Walking through the French Quarter of New Orleans, one will be struck by the numerous artists working in this picturesque 18th-century neighborhood. New Orleans should be as famous for art as it is for music. The Louisiana Watercolor Society is the natural heir to the many years artists have worked and taught in the Crescent City. The LWS conducts a full schedule of workshops, member's and open international juried exhibitions and community programs. The Louisiana Watercolor Society can be contacted by Mail at: LWS, P O Box 850287, New Orleans, LA 70185-0287, by e-mail: lwsart@yahoo.com and the Louisiana Watercolor Society maintains a presence on the web at: http://www.lwsart.org

To see a selection of the work from this spring's Member's Exhibit: 2005 Spring Member's Exhibition

The Story of How the Louisiana Watercolor Society Began
In the 1960s, I took watercolor classes with Jean Williams, a fine watercolor artist who lived in Jefferson Parish. I met many lovely people who wanted to promote watercolor painting as a serious, respected medium and felt it should be done by organizing a state watercolor society and holding serious juried exhibitions. They had talked of it for years, but didn’t seem to know how to go about it. Jean had a copy of the by-laws of the Texas Watercolor Society, so I suggested we use them as guidelines. I had a contact in the art department at LSUNO, now known as UNO, and he arranged for us to use a large classroom and overhead projector for an organizational meeting space. We spread the word through art classes, art stores, galleries and ads in the newspaper. A large crowd came to the meeting and we went through the Texas by-laws and adopted some of their language and changed some to our thinking. After adopting the by-laws, we then had an election of officers. I was elected the first president.
We were fortunate to have advice and aid from gallery owner, Naomi Marshall, who offered her Downtown Gallery as a location for an exhibit of watercolor paintings from private collections to introduce the new organization and spread the word about watercolor as a respected medium. I was amazed that I could drive up to private homes and these willing patrons would take paintings off their walls and let me, a stranger, take them to my car to take to the gallery to exhibit. But, those were the gentler days when a phone call by a respected gallery owner would open doors. We then turned our attention to planning a juried exhibition. I was so naïve as to actually make an appointment with James Burns of the Delgado Museum of Art, now the New Orleans Museum of Art, to ask him to give us gallery space for our national juried exhibit. This he would never allow in his museum, he said. So, we turned our attention to the Louisiana State Art Commissioner, Jay Broussard, in Baton Rouge. Yes, Louisiana actually had an Art commissioner and his offices and gallery were in the beautiful Old State Capital building. He was delighted to have our National Juried Exhibition in his gallery and was kind to assist us in organizing, storing paintings, packaging, and shipping paintings.
In shaping the early rules of the exhibit, may members of the society wanted more than one juror to select the work so it wouldn’t reflect the biases of one person, and they may have a better chance of getting accepted. Yes, we had three jurors. I had been out in California to take lessons with Rex Brandt, a well known artist and author of watercolor books. We asked him to be our first juror along with Jay Broussard, art commissioner, and Charles Reinike, a successful New Orleans artist and teacher. We took out ads in art magazines and spread the word about our exhibition. And artists from all over the country sent their work. We were amazed. But, watercolor artists were having a hard time being taken seriously and wanted to exhibit even if it was expensive for them to do so.
Over the years the rules and locations for the exhibitions have changed with time. With strong and dedicated leadership, the Louisiana Watercolor Society has grown into a well respected organization. I am so proud that what we started thirty-five years ago has grown into such a prestigious society.
Written by: Shirley Usinger

March, 2005: California Community College Media Arts Competition
January, 2005: Mystic Arts Center
October, 2004: Carlsbad 2004 ArtSplash
September 2004: Watercolor West
July, 2004: Morro Bay Art Association
June, 2004: Alabama Watercolor Society
April, 2004, The Watercolor Scoiety of Missouri
December, 2003 The Lakewood Artists' Guild
July 2003, The Sausalito Art Festival
June 2003, The Northern Arizona Watercolor Society
May 2003, The Paso Robles Art Society
April 2003, The Virginia Watercolor Society
March 2003, The Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour
January 2003: The Experimental Artists of Alabama
December 2002: The San Diego Watercolor Society
November 2002: The Portrait Society of America
September-October 2002: Colored Pencil Society of America
August 2002: Citrus Watercolor Society
July 2002: Pennsylvania Watercolor Society
June 2002: Taos National Society of Watercolor
May 2002: Lodi Community Art Center
April 2002: Pastel Painters of Maine
March 2002:Alaska Watercolor Society
February 2002: Pastel Association of Ontario
December 2001: South Carolina Watercolor Society
November 2001: Central Ontario Art Association
October 2001: Kentuckiana Artists Pastel Society
September 2001: San Gabriel Fine Arts Association
August 2001: Northern Arizona Watercolor Society

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