The Buenaventura Art Association, in partnership with the California Gold Coast Watercolor Society, is pleased to announce the 4th annual Watercolor & Aqua Media Open competition. This competition is open to professional and amateur artists from Ventura, Santa Barbara, and Los Angeles counties. The exhibition of selected entries will run from September 19 to October 22, 2012 at BAA’s Harbor Village Gallery, 1591 Spinnaker Drive, Ventura.

One Best of Show will be awarded with an accompanying $250 prize and a one-year membership to Buenaventura Art Association. Two First Place winners will be awarded a $200 prize each, and a one-year membership. Two Second Place winners will receive $125 each and a 6-month membership; two Third Place winners will receive $75 each and a 3-month membership, and two Honorable Mention winners will receive a 3-month membership. A reception and awards ceremony will be held Friday, September 21, from 5pm to 8pm at the gallery.

Specifications:
• Transparent Watercolor – On a single piece of untreated watercolor paper.
• Aqua Media – All paintings must be executed only in water-based media. Water-based media on watercolor canvas, acrylic canvas, paper, illustration board, watercolor board, clayboard, or yupo may be entered. If collage is incorporated, only paper painted in water media will be accepted. No 3-D work, commercially printed material, or gold leaf.

Peggy Morgan Stenmark will be the juror for this competition. Stenmark is on staff at the Art Student’s League of Denver, Colorado, and teaches watercolor workshops around the country. She is a signature member of the National Watercolor Society, the Rocky Mountain Watermedia Society, Western Federation of Watercolor Societies, and the Colorado Watercolor Society.

Download the prospectus from the Buenaventura Gallery website, www.buenaventuragallery.org, for more information. Entries must be submitted online via that same website no later than midnight, Monday, September 10.

About Buenaventura Art Association
Buenaventura Art Association (BAA) is a foundational arts organization in Ventura – a 58-year-old institution devoted to sustaining Ventura’s cultural community by developing visual artists in all stages of their careers. BAA’s artist members run two galleries – the Buenaventura Gallery at 700 E. Santa Clara St. in downtown Ventura, and the Harbor Village Gallery in Ventura’s scenic harbor shopping complex. BAA also manages exhibition space in the halls of Community Memorial Hospital, Ventura. The California Gold Coast Watercolor Society merged with BAA four years ago to the mutual benefit of both organizations and for the purposes of mounting annual watercolor competitions.