Deadline for entry: August 14, 2026
Exhibition Venue
Community Arts Center
414 Plush Mill Rd.
Wallingford, PA 19086
Awards
Over $3500 in cash awards, including The $1000 Philadelphia Pastel Society Award of Excellence
Juror of Selection
Aline Ordman IPSA-MP, IAPS/EP
alineordman.com
alineordman.com
Aline Ordman received her BFA at Cornell University and continued her training at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco, earning a degree in Illustration. Upon graduation, she taught figure drawing there until she moved to the Upper Valley of Vermont and New Hampshire.
“My goal as an artist is to find those times and places where beauty is not only evident but startling and suddenly present.”
Aline is a Master Pastelist with the Pastel Society of America (PSA), a Signature Member of the American Impressionist Society, a Signature Member of the Oil Painters of America, and an Eminent Pastelist with the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS). Aline has juried many prominent art society shows, which include the following: PSA National Juried show; the Pastel Journal’s Top 100 Animal and Wildlife Competition, the IAPS Annual Juried Show, and the American Impressionist Society’s Annual Juried Show.
Aline has won awards in the national juried shows of the Pastel Society of America and IAPS (receiving the top award, Prix de Pastel). She has won awards in the Top 100 Pastels issues of the Pastel Journal where her work has been featured several times.
Aline teaches workshops throughout the country and in Europe. She is represented by Blue Heron Gallery in Wellfleet, MA; Little Gallery in Mackinac, MI and Winfield Gallery in Carmel, California.
Her website is alineordman.com and she maintains a blog at alineordmanartwork.blogspot.com
Judge of Awards
Corey Pitkin PSA, IAPS/EP
coreypitkin.com
coreypitkin.com
A predominantly self-taught artist, Pitkin’s award-winning work has been exhibited across the globe and featured in publications in over five languages including The Pastel Journal, Art Renewal Center, Portrait Society of America, Pratique des Arts Magazine, International Artist Magazine, and Pastel World Magazine. He is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America, where he also serves on the Board of Governors and has achieved Eminent Pastelist status with the International Association of Pastel Societies. Pitkin is a highly in-demand workshop instructor and regularly travels across the US and abroad to share his techniques with students. He currently resides in New York's Capital District with his wife Esther and children Anastasia and Xavier.
Entry Fee
- Members: $45
- Non-Members: $55
The entry fee entitles the entrant to submit two paintings, but no more than one painting may be selected for the exhibition. To qualify for the reduced entry fee rate, membership dues must be paid in full (i.e. dues paid through December 31, 2026) prior to entering the exhibition. There are several membership benefits which include discounted workshop rates, demos and talks.
Please pay your dues and update your contact information at philadelphiapastelsociety.org/join-us.
Eligibility
- Open to current members of the Philadelphia Pastel Society and non-members who are 18 years or older and U.S. residents.
- Membership must be paid in full through 2026 to enter the show at the member rate of $45.
Submissions
This is a juried show and awards will be given. Artworks will be selected by Aline Ordman, while awards will be chosen by Corey Pitkin. Images of artwork will be entered into this exhibit through the online submission program ShowSubmit. Artists may enter up to two paintings. There will be no refunds once your entry is submitted, regardless of the status of your entry. Changes may be made to your submission(s) up to the submission closing date of Friday, August 14, 2026. Disqualification may occur if entry guidelines are not followed.
Submissions and artwork that do not comply with the following conditions and rules will not be accepted and will be returned at the artist’s expense. The artist may be excluded from future exhibitions sponsored by PPS for a period of two (2) years.
Submissions and artwork that do not comply with the following conditions and rules will not be accepted and will be returned at the artist’s expense. The artist may be excluded from future exhibitions sponsored by PPS for a period of two (2) years.
Eligible Works
- Artists who are legal residents of the United States are invited to participate in this national open juried exhibition of two-dimensional work.
- Artists must be 18 years of age or older.
- Current Work: All entries must have been made in the past 3 years (2023 or later).
- Artwork previously exhibited in a juried PPS show, whether national or member, or at the Community Arts Center is not eligible.
- Accepted artwork must not be exhibited concurrently with an online show.
- All works must be in dry soft pastel with at least 80% of the finished painting in dry pastel. No oil pastels or varnished dry pastels accepted.
- Originality: Your painting must not have been done under teacher supervision, either in a class or workshop or from a DVD or online instruction. Works designed or constructed over an AI produced image are not eligible.
- Paintings of nudes will be considered for acceptance.
- All work must be framed, wired and ready to hang - no saw tooth hangers or clip frames allowed. If the work is matted, the mat should be white or off white. For double mats, the liner should be no more than 1/4" but may use a colored liner.
- Maximum Size: The framed painting cannot exceed 48" on the longest side.
- Minimum Size: Acceptable minimum size is 9” by 12” unframed or 11 by 14” framed.
- Withholding: Once accepted, works cannot be withheld from the exhibition under penalty of a two-year exclusion from future juried PPS exhibitions.
- Sales: All work must be for sale.
Once accepted, the price of your painting cannot be changed. Community Arts Center will receive 40% of the sale price with the remaining 60% going to the artist. All paintings must hang for the duration of the exhibition.
Digital Image Preparation
ShowSubmit will auto-size your images for you according to our show specifications of 1500 pixels on the longest side at a resolution of 300 dpi.
- Digital images should be cropped to show the image of the painting only - no mat or frame.
- All images should be high quality jpeg (.jpg) image files. Take your photo in the largest format available and upload the larger image when possible. (ShowSubmit can reduce your image size to the correct size but cannot upsize images that are too small.)
- ShowSubmit automatically renames all image files to LastName_FirstInitial_TitleofPainting.
- Resources for how to photograph your work and editing images are provided on the PPS website at philadelphiapastelsociety.org/digital-entry-guidlines
If you prefer to resize your image yourself, please upload images with a size of 1500 pixels along the longest edge at 300 dpi. ShowSubmit will not resize your images if they meet the exact specification.
PPS may use images of accepted work for publicity and marketing purposes.
Confirming Entries & Notification
Each artist may submit up to two pieces of artwork; however, only one piece will be accepted with the possibility that none will be accepted. Email notification of acceptance and/or rejection will be sent out on or about Friday, September 4, 2026.
Conditions for Accepted Work
Framing must be professional in appearance with clean mats and no visible damage to frame, glass, or plexiglass. For artworks sized over 36” in any direction and works that are shipped, artists are encouraged to use plexiglass. The back of the painting must be secured tightly and sealed when possible.
PPS reserves the right to review all entries, hand delivered and shipped, for conformance to the specifications outlined herein and reserves the right to reject any work which does not conform to entry requirements and/or does not match the accepted digital entry.
Hand Delivery of Accepted Work
Artwork can be hand delivered to the Community Arts Center on Monday, October 19, 2026 between 10:00 am and 5:30 pm.
Shipping and Handling Instructions
Accepted artwork should be shipped to:
Community Arts Center
414 Plush Mill Road
Wallingford, PA 19086
Attention: Philadelphia Pastel Society Visions in Pastel 5th National Juried Exhibition
- All shipped artworks must be received between October 5th, 2026 and October 9th, 2026. Community Arts Center will not be responsible for any artwork received before or after these dates. All artists are encouraged to ship their works in an AirFloat box. These can be purchased at www.airfloatsystems.com.
- Handling fees are non-refundable.
- Handling Fees for entries are:
- When shipped in an Air Float Box (or equivalent) - $25.
- When shipped using other boxes/packaging - $50.
- Payment must be completed and paperwork for return shipping must be included with your shipped artwork when it is received, or your shipment will be considered a “failure to deliver” and will be rejected.
- Please place your handling fee and prepaid return shipping label in an envelope and secure it to the back of your painting so it can easily be found.
Sales & Commission
All works must be for sale. Community Arts Center will handle all sales.
A 40% commission on all sales will be held by the Community Arts Center and the remaining 60% will be paid to the artist. All paintings must remain for the duration of the exhibition.
A 40% commission on all sales will be held by the Community Arts Center and the remaining 60% will be paid to the artist. All paintings must remain for the duration of the exhibition.
Signature Status
Acceptance into this exhibition will count towards Signature Status for artists who are members of the Philadelphia Pastel Society. Non-members who have been accepted can apply this towards Signature Status if a membership application is made prior to entering the show.
Liability
Artists are responsible for insuring their work in transit. Community Arts Center will insure works for the duration of the show. PPS will not be responsible for works damaged, lost or stolen. CAC will not be responsible for any work not picked up after November 30th, 2026. Work remaining at CAC after this date will become the property of Community Art Center.
Questions
Additional Notification Information
Notifications will be emailed and posted in your ShowSubmit account by the end of the day on September 4, 2026.
If you do not receive your email, login and view the notification in your account. We cannot respond to inquiries regarding the status of notifications.
Image and Filename Specifications
- File Format: Submit original, high-quality JPEG image files. Other formats (e.g., PNG, TIFF) are not accepted.
- Crop Your Image: Ensure only the artwork itself is visible in the image. Do not show any visible matting, frames, or background distractions.
- Orientation: Make sure your image is oriented correctly (right side up) so that the artwork appears in its intended viewing direction.
- Image Size: You do not need to resize your image files before uploading. The system will automatically resize them. Smaller images cannot be enlarged to meet the requirements, so ensure your images are high resolution before uploading.
- File Names: You do not need to rename your files before uploading them. The system will handle any file naming requirements.
- File Size: There is a 30mb maximum file size limit. Larger image files will take longer to upload and process.
Additional Entry Information
- You will pay for your entry by credit or debit card using our secure checkout system.
- After your entry is submitted and paid for, you may log back in to review your entry, edit artist and image information, and add or substitute images up until the entry deadline (August 14, 2026.)
- Entry fees are not refundable and must be submitted and paid by the entry deadline.
- Entries cannot be accepted or changed after the deadline. Incomplete entries will be disqualified.
Support
Questions about this exhibition?
Contact Blanche Levitt Torphy ([email protected]) or Al Richards ([email protected]) for questions about the Prospectus, PPS, eligibility, artwork requirements, drop-off, pick-up, sales, etc.
Need help with ShowSubmit?
Visit our Help Center or Entry Guide for guidance on image uploads, payments, and managing your entry. If you still need help, email ShowSubmit Support ([email protected]). We respond Monday–Friday, 9am–6pm Eastern.