Every year the Ohio Watercolor Society holds an exhibit at an art museum in Ohio. This year, the Zanesville Museum of Art was chosen to host the show, which will open with a public reception tomorrow.
Although this is not the first time OWS has held its annual exhibition at the Zanesville Museum of Art, director Susan Talbot-Stanaway said it is still exciting for the museum.
“We’re very pleased,” Talbot-Stanaway said. “The Zanesville Museum of Art was one of the first museums to host the Watercolor Society years and years ago … and we do have quite a few paintings in our permanent collection that were purchased out of that exhibition.”
According to the Ohio Watercolor Society website, the group was created in 1978 to “advance the stature of watercolor as a major painting medium.”
Artists from across Ohio as well as member of OWS who no longer live in the state were invited to submit a piece for the exhibit. According to the Zanesville Museum of Art website, 236 submissions were received and 65 of those are featured in the show.
Although watercolor is a widely known form of art, it is one of the most difficult to perfect, Talbot-Stanaway said.
“Well, the results when they’re done well are very beautiful, and people are sometimes entranced by how beautiful the images can be,” Talbot-Stanaway said. “It can be very interesting to see how artists overcome the difficulty and come up with a painting that’s interesting whether it’s realistic or whether it’s totally abstract.”
The wide variety of subjects and styles watercolor can create also leads to a strong audience appreciation of the medium.
“I think many people enjoy watercolor, especially those who know it well — people who are regular visitors to museums and galleries,” Talbot-Stanaway said. “… some of the effects are really quite miraculous, so it can be a wonderful introduction to art making in contemporary Ohio.”
All of the artists included in this year’s show were invited to tomorrow’s reception, which will feature refreshments and conclude with OWS’s annual meeting.
The celebration of the exhibition will continue with four separate watercolor demonstrations during the course of the show, which will close November 23. These demonstrations are open to the public.
Four different artists will demonstrate their styles. The first artist will be featured on Sunday, Sept. 18 and the last one Saturday, Oct. 8.
bm257008@ohiou.edu
