The Garden State Watercolor Society (GSWS) is holding its 49th Annual Juried Exhibition at the Trenton City Museum in Cadwalader Park. The exhibit opened on November 16th and continues through January 20th, 2019.
This year’s juror was artist James Toogood, teacher at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts and member of the GSWS.
In the online preliminary jury, Toogood sifted through submissions and chose the ones he wanted brought to the Trenton City Museum for final selection. Of that group, Toogood selected seventy watercolor paintings that later made their way onto the museum walls in time for the exhibition’s opening reception.
During the opening reception, held the evening of November 16th, 13 awards were given to the paintings that “had a little something extra,” said Toogood in his Juror’s Statement.
James Fiorentino’s “Country Road,” the most expensive painting in the exhibition at $10,000, took the title of Best In Show. It may have won the most coveted award, but another painting held the most coveted spot.
Hanging on the right-hand wall in the entry hallway of the museum is Mark Schribe’s “From The Schuykill River,” its GSWS Memorial Award hanging proudly below Schribe’s name plaque.
A volunteer on the Trenton Museum Society Board of Trustees, Carol Hill, revealed the entry hallway as their “sweet spot because you see it as soon as you walk in the door.” She then explained that the monochrome maroon watercolor was painted entirely with red wine.
Schribe is one of the many artists not only making a statement with their work, but also making a living. Almost all of the paintings are accompanied by price tags ranging anywhere from $250 to $10,000. Exhibitions like this are more than just an opportunity to display their work. “They want to sell,” said Hill, “for many, it’s their livelihood.”
Prospective buyers have the opportunity to visit the museum and purchase paintings until the exhibition closes on January 20th. Until then, the watercolor works hang humbly on their walls, waiting for more visitors to come and see the worlds created within them.
