Signature Group Guidelines

(The text below contains the condensed highlights of the Guidelines. For a complete copy of the 2009 SMG Guidelines, please click below:

(previous) 2013-07 Signature Group Guidelines as of 2009.pdf )

(current) 2023-07 Revised Signature Member Group Guidelines.pdf

A. Purpose

In 1988 the Signature Membership Group (SMG) began as a satellite group of the New Mexico Watercolor Society (NMWS) to:

1. Establish further long-range goals for members of NMWS;

2. Provide opportunities for professional encounters, both educational and inspirational, for SMG

   members;

3. Provide opportunity for group public exposure for SMG;

4. Help build an educational visual aids library for the NMWS membership;

5. Function as a senior advisory group to the NMWS in an effort to maintain the highest standards for NMWS.

B. Eligibility and identification - basic Signature Member category - designated as "NMWS"

In order to use the initials NMWS, following his/her signature, the artist must have exhibited 5 different paintings in five of the following juried shows: NMWS Spring exhibition, NMWS Southern Chapter annual exhibition, Western Federation of Watercolor Societies (WFWS), and/or Masterworks of New Mexico. The Masterworks Miniature exhibition does not apply. Only two shows per year are counted for eligibility. Only one painting per show is eligible. The total of five shows must have been reached within five years.

Each artist is responsible for keeping his/her own records for verifying membership eligibility. Once the NMWS signature is certified for the artist, the initials may be used, as long as NMWS membership is current. However, in order to participate and exhibit with the NMWS Signature Member Group, each member must:

1. Be a current dues-paying member of NMWS;

2. Have fulfilled the requirements for membership with the SMG as stated above;

3. File an online application and pay a $20 initiation fee for signature membership (via SIGNATURE MEMBER GROUP APPLICATION page) 

In the New Mexico Watercolor Society Directory and all NMWS official publications, the initials, NMWS, shall follow the name of each member who has earned this distinction. A specially-designed certificate, with the signature member’s name, will be issued to each person at the time he/she has fulfilled membership requirements.

The most current set of Signature Member Guidelines linked above. The Guidelines were created 2023-07 and approved by vote of the Signature Member Group in August 2023.

C. Eligibility and identification - MASTER PAINTER NMWS Signature Member category - designated as "NMWS-MP"

As of late 2023, a new, advanced category of NMWS Signature Membership was created. 

In order to use the initials NMWS-MP, following his/her signature, the artist must have exhibited 4 different paintings in Four of the following juried shows:  Western Federation of Watercolor Societies (WFWS), Transparent Watercolor Society of America (TWSA), American Watercolor Society (AWS), and National Watercolor Society (NWS).  There is no time limit to acquiring these qualifications.

Each artist is responsible for keeping his/her own records for verifying membership eligibility. Once the NMWS signature-MP is certified for the artist, the initials may be used, as long as NMWS membership is current. However, in order to participate and exhibit with the NMWS Signature Member Group, each member must:

1. Be a current dues-paying member of NMWS;

2. Have fulfilled the requirements for membership with the SMG as a Master Painter as stated above;

3. File an online application and pay a $20 initiation fee for signature membership (via SIGNATURE MEMBER GROUP APPLICATION page) 

In the New Mexico Watercolor Society Directory and all NMWS official publications, the initials, NMWS-MP, shall follow the name of each member who has earned this distinction. A specially-designed certificate, with the signature member’s name, will be issued to each person at the time he/she has fulfilled membership requirements.

Guidelines were last revised and approved by SMG Committee in September 2023 and approved by the NMWS Signature Membership by vote in October of 2023.