The History of the Newton Watercolor Society
It was early 2008 and Mike Milburn had been doing
watercolors seriously for about 10 years, attending watercolor workshops around
the U.S. and Europe led by master artists such as Charles Reid and Mel
Stabin. After one such workshop in Connecticut, it occurred to him that
instead of traveling to study under these great artists, why not bring artists
to Newton to teach? He contacted Charles Reid and arranged for him to
come teach a workshop in Newton the summer of 2010. Then, he just needed an
organization to sponsor it.
Meanwhile, Linda Rinearson joined the Newton Art Association
(NAA) board in 2008 with the hope of attracting some watercolor artists for
workshops. In fact she chose the job of running workshops when she joined the NAA
board. So Mike and Linda presented a
proposal to the NAA board to sponsor the Charles Reid workshop. Unfortunately it was rejected because it was
seen as too financially risky. Mike checked with other art associations
and art centers around the area, but no one wanted to sponsor it either.
Still Mike and Linda were not willing to give up this
opportunity. Together as co-presidents they decided to create their own
non-profit, the Newton Watercolor Society, registered with the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts. Charles Reid conducted the first profitable NWS workshop
in 2010, and since then, many of the very best watercolor artists in the world
have come to teach in Newton and Boston, sponsored by the Newton Watercolor
Society.
2010 – Charles Reid
2011 – Mel Stabin
2012 – Nicholas Simmons
2012 - Alvaro Castagnet
2012 –Paul George
2013 – Joyce Hicks
2013 – Joseph Zbukvic
2014 – Nan Rumpf
2014 – Alvaro Castagnet
2015 - Eric Wiegardt
2015 – Z.L. Feng
2016 – Shari Blaukopf
2016 – Andy Evansen
2017 – Wendy Artin
2017 – Lian Quan Zhen
2018 - Ginny Zanger
2018 - Thomas Schaller
2018 - Catherine Gill
2019 - Iain Stewart