Philadelphia Pastel Society
Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA
Visions in Pastel
2025 Open Juried National Exhibition September 8 – October 4, 2025 |Wayne Art Center, Wayne, PA
Deadline is July 1st.
Open to Members and Non-Members.
Deadline is July 1st. Open to Members and Non-Members. To enter, visit:
showsubmit.com/show/pps-visions-in-pastel-2025
showsubmit.com/show/pps-visions-in-pastel-2025
2024 Arete Award of Excellence, Cat Nappin' by Jessica Teti Turgoose
Open Calls
Opens June 1, 2025.
Open for entry on June 1, 2025.
Deadline for entry: July 1, 2025
Visiting Hours
Call for hours – 610-688-3553
Wayne Art Center
Deadline for entry: July 1, 2025
Exhibition Venue
Wayne Art Center
413 Maplewood Ave.
Wayne, PA 19087
Visiting Hours
Call for hours – 610-688-3553
Awards
Over $3500 in cash awards, including The $1000 Philadelphia Pastel Society Award of Excellence
Juror of Selection
Sandra Burshell IAPS-EP, PSA-MP, DPS
Sandra Burshell’s aesthetic is to portray moody, atmospheric pastel figurative works and interiors - from life, from travel, and from her New Orleans Drawing Group. Sandra is an Eminent Pastelist in the International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) and a Master Pastelist in the Pastel Society of America (PSA).
Having exhibited both nationally and internationally, her pastels have been featured in many leading art magazines: Pastel Journal Magazine: "The Romantic Space", Pratique Des Arts’ Special Pastel Issue: “La Figure Dans Tous Ses Etats", Pastel Artist International: "Ambience You Can Cut with a Knife", Artist’s Magazine: "Creating Movement with Light", and American Artist Magazine: "Picturing What People Leave Behind".
Sandra was the IAPS Vice President from its inception in 1994 through 2006. She has exhibited/taught workshops nationally and internationally, and was selected as one of thirteen female U.S. pastels artists at the “Pastels of the World, Orangery of the Castle of Louviere”, in Bourbonnais, France, June 2022.
She is the founder of the New Orleans Drawing Group, a weekly figure drawing session, now on Zoom since 2020. Sandra’s pastels have been represented by the Carol Robinson Gallery, New Orleans, LA for over 25 years.
To see more of her work, go to: sandraburshell.com.
Having exhibited both nationally and internationally, her pastels have been featured in many leading art magazines: Pastel Journal Magazine: "The Romantic Space", Pratique Des Arts’ Special Pastel Issue: “La Figure Dans Tous Ses Etats", Pastel Artist International: "Ambience You Can Cut with a Knife", Artist’s Magazine: "Creating Movement with Light", and American Artist Magazine: "Picturing What People Leave Behind".
Sandra was the IAPS Vice President from its inception in 1994 through 2006. She has exhibited/taught workshops nationally and internationally, and was selected as one of thirteen female U.S. pastels artists at the “Pastels of the World, Orangery of the Castle of Louviere”, in Bourbonnais, France, June 2022.
She is the founder of the New Orleans Drawing Group, a weekly figure drawing session, now on Zoom since 2020. Sandra’s pastels have been represented by the Carol Robinson Gallery, New Orleans, LA for over 25 years.
To see more of her work, go to: sandraburshell.com.
Judge of Awards
Erin Pryor Gill IAPS/MC, PSNJ
Erin Pryor Gill is a pastel artist based in Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, where she draws daily inspiration from the region’s natural landscapes and historic architecture.
Erin earned her BFA in Illustration from Rochester Institute of Technology, and began her career as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer before shifting her focus to her fine art practice. Erin’s work has been showcased in exhibitions with the Pastel Society of America and the International Association of Pastel Societies, where she has earned Master Circle recognition. In addition to studio work, Erin enjoys painting outdoors at juried plein air events, including Plein Air Brandywine Valley, Paint It! Ellicott City, and Allemaengel Plein Air, where her work has garnered multiple awards.
In 2022, Erin was honored as the Featured Artist for Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites, with a solo exhibition of her work at the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts.
Erin serves on the board of the Lehigh Art Alliance and is a signature member of the Pastel Society of New Jersey.
You can see more of Erin’s work at erinpryorgill.com.
Erin earned her BFA in Illustration from Rochester Institute of Technology, and began her career as a freelance illustrator and graphic designer before shifting her focus to her fine art practice. Erin’s work has been showcased in exhibitions with the Pastel Society of America and the International Association of Pastel Societies, where she has earned Master Circle recognition. In addition to studio work, Erin enjoys painting outdoors at juried plein air events, including Plein Air Brandywine Valley, Paint It! Ellicott City, and Allemaengel Plein Air, where her work has garnered multiple awards.
In 2022, Erin was honored as the Featured Artist for Historic Bethlehem Museums and Sites, with a solo exhibition of her work at the Kemerer Museum of Decorative Arts.
Erin serves on the board of the Lehigh Art Alliance and is a signature member of the Pastel Society of New Jersey.
You can see more of Erin’s work at erinpryorgill.com.
Entry Fee
- Members: $40
- Non-Members: $50
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, 2025) 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.
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. citizens.
- Membership must be paid in full through 2025 to enter the show at the member rate of $40.
Submissions
This is a juried show and awards will be given. Artworks will be selected by Sandra Burshell, while awards will be chosen by Erin Pryor Gill. 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. Entries may be disqualified for not following entry guidelines.
Conditions and Rules for Acceptance
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.
Eligibile 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 (2022 or later).
- Artwork previously exhibited in a juried PPS show or at the Wayne Art 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.
- 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".
- Maximum Size: The framed painting cannot exceed 42" on the longest side.
- Minimum Size: The unframed painting must be at least 100 square inches
(h x w). If matted, the area of the painting visible within the mat must be 100 square inches. - 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. Wayne Art 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.
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, July 25, 2025.
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.
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 Wayne Art Center on Wednesday, September 3, 2025 between 10 am and 5:30 pm.
Shipping and Handling Instructions
Accepted artwork should be shipped to:
Wayne Art Center
413 Maplewood Ave.
Wayne, PA 19087
Attention: Philadelphia Pastel Society Visions in Pastel Show
- All shipped artworks must be received between August 25, 2025, and August 29, 2025. Wayne Art Center will not be responsible for any artwork received before or after these dates. Note that the Wayne Art Center will be closed from 8/30 to 9/2/2025.
- 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
All works must be for sale. Wayne Art Center will handle all sales.
Commission: A 40% commission on all sales will be held by the Wayne Art Center and the remaining 60% will be paid to the artist. All paintings must hang for the duration of the exhibition.
Commission: A 40% commission on all sales will be held by the Wayne Art Center and the remaining 60% will be paid to the artist. All paintings must hang 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 and membership is then kept in force until acceptance into 3 national shows has been achieved.
Liability
The responsibility for insuring artwork during transit lies with the artists. Wayne Art Center will insure works for the duration of the show. PPS will not be responsible for works damaged, lost or stolen. WAC will not be responsible for any work not picked up after October 27th, 2025. Work remaining at WAC after this date will become the property of Wayne Art Center.
Questions
Additional Notification Information
Notifications will be emailed and posted in your ShowSubmit account by the end of the day on July 25, 2025.
You may view the notification in your ShowSubmit account by logging in and clicking tapping the Notifications at the top right of the screen, or in your Entry History.
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.
Note: Entries made prior to 2023 may not display the View Notification link.
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 (July 1, 2025.)
- 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
For questions about PPS or this Prospectus, please contact Blanche ([email protected]) or Al ([email protected]).
For technical support or entry questions, first check our Help Center or Entry Guide. If you still need help, email ShowSubmit Support ([email protected]). We’ll respond between 9am and 6pm Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.