1 minute read
A Collaboration Takes Root and Blooms . . . . .
from "Wax & Wildflowers" exhibition - International Encaustic Artists & San Antonio Art League & Museum
I have had the pleasure of serving on the Board for International Encaustic Artists for the last three years and always dreamed of a collaboration with that wonderful organization and the San Antonio Art League. Last year while we were discussing venues for the 2023 Juried IEA Exhibition, a “eureka’ seed germinated – it was a wildflower seed!
In the 1920’s there was a call put out from the San Antonio Art League to artists all over the world to paint Texas wildflowers. The event was called The Edgar B. Davis Wildflower Competition and was funded by a wealthy oilman who loved bluebonnets. It was a famous competition that has been written about in many art books. The first prize was $5000, which was unheard of at that time.
I thought, what if we revived the Wildflower theme for the IEA Juried show and brought it to San Antonio? Wax and Wildflowers? Encaustic artists could interpret it any way they wanted for the juror - as a call for sustainable plantings, as a metaphor for back-to-nature, as a straightforward flower interpretation, as eco-prints with encaustic – the ideas are limitless. Fortunately for all of us, both the Art League Board and the IEA Board thought this was a win-win. Wax and Wildflowers is the result, the first all-encaustic exhibit in this area. It is both a delight for the eye and an educational experience about how contemporary artists are using the fascinating medium of wax.
My profound thanks on behalf of the Art League to my friends in the International Encaustic Artists for the cooperation and inspiration, to our distinguished jurors, Bill and Linda Reaves, and to all the artists who shared their wild and wonderful work with us.
Lyn Belisle Kurtin President, San Antonio Art League & Museum www.saalm.org
SAALM Exhibition Committee:
IEA Exhibition Committee:
Lyn Belisle (Chair)
Michelle Belto
Nancy Gerfers
Claudia Langford
Stefani Job Spears
Mary Beth Swofford
Patsy Sasek
Michelle Robinson (Chair)
S. Kay Burnett
Gerry Burnett
Regina Quinn
Rhonda Raulston
Lyn Belisle
