2026 Watercolor Show

Many cash and merchandise prizes are awarded!

Requirements to Enter

• You must be a GCWS member. 
  
  • Pay dues online conveniently by credit card: $50
  • Or, pay by check.  Mail a completed Member Sign-up Form and $50 check payable to "GCWS" to Starr Shebesta, GCWS Treasurer, at 6249 Stewart Avenue Cincinnati, OH 45227.
• Paintings must be in a water-based media, and done in an aqueous/transparent manner.
• Mixed media or collage must be at least 75% water-based media done in an aqueous/transparent manner.
• Paintings must be an original work by the artist.”Original” means the painting is the artist’s own idea, composition, design, and painted by hand. Any reference photographs used should have been taken by the artist, or used with written permission of the photographer. No work created in a class or workshop is acceptable. 
• Artwork previously exhibited in a GCWS show is ineligible.
• All paintings must be framed with wire for hanging.
• Any paintings sold during the show require the artist to pay a 20% commission to the WACC Foundation. Artists may provide payment app information (such as Venmo) for transaction convenience.
• Artists are responsible for delivering a sold painting to the buyer.
• No artwork may be removed prior to exhibit closing.
• Members may enter up to three paintings. Only one can be marked "Not For Sale".  For example if you enter:

  • 1 painting - it must be for sale

  • 2 paintings - one must be for sale

  • 3 paintings - two must be for sale

Registration

• Log into your GCWS member account at Member Sign-in.
• Save on entry fees if you enter before 7/29/26! 
  
  • $30 for 1 painting
  • $35 for 2 paintings
  • $40 for 3 paintings
    
• After 7/29/26, entry fees increase by $10.
• No entries accepted after 8/5/26.

Key Dates

Show Duration
August 6 - August 25, 2026

Where
The Barn at 6980 Cambridge Ave, Mariemont, OH 45227

Barn Hours
Hours of operation are 11 am – 3 pm everyday except Wednesdays.  The Barn is closed on Wednesdays. 

Awards Ceremony Reception
Friday, August 7, 2026, 6 - 8 pm

Show Judge

Marlene Steele is a fine artist who lives and works in Cincinnati, Ohio. She creates beautifully rendered figures in oil, watercolor, and pastels.  Steele works regionally as a courtroom artist.

Marlene showed a sincere interest in art as a child. At age 10, her father enrolled her in her first formal art class to art instructor Aileen McCarthy, who was Frank Duveneck's student at the Art Academy of Cincinnati.  Marlene could go on to study at the Art Academy of Cincinnati on continually renewed scholarships for four years, majoring in painting. While Marlene Steele has her own unique style, elements of the influence of the Munich School of Painting and Frank Duvenck’s style can be seen in her work. They both grew up in the same city with the similar German Roman Catholic backgrounds surrounded by a rich art culture in Covington, Kentucky.

Marlene’s oil portraiture is of the highest artistic quality. Her exceptional detail to facial features and musculature make her male and female portraiture unsurpassed. She is available for commissions, classes, demonstrations and lectures. Marlene currently Vice President of the Cincinnati Art Club. She owns Steele Studios, a continuously producing fine art studio. Marlene has received numerous awards in all media, including oil, pastel, and watercolor. She has a passion for portrait and figure drawing. She was a recipient of the “Individual Excellence Award” in 2019 from the Ohio Arts Council. Her series of plein air pastels and oil paintings documents the renovation of the historic Cincinnati Union Terminal and celebrates the contribution of craft and dedication of traditional trades in the revitalization of the Art Deco train station now known as Cincinnati Museum Center.