From October 3 to November 13, stop by Wildwood Library in Mahtomedi to see paintings on display with the NorthStar Watermedia Society's 6th annual National Juried Art Exhibition. 

Artists from 18 states will be represented in the exhibition. Juror Nicole Watson, director of the Catherine G. Murphy Gallery at St. Catherine University in St. Paul, has selected 58 paintings from a total of 271 submitted paintings. The exhibition may be viewed at the library and online starting October 3. The award-winning artists and their paintings along with the juror’s comments will be posted online starting October 12.

To celebrate the opening, members of the NorthStar Watermedia Society shared the following thoughts on the exhibition: 

Hard work, excitement, anticipate at opening of show

Seven years ago, NorthStar Watermedia Society started planning an annual national juried watermedia exhibition to be held in the Twin Cities region. At that time the Twin Cities was home to no competitive national watermedia exhibition and we thought that should change. Our members were experimenting with a wide variety of new techniques, supports, and mediums which were not regularly acknowledged by traditional watercolor societies and competitions. It was time to try something new.  

Our intent was to present a high quality, juried show of contemporary watermedia art with enough prize money to attract national and local artists of high calibur. And to showcase the art in a wide variety of geographic and interesting locations to attract the attention of the populace. As of this year we will have given away over $45,000 in cash and prizes and shown art work in six very different locations. Everywhere from theaters, to regional arts organizations, to city halls.

Engaging new viewers and making the show accessible is a priority when we choose our locations. For NorthStar Watermedia’s Sixth Annual National Juried Exhibition we are delighted to be hanging our show in the beautiful new Wildwood Library in Mahtomedi, Minnesota.

As Janice LaRue Anderson, our Exhibition Chair has said, “Our Exhibition Committee members and work crews are excited to get the show up and running! Our Registrar has informed us it is an outstanding collection of art this year.  We are all working hard and anticipating a wonderful 2020 show.”

Hundreds of hours of organizational work have gone into making this show a success. We all invite you to take time to view the show and enjoy artwork from across the nation and Midwest regions.