atlantic Exhibition will take place at the Arts Barn and Kentlands Mansion Galleries in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Our juror and workshop host will be Joel Popadics (AWS, ASMA).

The 2025 prospectus is now available on the Mid-Atlantic web page. Information will be added to this page through the year as the exhibition process unfolds.

A few changes have been made for 2025…

These themed awards will be in the top tier of exhibition awards, along with the Gold, Silver, and Bronze medal awards. There will also be the usual familiar mix of other awards for which the Mid-Atlantic Awards Committee will provide details as the year progresses.

Please mark your calendars with the following dates:

We look forward to seeing your submitted paintings and welcoming you to the planned events.

From the Archives: 
N.C. Wyeth and the 1936 Exhibition

Jim Sandford, Mid-Atlantic Exhibition Chair

In our recent survey of the 1940’s history of exhibitions of the Baltimore Water Color Club (BWCC, the predecessor of BWS), we encountered Andrew Wyeth twice, as a juror of 1942’s 44th Annual Exhibition and as a juror of the 1949 Baltimore National Watercolor Exhibition. We now turn our attention to Andrew’s father, N.C. Wyeth.

BWCC’s 39th Annual Exhibition took place November 1-30, 1936 at the BMA. The exhibition had two jurors, Earl Horter (1880-1940) and N.C. Wyeth (1882-1945). The exhibition featured 71 paintings from 45 artists. 

Horter and Wyeth had similar backgrounds as painters and illustrators, and were from the same region (Horter from Philadelphia, Wyeth from nearby Chadd’s Ford.)

The November 1 edition of the Baltimore Sun, along with an announcement of the exhibition, includes an image of one of the paintings.

The exhibition coincided with a BMA exhibition of Pissarro prints, which surely helped with attendance at the BWCC event.

On November 8, the Sun’s Art Critic published a backhanded compliment of the exhibition: the BWCC exhibition is pretty good, and not nearly as stuffy and monotonous as it usually is!

Returning to N.C. Wyeth… Aside from being named as one of the jurors in pre-exhibition announcements to artists, I have found no mention of him in any of the exhibition notices or reviews—it does not seem to have been thought of as particularly noteworthy at the time.  

Also slipping under the radar (which didn’t exist yet) was the fact that 19 year old Andrew Wyeth’s painting Patriarch of the Maine Coast was included in the 1936 exhibition. (I’ve not found images of this painting online, but it is probably one of many Maine lighthouse paintings that Andrew did.)

Thoughts of juror nepotism aside, the sequence of the Wyeths’ associations with BWCC’s exhibitions seems to reflect the relationship between the father and son artists in general. The two were very close, in part because of the care that young Andrew required through his childhood illnesses. N.C’s relationship with the BWCC seems likely to have helped with Andrew’s selection as a juror in 1942.  

N.C. Wyeth was killed in October 1945 when his car was struck by a train not far from his Chadd’s Ford home. When Andrew was again selected as juror for the 1949 Baltimore National Watercolor Exhibition he was on his own.  

Conversely, Andrew’s overall success as an artist fuels our present day awareness and appreciation of his father’s work. In their artistic careers, the father helped the son, the son helped the father, and BWCC was part of the process.

BWS Seeks Student Members!

Do you know of a young art student who could benefit from joining the BWS?

If they are between the ages of 16 and 25 and are interested in art or are pursuing an art degree or certificate, they are eligible to join BWS for the discounted membership fee of only $20.

Support BWS Sponsors

Receive American Frame Discounts Through Our Artist Alliance Program

American Frame is a second-generation, woman-owned, family-run company, dedicated to serving artists like yourself since 1973. Our mission is to provide excellence in custom framing products, fine art printing and related services while advancing a socially responsible company that gives back to the arts. As such, we are proud to be counted among the list of donors to the BWS Mid-Atlantic Regional Exhibition. If you need design assistance or have questions about the website, we are here to help. We offer free samples, phone support as well as face-to-face ‘zoom style’ consultations via our Virtual Showroom. Our goal is to serve you in the way that makes you most comfortable.

Apply your American Frame account to the Baltimore Watercolor Society through this link: https://www.baltimorewatercolorsociety.org/Member-Discount-Codes/12652400 (you must be logged in to BWS Wild Apricot to see the link). Click on the link and sign-up or login to the American Frame Alliance Program and you will receive a reusable discount code as well as earn credit for your purchases for BWS. Be sure to check ‘Agree to Terms and Conditions.’ Once your American Frame account is linked to the Alliance Program, all of your orders will benefit BWS, even if you choose another discount to use for that order (e.g., free shipping).

Membership

Important Date For Members Juried into Signature Status During 2024 and 2025
There will be a ZOOM meeting on May 8, 2025 at 7 PM to welcome and introduce you to the benefits of being a Signature member of BWS. Look for an invitation coming soon in your email. 

Welcome New Signature Members

Welcome New Associate Members

Kimberly Bowen, Edgewater, MD
Lois Lyons, Tinton Falls, NJ
Ellen Smith, Washington, DC

Other Art Organizations’ Events and Opportunities