2026 Virginia Watercolor Society Annual Juried Exhibition

You are invited to apply for the Virginia Watercolor Society 47th Annual Juried Exhibition to be held at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, 200 N Arthur Ashe Blvd., Richmond VA from September 5th until November 2nd 2026. We welcome applications from paid-up members of the Virginia Watercolor Society (VWS) only. 

The jurors are: Dr. Christopher Oliver, Juror of the Exhibition and Mary Whyte, Juror of the Awards.  The awards will be given at the discretion of the juror. The top award of $1,500 is provided by the Virginia Watercolor Society.

ENTRY PROCEDURE:

Exhibition is open to members of the Virginia Watercolor Society only. For details on becoming a member and to pay the $40 dues, go to: https://virginiawatercolorsociety.org/vws-membership/ 

For questions about the prospectus please contact Susan Stuller at 804-379-1477.

ENTRY FEE: $45.00. for a maximum of three (3) digital images.

The Jurors for this exhibition are: Dr. Christopher Oliver, Juror of the Exhibition and Mary Whyte, Juror of the Awards.

ALL ENTRIES MUST BE COMPLETED NO LATER THAN 11:59 PM  EDT 05/22/26.  

METHOD OF SELECTION Juror of the Exhibition Dr. Christopher Oliver will select no more than one painting per artist from digital images. Artists will be notified of the juror’s choice. Selected paintings must then be submitted for the exhibition. Final selections will be from the actual submitted paintings with the juror’s and receiving committee’s right of refusal.

Please ensure what you list on your entry matches the painting you deliver for the exhibition.

NOTIFICATION  All artists will be notified of the juror of the exhibition's decision by email by July 2, 2026

Hand-delivered paintings: Details will be provided to accepted exhibition members.   

Shipped paintings : Shipping instructions will be provided to accepted exhibition members.  

AWARDS:  Awards will be given at the discretion of the Juror of the Awards. The top award of $1,500 is provided by the Virginia Watercolor Society.

Every care will be taken by the VWS, the 2026 Exhibition Committee and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts (VMFA). It is suggested that artists wishing protection during shipping insure their works independently. VWS, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Fine Arts and Flowers have the artist’s permission to use an image of accepted painting for publicity purposes. Submission of a work to the exhibition shall constitute an agreement to comply with all conditions set in this prospectus. If a submitted painting is found to be non-compliant it will not be exhibited and it will be returned to the artist in the manner in which it was delivered. The artist will not be eligible to submit to the 2027 Exhibition.

Open to members of the Virginia Watercolor Society only. For details on becoming a member:https://virginiawatercolorsociety.org/vws-membership/ 

ELIGIBLE WORK FOR THE EXHIBITION -

• Paintings in watercolor, acrylic, casein, gouache, egg tempera or water-soluble ink.
• On paper or Yupo. No other
  surfaces accepted.
• No canvas, digital, computer-generated, water soluble oil, or Giclée art.
• No images generated with or assisted by AI (artificial intelligence)..
• Collage elements will be accepted if the adhered paper pieces are painted in water media by the artist. No computer-generated, digital or printed clippings will be allowed.
• If other mediums are used, water-based media must dominate the piece.
• All entries must have been completed on or after January 1, 2023 and may not have been painted under supervision.
• Works may not infringe upon another’s copyright. If photo references are used, they must be the artist’s own photographs.
• Paintings accepted for previous VWS juried exhibitions are ineligible.

SPECIFICATIONS: 

All accepted paintings must hang for the duration of the exhibit. 

Paintings must be:

• Ready for hanging with appropriate hanging hardware and hanging wire, (no sawtooth hangers)
• Framed under plexiglass or acrylic glazing (no glass)
• Matted, using only white or off-white matting on all 4 sides, and professionally presented. Poorly matted or framed paintings will be disqualified.
• The image size of the painting cannot be smaller than 11 x 15 inches.
• Minimum FRAME Size in any direction is 16 inches.
• Maximum FRAME size in any direction is 44 inches. This includes diptychs and triptychs, which must be in a single frame.

If you are accepted you will be provided with a link to a label to be filled in, printed out, and attached to  the back of the painting: This will include the artist's name, phone number, title of the painting, medium, price or NFS, insurance value, and a checklist of other requirements. This information must match your entry form information.

All submissions must include prices. Not For Sale (“NFS”) is acceptable. Prices as listed on entry form may not be changed. Cost information will not be allowed in the VMFA gallery; however purchase information will be available to patrons through the VWS website.  Artists will be contacted directly for any sales.