Painting groups seek new members

Both the Mountain Arts Guild and the Tennessee Watercolor Society are holding upcoming shows in Chattanooga, and the groups are seeking new members to add their talents to the exhibits.

“We need new blood in here to add more activity,” Sandy Boone, a signature member of the TnWS, said at an informational meeting about the group held recently at Bachman Community Center.

Open to painters who use acrylics as well as to watercolorists, the TnWS comprises three regions, with Chattanooga belonging to Region III. The society’s purpose is to elevate the medium and educate the public on its significance, according to Suzanne Nichols, a Region III board member.

Boone said the society is great for people who want to teach their grandchildren how to draw, to sell a painting in a foreign country or what the best related books are.

Nichols said members must be at least 18, live in Tennessee and pay a $35 registration fee. Members can participate in the biennial juried shows, as well as a non-juried show happening soon at the North River Civic Center in Hixson. That show opens in mid-January and will continue through March, she said.

With the show’s date being just after Christmas, it is a good opportunity to sell one’s art, Boone pointed out.

“People who have everything are given money for Christmas, and people who have everything like to buy original artwork,” she said.

Most of the meeting’s attendees were members of MAGI, which meets at Bachman to paint every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The group is always accepting new members. The fee to join is $25.

MAGI is planning an exhibit at the Exum Gallery, located in St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in downtown Chattanooga, which is set to open Dec. 2.

To join MAGI, attend a meeting at Bachman Community Center, located at 2815 Anderson Pike. For more information about the Tennessee Watercolor Society, visit the group’s Facebook page.

Email Emily Crisman at ecrisman@timesfreepress.com.