Now in its 63rd year, the nationally known Watercolor USA exhibition seeks to discover what is new and what is next in the world of contemporary American watermedia. More than 320 entries were submitted by 200 artists from 43 states. Carole Hennessey, president of the Watercolor USA Honor Society, served as this year’s juror. She selected 77 works from 77 artists representing 31 states for inclusion in the exhibition.
This year’s Watercolor USA also features work from three Watercolor USA Honor Society lifetime achievement award winners by invitation — Marilyn Derwenskus, Gladys Nilsson, and Sondra Freckelton (posthumous) — bringing the total number of works on display to 80.
The event is open to artists (ages 18+) from all 50 states and U.S. territories and judged for a variety of prizes and possible purchase by the exhibition host, the Springfield Art Museum. Approximately $20,000 in cash awards and possible Museum purchase awards are available; top awards are $3,000, $2,000, and $1,500 cash.
Brooklyn artist J. (Jie) Li won the Kenneth M. Shuck Memorial $3,000 Cash Award for her diptych entry, Nowhere to Place IX. “Li works primarily in watercolor yet challenges the conventional views of the medium,” a press release from the Springfield Art Museum reads. “Li expresses human emotions like love, hate and desire by overlapping figuration and abstraction in the landscapes that she creates. She is deeply influenced by Zen and Daoism.”
Other top award winners include:
- Greg G. Thielen Memorial $2,000 Cash Award: Miles Batt 2, “Migration of the Holy Spirits”
- Bill Armstrong Memorial $1,500 Cash Award: Z.L. Feng, “Red Leaves on the Rock”
- Robert E. Goodier Memorial $1,000 Cash Award for Traditional Transparent Watercolor: L.S. Eldridge, “Twenty Thousand Stones”
Watercolor USA 2024 is on display through Sept. 1 at Springfield Art Museum, Springfield, MO.
