Springfield Regional Arts Council

"Watercolor Around Town"

Thursday, October 19, 2006

Watercolor Around Town
Festival will feature both downtown gallery exhibits and workshops.

By Sony Hocklander
News-Leader
June 1, 2006

Step in. The watercolor's fine.

In fact, you'll find an ocean of it this month when the first Watercolor Festival splashes color throughout Springfield in June, beginning Friday.

The festival coordinates with the granddaddy of area art shows — Springfield Art Museum's 45th nationally competitive "Watercolor U.S.A. 2006," opening June 9 — and features downtown gallery exhibits and watercolor workshops.

Painter Bill Armstrong, a leader in the arts community who organized the Watercolor Festival, says it's a timely addition to growth in the arts and to downtown.

"Springfield started out pretty bleak. A cultural desert," he notes. "But now there's a lot going on downtown."

Paintings shown at several First Friday Art Walk venues are by members of the Watercolor USA Honor Society (WHS), a national organization Armstrong founded in 1985. An exclusive society, its members are either former jurors or former award-winners from "Watercolor U.S.A."

Jerry Berger, the art museum's director, says Springfield is known in national art circles for its annual watercolor show. For one thing, prizes for artists are numerous and generous, ranging from $250 to $1,000. Plus the museum purchases several pieces for its permanent collection and some are bought by patrons.

"People across the country are certainly aware of it," says Berger. "It's a very popular show. For one thing, it's got something for everybody."

The bulk of Honor Society members are exhibiting at Missouri State University's Art and Design Gallery.

Department head Andrew Cohen says he was happy to support the new effort when Armstrong asked.

"The watercolor exhibit at the Springfield Art Museum is always a fantastic event; a highlight of Springfield's summer artistic repertoire," he says. "I think (the festival) is a very exciting event to participate in."

More work by WHS members and past "Watercolor U.S.A." winners hangs at Hawthorn and Walnut Street galleries. Workshops — and an exhibit of work by instructors — are at the Creamery Arts Center.

The festival celebrates 20 years for the Watercolor USA Honor Society. But that's just an excuse to get it started. Armstrong hopes this year's festival will evolve into a biennial event. It could help more firmly establish Springfield as a mecca for watercolor and water media in the United States, he says.

"I think that because of the uniqueness of 'Watercolor U.S.A.,' and because of the basis of a fine collection of American watercolor at the museum, it's possible," he says. "And because no one else is going to do it. This could be really big and could draw a different demographic to (visit) the city."

A biennial festival would be good for Springfield and one more way the arts might boost tourism, says Berger.

"Watercolor U.S.A." already draws numerous out-of-town visitors, he says.

And the show — which features 111 pieces this year — could grow with the museum when it expands with a new wing. Construction is expected to begin in late summer.

"It just brings everything together in a good location," Berger says of the festival.

The accessibility and affordability of watercolor makes it popular, says Berger: "There is a spontaneity and a freshness to watercolor. It appeals to people who like light and color."

It's not a forgiving or easy medium, he says: "You have to do it right."

Armstrong quotes a favorite line by W. Somerset Maugham — "The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes" — which he applies to watercolor artists.

"Watercolor is the poetry of vision," he says.

Armstrong may be biased. Though the artist of 50 years works in oil and other mediums, he's best known for working on paper with water-based paint. In fact "Watercolor U.S.A." — and the national attention it was bringing — is what lured him in 1963 to the Ozarks where he became involved with the exhibit and the museum.

Leaving his job as an assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin, in 1963 he joined Missouri State University, where Armstrong says he established a graphic arts program.

The artist attained emeritus professor status in 1988. In 1990, the Missouri Arts Council recognized his contributions to the arts with an award; the Springfield Regional Arts Council awarded Armstrong an Ozzie in 2004.

Today, one might call him Springfield's most well-known cheerleader for water media.

"He's a very popular artist in Springfield," says Berger. "He's contributed to various fund-raising events, and he's made himself available. People associate him with watercolor."

Armstrong continues to work nearly every day in his studio where paintings grace the walls of a sitting area. Margo, his wife of 17 years, owns the building.

"I've done more work in the last 17 years than in the previous 30," Armstrong says.

Tables in his work area hold jars and containers jammed with paintbrushes. Watercolor pigments in tubes are jumbled on a cabinet next to an art table where an unfinished piece awaits his return.

One of his current series is the revival (by popular demand) of Missouri landscapes he painted in the 1970s.

Also known for his butterflies, abstracts and figures, Armstrong is pleased that watercolor as a medium has finally earned respect.

"For far too long," he says, "it was considered second rate."