A New York artist took the top award in Watercolor USA 2024, on display through Sept. 1 in the Springfield Art Museum’s Weisel and Kelly Galleries.
Now in its 63rd year, the nationally known 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.
Winning artist deeply influenced by Zen and Daoism
J. Li, from Brooklyn, New York, captured the Kenneth M. Shuck Memorial $3,000 Cash Award for her diptych entry, “Nowhere to Place IX.”
“Li’s work has been exhibited extensively internationally and is included in many public and private collections, including the Consulate General of Japan,” a press release from the Springfield Art Museum reads. “She works primarily in watercolor yet challenges the conventional views of the medium. 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.”
Li is a graduate of Parsons School of Design, a member of the Watercolor USA Honor Society and a Signature member of the American Artists Professional League.
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”
In addition to these Springfield Art Museum awards, the Watercolor USA Honor Society provides 11 additional $300 cash awards, three $500 Board of Directors cash awards and three artist materials award packages valued at $500 each. These awards were selected by Hennessy and Watercolor USA Honor Society board member Gary Johnson.
This year's judge is a past participant in the exhibition
Hennessy is not only the Watercolor USA Honor Society’s president, she’s also a past participant in the exhibition.
“As an artist, I clearly remember my first acceptance in to Watercolor USA and the award that gave me membership in the Watercolor USA Honor Society,” Hennessy said in a press release. “In the years since then, I have viewed every Watercolor USA as an opportunity to learn from and be inspired by the paintings and the artists that created them.
“Serving as the juror has provided me with the opportunity to create one of these exhibitions and it is my hope that it is a source of enjoyment, learning and inspiration for all that see this show.”
Her show could also help shape the Springfield Art Museum’s collection. Watercolor USA is unique among juried watercolor exhibitions across the country, as it is exhibited in a museum setting and the museum frequently acquires and continues to exhibit work from the show in focus exhibitions.
Several southwest Missouri artists included in Watercolor USA 2024
Watercolor USA is open to artists ages 18 and older from all 50 states and U.S. territories. Overall, 13 artists from Missouri were selected for this year’s exhibit, including five from southwest Missouri.
- Alicia Farris, Springfield
- Robert Langford, Branson
- Ryan McClain, Ozark
- Mary Jane Mooneyham, Republic
- Deborah Wilson, Springfield
