To celebrate the Portrait Society’s 25th anniversary, 800 artists from around the world gathered in Washington, D.C., attending from 44 states and 11 countries for four days of demonstrations, panel discussions, networking and sharing. In addition to the educational opportunities, the top 20 finalists brought their original artwork for display and final judging in The International, a premier competition focused on portraiture and figurative work. The finalists were selected from 3,075 entries, representing 48 states and 57 countries. The 25th anniversary competition featured a $50,000 cash grand prize. To date, the Portrait Society has awarded over $1.3 million in cash and prizes. These are impressive numbers indeed, but it is the collective and individual stories behind these numbers that reflect the true value and impact of the Portrait Society over the last 25 years.
Rich Casali’s workshop offered a hands-on “planes of the head” teaching experience.
As I write this, I’m sitting on the tarmac in Washington, D.C., waiting for my plane to take off for Tallahassee, a small city in the rolling hills of north Florida, a place where a kernel of an idea has grown and matured into a dynamic and difference-making organization. Founded in February of 1998, the Portrait Society started with 400 members, and we are now 4,000 strong. The story of our growth is reflected in our many programs and publications, but the personal stories told by artists that have joined the Society, attended the annual conferences, or connected through our Wednesday Webinars relate to the impact of the Society.
For instance, last year’s Draper Grand Prize winner, Louis Alvarez-Roure, returned to this year’s conference and wrote, “This is only my second event to attend, and there is a huge sense of fulfillment and gratitude. So many wonderful memories came from last year, my whole career took a turn for the very best after winning this recognition, and the sentiment of gratitude will accompany me for the rest of my life.”
Jeff Hein and Rose Frantzen painted fellow artist Judith Carducci on Saturday afternoon.
A scholarship recipient, Marianne, articulated her experience by writing to us after the event, “My heart was stirred by this mounting feeling that artists, particularly portrait artists, come from a long line of great artists, who also pursued this path, learning, mentoring and encouraging one another. This sense of common purpose and passion ushered them into greatness. That idea—that we belong to something greater than ourselves, that what we learn is to be handed down to the next generation of seekers—that generosity continues in the Portrait Society.”
Finally, Gwenneth wrote, “We artists are such fragile beings, full of doubts and anxieties about our work. And then, to be immersed in such a conference where egos are transcended into an overwhelming respect and love for art, a love that is bigger than any one of us, bigger than our egos, we become one, all of us are family in this love.”
Portfolio critiques were popular and well-attended during the conference.
So, what do the next 25 years hold? Our plan is to move forward with intention to fulfill our mission to educate, connect and inspire visual artists to excel in portraiture and figurative art, and there is no better way to do that than to provide a conduit for artists to connect and hand down methods and techniques. As one member said after attending the conference, “I was so amazed and grateful to be a part of it, to have learned and benefitted from living masters, whose own lives had been made richer by the great artists who came before them. What I found at the meeting was not hidden secrets and guarded techniques, but a spirit of great openhandedness that moves us all collectively into greater purpose, deeper meaning and soulful portraiture.”
Join us for the 26th year hosting The Art of the Portrait, April 25 to 28, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia. Register at www.portraitsociety.org. —
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Christine Egnoski has been Executive Director of the Portrait Society since its founding in 1998. She credits the growth and success of the Portrait Society to the many artists and non-artists that donate their time and talents in a collective effort to further the visual arts.
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