Bloomington Watercolor Society
State of the Society
Submitted by Nancy Davis Metz, BWS president, 2015-2016.
BWS Art Display at the Art of Chocolate Gala
This marked the organization’s 10th year, a milestone that was celebrated at the Member Show in the fall and throughout the year with a robust calendar of events. This report provides a capsule view of BWS’s year.
Membership count
We had 84 members. This tied with the 2013/2014 count, which is the highest BWS has recorded.
Committees
Hospitality: Betty Wagoner, chair
Shows: Tricia Wente, chair, and Donna Whitsitt
Programs: Jo Weddle, chair
Paintouts: Executive Board with suggestions from the members
Scholarship: Jeanne Dutton, chair, Deb Strother, Sara Steffey McQueen and Jo Weddle
Nominating: Meri Reinhold, chair, Candi Bailey, and Carol Rhodes
Historian: Tricia Wente
Publicity: Susie Graham
Treasurer’s Report
As of Sept. 14, 2015 As of June 13, 2016
$2,854 $2,310
Meeting programs/activities
September: Show and Share, members talking about work they have created recently
October: Cassidy Young, Demonstration of Light and Shadows
November: Meri Reinhold, How to Transfer an Image
January: Linda Meyer-Wright, Intuitive Abstracts
February: Carol Rhodes, Speed Dating (an organized way for members to learn more about other members and their art)
March: Jo Weddle, Staycation Painting (a paint-in of sorts for members who stayed in town for Spring Break)
April: Carol Rhodes, Mixed Greens (methods for mixing the color green and creating credible foliage)
May: Betty Wagoner, Experimenting with Watercolor Pencils
June: Jeanne Dutton, Blooming in Bloomington: A Workshop on Painting Flowers
Claire Jenness and Robin Edmundson practice tulips at the June meeting.
Paintouts
Oct. 10 – Lower Cascades Park
April 30 – IU campus
May 21 – T.C. Steele State Historic Site Festival of Flowers
June 25-26 – Bloomington Garden Club Annual Garden Walk
July 23 – Monroe County Fair, canceled because of weather
Sept. 10 – T.C. Steele Historic Site, Great Outdoor Art Contest
Jenny Sparks paints at the end-of-the-season paint out at Cascades Park.
Shows
Oct. 2 to Nov. 2: 10th Anniversary Member Show, City Hall in Showers Plaza. The show exhibited 30 paintings from 30 BWS members. The reception served as an anniversary celebration with cake being served.
Signature Members Tricia Wente and Nancy Metz admiring the 10th Birthday Cake!
Feb. 5 to March 31: Art of Chocolate, a fund-raiser for LifeDesigns, at The Vault Gallery. The opening reception had 200-250 people. As a partner in this event, BWS provided three artists to paint greeting cards on site at a dinner and auction Feb. 13 and gallery sitters on Saturdays and evenings for the duration of the exhibit. About $150 worth of greeting cards created by the artists were sold. Cassidy Young’s colored pencil work, “Milk and Chocolate,” was awarded Best of Show, which carried with it $100 in prize money. The exhibit was part of the February and March Gallery Walks.
May: BWS Signature Members had a show at Waldron Arts Center’s Rosemary P. Miller Gallery This is the first time Signature Members have had their own exhibit. Artists participating in the show were Connie Brorson, Bob Burris, Jacki Frey, Jerome Harste, Sara Steffey McQueen, Nancy Metz, Tricia Heiser Wente and Linda Meyer-Wright.
Jerry Harste and his artwork at the Signature Member Show, May 2016
Workshop
April 2 – Steve Dawson presented a daylong workshop, Art Journaling: Living the Illustrated Life,” that was well received.
Special projects and activities
Upland Painters
At the September meeting, new member Kristen Stamper asked if anyone would be interested in plein air painting on a weekly basis. The answer was a resounding YES, and a group immediately started weekly outings, created a structure and system for themselves, and grew in numbers throughout the year. By June they had placed 27 members on their listserv, coordinated 24 events, and held two organizational meetings. In addition, the group is working on web pages to enhance the BWS website.
Peden Farm
BWS participation in the annual Peden Farm Children’s Festival was led by Jeanne Dutton, Anne-Karine Bley and Andy Lehman. Andy designed a logo that was printed on bookmarks that will be used for thumb-print animals painted by the children at the event. BWS painters at the event Sept. 29-30 helped the children at the booth as well as painted en plein air.
Terry, Anne-Karine, and Nico at Peden Children’s Farm Festival, September 2015
Scholarships
Anna McCoy from Bloomington High School North received a $300 scholarship from BWS to be used for art supplies. Anna plans to attend IU as a business and fine arts major.
Gently to never used art supplies and books were donated by Margret Kingery and other BWS members for a table sale to benefit the Scholarship Fund. The spring sale yielded $265, all of which was deposited in the Scholarship Fund overseen by the MCCSC Foundation. BWS plans to have future table sales.
Holiday Party
The Society enjoyed its annual holiday party at Meadowood Dec. 3. Members gathered for a reception, dinner, and exchange of greeting cards they had painted.
Artful Learning Fairview
Carla Hedges arranged for Kathy Heise and Roy Reynolds, Fairview Elementary teachers, to describe the Artful Learning Program to be implemented at their school for the 2016-17 academic year. They invited BWS members to volunteer as artist mentors to work alongside students once or twice a week in a project-based environment.
Garden Walk
The Bloomington Garden Club invited BWS painters for its annual Garden Walk June 25-26. Participants received free tickets for the Walk. This partnership was coordinated by BWS member Charlotte Griffin. Members volunteered to paint in each of the five gardens during the weekend.
Charlotte Griffin, the 2016-2017 BWS President
Officers for 2016-17
President Charlotte Griffin
First Vice President Nancy Davis Metz
Second Vice President Jeanne Dutton
Secretary Cassidy Young
Treasurer Patty Uffman
Committee chairs for 2016-17
Hospitality: Mary Walker and Betty Wagoner
Shows: Tricia Wente with Anne-Karine Bley as an understudy and Kathy Barton as a committee member
Historian: Candi Bailey
Brushstrokes: Jeanne Dutton
Programs: Jo Weddle
Publicity: Susie Graham
Scholarship: Jeanne Dutton
Website: Charlotte Griffin
