Tennessee Watercolor Society Collection

In 1969, Chattanooga based artist Mary Britten Lynch began exploring the possibility of creating a statewide organization in Tennessee to promote watercolor painting. Over the course of two years she worked to determine the mission of the organization and how it would function, along with other prominent members of the Tennessee art community, including Budd Bishop, Director of the Hunter Museum in Chattanooga; George Cress, Chairman of the University of Tennessee Chattanooga Art Department; and Kermit “Buck” Ewing, Head of the University of Tennessee Knoxville Art Department. The Tennessee Watercolorists was officially founded in 1971 with Jason Williamson of Memphis serving as the first president.

Shortly after it was founded, members of the Tennessee Watercolorists suggested changing the name of the group to the Tennessee Watercolor Society (TnWS) to better align with national trends. The name change was voted on and officially adopted at the June 10, 1972 meeting, just a few short months after the opening of the organizations first annual exhibition at Chattanooga’s Hunter Museum. Robert H. Laessig served as the juror and chose the paintings for exhibition and awards from those submitted by members of the organization. This was the only annual exhibition held under the original name of Tennessee Watercolorists, Inc.

Although a statewide organization, membership is divided into five regions, each represented by a Regional Director: Region I, Memphis; Region II, Nashville; Region III, Chattanooga; Region IV, Knoxville; and Region V, Tri-Cities in the northeast. The overall management of the TnWS is overseen by a Board of Directors, with officers selected from throughout the state. The president’s files and board correspondence in this collection document the administrative work of both board members and regional directors, and highlight the difficulties of managing such a large volunteer based organization.

Following the inaugural year, the TnWS held an annual juried exhibition through 1996. Around this time the society was facing issues of a lack of interest and involvement among the membership. The issues came to a head in 1996 when the board made the difficult decision to cancel the planned 1997 exhibition in Memphis due to a lack of local volunteers to plan and manage the event. When Victoria Lenne assumed the presidency of the TnWS in 1996 she initiated a survey of the membership in which disbanding the organization was presented as an option. Responses favored that the organization continue, but it was clear that changes were needed to keep it vital and active. The board sent out another survey during the summer of 1996 with proposed changes to revitalize the organization. One of the results of that survey was a move from annual to biennial exhibitions. The 26th TnWS exhibition held in 1998 was the first biennial exhibition.

In the wake of the survey, the organization also reemphasized its commitment to education. Throughout its history the TnWS has held programs and workshops intended to educate the public and artists on watercolor painting and its techniques. In 2014 a scholarship for graduating high school seniors was added as part of the exhibition programming.

In 2013 exhibition programming was expanded with the addition of a biennial online juried exhibition. This event follows the same guidelines as the previously existing exhibition, with the exception that artists submit digital images of the paintings for the juror to review and the final exhibition is only viewable online.

As of 2022 the TnWS is still an active society with membership and events throughout Tennessee. Further accruals to this collection are expected on a periodic basis.