Tallahassee Watercolor Society’s
2025 Brush Strokes
Prospectus
Annual Members’ Juried Water Media Exhibition
Friday, October 3, 2025 through Monday, December 1, 2025
Tallahassee City Hall Gallery
Awards Presentation: Thursday, October 16, 2025 5:30-7:00 p.m.
ARTIST ELIGIBILITY
All current members of the Tallahassee Watercolor Society (TaWS) with dues paid for 2025 are encouraged to enter.
Paintings must be hand-delivered. No shipped paintings will be accepted. We encourage all eligible members to enter the show, and if you are experiencing issues with delivering your paintings, you are encouraged to coordinate with others to arrange for transport and delivery to City Hall on October 2 between 9:00 A.M. and 11:00 A.M.
WORK ELIGIBILITY
Artists may enter one or two original water based media paintings executed in an aqueous manner on surfaces made for watercolor including paper, paper mounted board (such as Raymar, for watercolor), clay board, or Yupo. Watercolor paint is encouraged. Gouache and acrylic are allowed if the paint is applied in a watery manner or as an accent. Oil based media, pastels, and air brush renderings are not allowed.
Paintings must be original. Copies of work, including published photographs and paintings by persons other than the artist are not acceptable. If a painting is entered using images by someone other than the artist, written permission is required and must be submitted with the accepted painting.
Work painted in a class or workshop with the help or direction of an instructor is not eligible.
Painting on top of a printed photograph or digital image is not allowed.
Collage is acceptable if the majority of the painting is water media.
Diptychs and triptychs are acceptable if they are in one frame.
The size of each painting must be at least 10 inches on all sides. (The viewable size is the dimensions of the painting alone, inside the mat or frame.)
The outside dimensions of the framed piece must be no larger than 40 inches on any side. (The framed size is the outside dimensions of the framed piece.)
Paintings must be executed after January 1, 2023.
Works previously shown in any prior Tallahassee Watercolor Society Brush Strokes or Tri-State exhibition or at the Tallahassee City Hall Gallery are not eligible.
Note: City of Tallahassee policy prohibits exhibiting artwork with nudity or religious imagery.
Artwork submitted must be original as stated above. If a painting is discovered not to be an original, the TaWS Board will immediately withdraw the painting and/or award. Please use honorable ethics concerning originality. TaWS reserves the right to refuse, upon arrival, any painting of unacceptable quality or damage in transport. A painting that does not match its submitted digital image will be returned. If the juror or the TaWS board have any questions regarding the authenticity of the work or its being within the stated guidelines, the framed piece may be dismantled for closer inspection.
AWARD SELECTION
The juror will select works for the show at City Hall from submitted digital images. Awards will be chosen by the juror from actual paintings. No more than one prize will be awarded per individual artist. Awards of approximately $1,500 including merchandise are anticipated.
JUROR: Danielle Figueroa
Danielle Figueroa is a lifelong artist with over 30 years of creative experience, based in Tallahassee, Florida. Her artwork spans a range of mediums and is known for its compelling realism. Danielle operates teaching studios in both Tallahassee and Monticello, Florida, where she shares her passion with aspiring artists. Her work has been featured in COCA’s Creative Tallahassee Art Exhibition, as well as highlighted as a summer artist by Hearth & Soul. She has also participated in the annual LeMoyne Chain of Parks Art Festival and been showcased in Sage. Danielle has completed hundreds of commissioned pieces for families and businesses across the country.
EXHIBIT LOCATION
The location of the exhibition is the Tallahassee City Hall Gallery at 300 South Adams Street in Tallahassee, Florida.
DATES TO REMEMBER
July 18 - Application deadline
August 29 - Acceptance notifications e-mailed
October 2 between 9 AM and 11 AM - Hand delivery of paintings
October 3 to December 1 - Exhibition
October 16 from 5:30 PM to 7:00 PM - Awards Presentation
December 2 between 9 AM and 11 AM - Pick up of paintings
APPLICATION: ALL APPLICATIONS WILL BE COMPLETED ONLINE.
You will find a link to the application at the end of the prospectus. Click on that link. This takes you to the Submittable site. Log in using your existing account, or create a new one if you don’t already have one. Fill out the information and upload your digital images. Then click on “Submit Form” to complete your application. You should then see a “success page” where you can pay your application fee and, if needed, your membership dues.
You can also find the application and payment links at www.tallahasseewatercolorsociety.org
DIGITAL FILES
Entries must be in JPEG or JPG format.
Digital image files must be between 1MB and 3MB.
Image is to be correctly oriented (vertical or horizontal) and cropped to include only the painting, not mats or frames.
Name the digital files with your last name, then your first name followed by the title of the artwork with an underscore between each word. For example, if your last name is smith, your first name is mary and the title of the artwork is "Summer Sunset", name the digital file Smith_Mary_Summer_Sunset.jpg
No digital enhancement is allowed.
If you need help, email Sam@tallahasseearts.org.
ENTRY FEE
An entry fee of $30 is required of 2025 TaWS members. Non-members can enter by becoming members and paying the entry fee of $30 combined with yearly dues of $35, for a total of $65. All fees are paid electronically through PayPal at the time of submitting the application. Those without a PayPal account can still go through PayPal using a credit card.
PERMISSION TO USE
Accepted digital images are retained for the TaWS archives. Permission to reproduce accepted images for TaWS publicity purposes and presentations is assumed with the submission of the entry. The submission of the digital entry is an agreement to these conditions.
PRESENTATION
All paintings must have museum quality framing: simple, lightweight, and ready for hanging with wire in place. Artwork may either varnished (ex. Sprayed with a varnish/fixative) or unvarnished. Unvarnished work must be matted and framed behind plexiglass. No glass is allowed. Mats must be either white or off-white. A color liner is permissible. Varnished work does not require a matt or plexiglass but must be framed.
TaWS will not re-frame, re-mat or repair artwork! All work arriving damaged, in poor condition, or poorly or improperly presented will not be accepted.
All paintings must be labeled on the back with:
Painting’s title, medium and price.
Artist’s name, address, e-mail and telephone.
DELIVERY AND RETURN OF PAINTINGS
Hand deliver and pick up accepted paintings at the Tallahassee City Hall Gallery at 300 South Adams Street in Tallahassee. The contact person is Sam Joslin at 850-224-2500 or Sam@tallahasseearts.org.
Shipped paintings will not be accepted. All paintings for the Brush Strokes show must be hand delivered and picked up.
SALES
All paintings must be for sale or marked NFS (Not for Sale). The price of a painting cannot be changed once the application is submitted. Submission of the application is an agreement to these conditions. Sales inquiries are referred directly to the artist. No commission is taken. Please specify in the application how you wish your contact information to be listed for interested buyers: phone number, e-mail or website.
LIABILITY AGREEMENT
Paintings are insured while hanging at the Tallahassee City Hall Gallery. Every care is exercised in the handling of paintings, but neither the Tallahassee Watercolor Society nor COCA is responsible for loss or damage in transit or in packing, unpacking, whatever the cause. Concerned artists should carry their own insurance.
SIGNATURE MEMBERSHIP
Acceptance of one or more paintings in the Brush Strokes Exhibition awards the artist one half point towards attainment of Signature Membership in the Tallahassee Watercolor Society. Signature membership requires a member to accumulate a total of three points awarded by the following system: one point per show for acceptance into a Tri-State Exhibition and a half point per show for acceptance in a Member’s Exhibition (aka Brush Strokes). At least two points must come from Tri-State acceptances.
EXHIBITION POLICY
The Board of the Tallahassee Watercolor Society has adopted the following policy relating to acceptance/display in any juried exhibition:
“Any TaWS member who attempts to influence, intimidate and/or harass a judge, exhibitor, board member, or exhibition committee member can be banned from the current show and from future entry into TaWS exhibitions by a vote of the Board. The juror’s decision will be final for the accepted paintings as will be the judge’s decision for awards.”
INQUIRIES
If you have questions about the application process or show, please contact the Brush Strokes Chairperson, Jennifer Lange at 850-345-8076 or jenlange@comcast.net. When inquiring by e-mail please put “Brush Strokes Inquiry” in the subject line.
APPLICATION LINK Note: You will need to establish or log into an existing Submittable account.
https://tallahasseearts.submittable.com/submit/327436/2025-brush-strokes