Philadelphia Water Color Society
Philadelphia Water Color Society

2025 Members Show

May 9 – June 7, 2025 Fine Arts Gallery, Montgomery Community College & Online
Deadline is March 14th. 5 weeks left to enter. Members Only.
Ocean City by Stephen D Rutherford
Ocean City by Stephen D Rutherford
Open Calls

or to submit.

Deadline for entry: March 14, 2025

Venue

Fine Arts Gallery, Montgomery Community College
340 Dekalb Pike
Blue Bell, PA 19422

If you are a PWCS member, this is an opportunity to showcase your work with one of the oldest and the most prestigious watercolor societies in the U.S.—the Philadelphia Water Color Society. It is also a chance to compete for cash awards, and potentially, sell your work.

This is both an In-Person and Online Show. There are two ways to participate:
  1. In-Person & Online
    Choose this option if you want to be in both the In-Person and Online Shows. Works must be hand-delivered at the Fine Arts Gallery in Blue Bell on Saturday, May 3 from 1-4 pm. Unsold works will be picked-up on Monday, June 9 from 12-3 pm. Members who choose this option will also have their work displayed on our website.
  2. Online-Only
    Choose this option if you do not want to display your work at the Fine Arts Gallery in Blue Bell, but do want your work to be displayed on our website.
Please note the following:
  • You’ll make your choice for either In-Person & Online or Online-Only when you submit your work at ShowSubmit (see below).
  • You will be eligible for awards with either choice.

Awards

  • 1st Place - $500
  • 2nd Place - $300
  • 3rd Place - $200
  • 5 Awards of merit - $100 each
  • 5 Honorable Mention Awards - $50 each
Artists may receive no more than one award in this exhibition. Artists will be notified by email by Tuesday, April 15, 2025 if their work is selected for an award.

Juror of Awards

Chris Kurpinski, ASW-DF, NWS-G, is a Dolphin Fellow of the American Watercolor Society, Gold Signature member of the National Watercolor Society, Distinguished Master of the Transparent Watercolor Society of America and elected member of Allied Artists. She is the recipient of over 250 national and regional awards. Most recently, she’s been awarded First Place in Splash 2024 and Best Still Life in Artist’s Magazine’s 2025 Annual Competition.

Her website is chriskrupinski.com.

Entry Fee

  • PWCS Members may submit up to 2 paintings
  • $25 per artist, for 1-2 paintings
PWCS membership dues for 2025 must be paid-in-full to gain entry to the Show. To check your membership, login to our website: pwcs.wildapricot.org and click on your name at the top of the screen to learn about your current status.

Entries may be submitted any time from Saturday, February 1, 2025 through Friday, March 14, 2025. All entries must be received by the end of the day (11:59pm EST) on Friday, March 14, 2025 to be considered for the Show.

Works Eligible

  • All work must be original and on paper. PWCS is one of the few art societies that accepts “Works on Paper” to include water media, drawings, pastel, charcoal, graphite, acrylic, gouache, colored pencil, pen/ink and hand-pulled prints.
  • Collage elements must be of paper, and any image or color on collage papers must be the work of the artist.
  • No oils, photographic, digital, electronic processes or computer art will be accepted.
  • No work previously exhibited in any PWCS exhibition will be accepted.

    Entries must be no older than 3 years (completed 2022–Jan 2025    ) and must not have been done under teacher supervision.
  • All works must be original, not based on another artist’s work, published material, or another person’s photograph.
  • All works must be available throughout the exhibition period and not exhibited (including online) in any other show during this time.
  • Works can either be offered for sale or not-for-sale.
  • All entries that meet the submission criteria will be included in the show and forwarded to the Juror-of-Awards.

Selection for the PWCS Online Members Show

All entries meeting the eligibility criteria in this prospectus will be presented online and considered for awards. The exhibition will be available through the PWCS website, and will be highlighted in various social media at the same time. Artwork selected for an award may be used for promotional purposes on our website and social media throughout the year.
Note that selection for the PWCS Members show does not count toward qualification for PWCS Signature Membership, as outlined on the PWCS website.

Sales

Works may be for sale or not-for-sale. (Sales price will be listed online.) Prices cannot be changed once submitted and allworks offered for sale must remain available for sale through the end of the exhibition. All sales made during the Online Members Show will be between the artist and the buyer with no commission payment. If PWCS is notified of interest in a purchase, the artist will be notified and provided with the contact information of the prospective buyer.

Questions?

If you have any questions, use the online form on the shows webpage, pwcs.wildapricot.org/exhibitions/2025-members-show.

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 (March 14, 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

Need Assistance? For questions about the entry process or using this website, please check our Help Center or Entry Guide first for detailed guides and troubleshooting tips. Most answers can be found there quickly.

If you still need help, feel free to email ShowSubmit Support at [email protected], and we’ll respond between 9am and 6pm Eastern Time, Monday to Friday.