FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Springfield, MO. (March 30, 2020) – The Springfield Art Museum is pleased to announce that Watercolor USA 2020 will feature 81 works from 81 contemporary artists working in watermedia, representing 30 states. At 81 works, Watercolor USA 2020 is one of the largest Watercolor USA exhibitions in recent memory, continuing a recent trend among jurors to give audiences what they want: watercolor - and more of it.
The 59th exhibition of Watercolor USA was juried by Misa Jeffereis, Assistant Curator at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis. Jeffereis was previously with the Walker Art Center, where she curated Lee Kit: Hold your breath dance slowly, the artist’s first solo museum show in the U.S., and co-curated Art at the Center: Guerrilla Girls. From 2012 to 2014, she was Public Programs & Research Coordinator at Independent Curators International in New York, and from 2007 to 2010, Jeffereis was Curatorial Associate at the Henry Art Gallery in Seattle, where she curated exhibitions on Jeppe Hein, Milton Rogovin, and Chiho Aoshima.
Two hundred and eighty-three artists from 48 states entered 471 works for consideration. Jeffereis had the unenviable task of narrowing those entries down into a sampling of the very best in contemporary American watermedia. Unique among the many juried watercolor exhibitions across the country, Watercolor USA is exhibited in a museum setting and the Springfield Art Museum frequently acquires and continues to exhibit work from the show. The Museum purchased work for its permanent collection from Missouri artist Blake Willis Tiggemann from Watercolor USA 2016 and Arkansas artist Emily Wood from Watercolor USA 2018.
A number of cash prizes, artist materials packages, and possible purchase awards from both the Museum and the Watercolor USA Honor Society totaling approximately $20,000 will be announced prior to the opening reception on June 5 at 5:30 PM. This reception has a long history of generous support from the Southwest Missouri Museum Associates.
See Watercolor USA from June 6 through August 16, 2020 at the Springfield Art Museum located at 1111 East Brookside Drive in Springfield, Missouri. A color catalog, a complete record of the exhibition, will be available for purchase. Admission is always free. Donations are gratefully accepted.
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The Springfield Art Museum is Springfield, Missouri’s oldest cultural institution, founded in 1928. A department of the City of Springfield, the Museum invites you to connect with the world, your community, and yourself through active engagement with art objects. For more information, please visit www.sgfmuseum.org or contact Joshua Best, Development and Marketing Coordinator at (417) 874-2859 or jbest@springfieldmo.gov.
