From staff reports
Lowcountry artists are invited to submit their works of art for The Society of Bluffton Artists’ (SOBA) 31st annual Judged Show.
Winners will be awarded first-, second- and third-place cash awards in the following categories:
Oil, Acrylic, Watercolor, Drawing (Pencil, Colored Pencil, Pastel, Pen/Ink), Photography & Digital Art, Mixed Media and Collage, 3-D: (Ceramic, Clay, Wood, Resin, Wire, Paper Mache, Stained Glass).
Registration is required by completing a registration form available online at https://bit.ly/JudgedShowRegister2025.
The contest is open to all artists, and the cost to register is $25 for SOBA members and $75 for non SOBA members. The registration deadline is Sunday, Feb. 23. The deadline for dropping off your art is from 9-11 a.m. March 3 at The SOBA Art School, 8 Church Street in Bluffton. No entries will be accepted after 11 a.m.
Registration and a full list of rules are available online at https://sobagallery.com/2025-judged-show/.
The judge for the event is renowned watercolor artist Jan Ross. She has formal training from the Chicago Academy of Art and workshops led by top American watercolorists like Judy Betts, John Salminen, and Mary Whyte. For more than 40 years, her award-winning work has been featured in more than 500 exhibitions at Local, Regional, National, and International levels.
Ross holds Signature Memberships in multiple watercolor societies and has earned the highest accolades, including “Member of Excellence” in the Atlanta Artist Center. In 2023, she achieved her goal of exhibiting in all 50 U.S. states. Her work is part of Converse University’s Permanent Collection and is cherished in private collections worldwide, from Europe to Kirkuk, Iraq.
The Judged Show exhibit will be on display from March 3 through March 30 at the SOBA gallery. An awards ceremony will take place from 4 to 6 p.m. March 5. These events are free to attend and open to the public. Artists can pick up unsold artwork at the end of the show from 9-11 a.m, Monday, March 31 at The SOBA Art School.
