159th Annual International Exhibition

The 159th Annual International Exhibition of the American Watercolor Society was held April 7 – May 1, 2026, at the Salmagundi Club in NYC. A 5-minute video of the exhibition can be viewed on the AWS YouTube channel.

The list of accepted artists can be viewed here, and paintings selected for awards can be viewed here.

The Exhibition was on view in both the main (Skylight) Gallery and the lower (Rockwell) Gallery at the Salmagundi Club.  It is always free to view the Exhibition. The address is 47 Fifth Ave, New York, NY 10003. The number for the Salmagundi Club is (212) 255-7740. Exhibition hours are six days a week, 1-6 pm Tuesday – Friday and 1-5 pm.

There was a Watercolor Evening demonstration by Stephen Quiller, AWS, D.F., on Thursday, April 30th at 6 pm. The demo is $15 per person and was available both live and through Zoom.

After the New York show closes, 40 works from the Exhibition will travel the United States for a year as part of the 2026-27 AWS Traveling Exhibition.

Submissions to the Annual International Exhibition are open to artists worldwide, both member and non-member. Each year more than 1,000 submissions are received, from which approximately 150 are selected by a panel of Signature member jurors. If you are not a member and are interested in joining, see membership page here. Though submissions are closed, the prospectus may still be viewed below:

159th Annual International Prospectus.docx