Vermont Pastel Society 2026 Members’ Exhibition: Explorations in Color

August 28 to September 26, 2026

Artistree Community Arts Center
2095 Pomfret Road, South Pomfret, VT, 05067

VPS: UpperValley is pleased to host the 2026 Members’ Exhibition (ME) during the late summer. We are thrilled to be holding our annual exhibition at Artistree! This is a wonderful venue with strong community support for the arts. We hope many of our members will participate!

This exhibition invites Vermont Pastel Society members to embark on a creative journey, pushing beyond their comfort zones and exploring new artistic horizons.

While not required, participants are encouraged to explore mixed media, incorporate unique mark-making or underpainting techniques, venture into new subjects, or challenge themselves by working on larger or more abstract pieces. This is an opportunity to play freely, unrestrained by the typical 80% soft pastel requirement of our juried show, so 50% pastel is allowed! This is a chance to have fun and let creative ideas soar!

ENTER

Judge of Awards: Aline Ordman

List of Awards:

Judge’s First Place Award – $300

Judge’s Second Place Award – $200

Judge’s Third Place Award – $100

Luminous Landscape Award – $50 various pastels

Reflective Waterscape Award – $50 various pastels

Lively Still Life Award – $50 various pastels

Figuratively Speaking Award – $50 various pastels

Abstractly Appealing Award – $50 various pastels

Totally Tonal Award – $50 various pastels

Touchingly Textural Award – $50 ADK Pastel Society

Colorfully Crafted Award – $50 ADK Pastel Society

Lovely Lines Award – $50 NH Pastel Society

Shapely and Edgy Award – $50 NH Pastel Society

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JUDGE’S AWARDS

FIRST PLACE:
Christine Kennedy “Welcome Little One”
This small but delightful painting has a beautiful harmony of color, texture
and hard and soft edges. It captured me from the start.

SECOND PLACE:
Brian Livingstone “Meadow”
A wonderful combination of color and lines but it’s the values that hold it
together without becoming indecipherable. It has a nice abstract quality but
still is an illustrative painting.

THIRD PLACE:
Jocelyn Randles “Last Dance”
A lovely design and a very moody feeling. The use of soft and hard edges
works really well and the limited palette of color is intriguing.

SUBJECT AWARDS

LUMINOUS LANDSCAPE
Katrina Thorstensen “Late Afternoon Light”
Beautiful pastel strokes and a great design. The harmony of color is
pleasing and the blues water provides a good focal point.

REFLECTIVE WATERSCAPE
Ann Wickham “Sheltered”
I love that there is no sky and the viewer’s eye goes right to the reason for
the painting…water and rocks. Very inventive colors in both the rocks and
the water and great design.

LIVELY STILL LIFE
Judy Albright “May You Always”
Technically this is very beautifully done with its use of the soft quality
pastels can give you. It has a great balance of color and design and that
apple on the right is exquisite.

FIGURATIVELY SPEAKING
Marla Ianello “125th and Broadway”
This is an ambitious and successful street scene in its use of shapes. The
figures are well articulated but still blend in well with the environment. The
guy with the ice cream cone is fabulous.

ABSTRACTLY APPEALING
Debra Kraemer “Window Shopping”
I love the whimsy and humor in this painting, but the design and color are
also a successful balance.

DESIGN ELEMENT AWARDS

TOTALLY TONAL
Maria Riley “Passing Thoughts”
This painting has a wonderful and dramatic composition and the clouds
which basically read as gray have a nice combination of muted colors.

TOUCHINGLY TEXTURAL
Pamela Smith “Booth Quarry Vinalhaven, Maine”
This got me on my second look when I saw how lovely the color of the
water was…that indication that it was underwater. The smooth textures in
the water are a nice contrast to the walls and trees of the quarry.

COLORFULLY CRAFTED
Joyce Kahn “A Glorious Morning”
This painting kept grabbing my attention every time I walked by. I think it
has a nice, cozy design and the warm hints of orange against all the greens
pulled me right in.

LOVELY LINES
Marianne Nealy “Melting”
What a delight fun harmony of color and design, much of which is defined
by the way the lines are used. The wavy strokes in the water, the straight
strokes of the reeds play so nicely against the solidity of the rocks.

SHAPELY AND EDGY
Kate Cone “June Light”
I like the variety of the lines of the reeds against the flatter shapes of
greens and the solidity of the mass of tree

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Registration Deadline: July 14, 2026

Drop Off: Monday, August 24, 2026, 10am-5pm

Reception: Friday, August 28, 2026, 5:30-7:30pm

Pick Up: Sunday, September 27, 2026, 10am-5pm

Submission guidelines: To participate in the ME, you must complete this Google Form ( link HERE ), which allows you to submit up to 3 pieces of art for the exhibition. You must submit your 3 pieces in priority-of-hanging order. If we do not have room for all 3, we will start with your first entry, then your second, etc.

You have until July 14, 2026, to submit your art. Once received, we will calculate the space available to us at the gallery. We will notify you by July 21 as to how many pieces of art we can accept on drop-off day.

Eligibility: All VPS members may enter up to three pieces.

1. By submitting your work, you are agreeing to the terms established by Artistree. Artwork images may be used for promotional material. Artistree is responsible for loss and damage of artwork from drop off date to pick up date, but not during transportation to and from the gallery. Artistree charges a 35% commission on all sales. Artistree will inspect all work upon delivery and any work improperly framed (see #6 below) will not be accepted. “Not for sale” work is permissible, but artists are highly encouraged to have their work for sale. Artistree will collect artist bios to have at the gallery during the exhibition.
2. Work must be original, not painted in a workshop or class.
3. Work may be soft or oil pastel. Mixed media, with minimum 50% pastel, is permissible.
4. Work must be completed within the last three years.
5. Work must not have been exhibited in any previous VPS JS or ME.
6. Work must be framed, labeled, and ready to hang from wire. (If you are experimenting with varnish finishes and not framing with glass, work must be dry to the touch and must not leave any pastel residue upon handling.)
7. Work must be the same as the title/dimensions entered in the submission form (ME) or it will not be hung in the exhibition.
8. Work must remain in the venue until the end of the ME, only to be removed earlier, at the discretion of the artist and venue, to be given to a buyer who purchased the work at the venue. An artist removing a painting from the show without following protocol may be prohibited from exhibiting in another VPS JS or ME for a specified period of time.
9. Artists will submit a brief written statement to describe what new direction this work represents.

Questions:

If you have any questions about the exhibit, feel free to contact either one of us:

VPS: UpperValley, Ann Wickham annwick@gmail.com

VPS: UpperValley, Barbara Mason barbwvt@yahoo.com