Bring Out Your Inner Artist with the West Roxbury Art Association

Have you ever wanted to learn about working with watercolors, acrylic or charcoal? Well the West Roxbury Art Association is just the organization for you.

Founded in 1976, the group is made up of more than 80 members who, for $20 a year, get to attend the 10 meetings a year at the West Roxbury Library. The association brings in noted artists from around the New England area to teach members how they do what they do.

Anne Quinlan was one of the founding members and has been the president for more than 10 years. "We've had good artists from all around - Gloucester, the Cape, a lot of people. You sit and watch the art being made." And then there's a raffle at the end of the meeting to win the piece that the artist made during the demonstration.

"They usually come and demonstrate, and paint and talk about what type of paint they use, what type of canvas they use, what colors they have on their palette," said Louisa Fitzgerald, vice president of the association, who owns Picture This, a framing store on Spring Street.

"They talk about where they buy their supplies and take you through the steps of how they paint. Everyone's different and has different ways of doing things. Watercolor is the best demonstration because it's fast and you have to work fast. It's really interesting for me because I've learned so much about art from these demonstrators I've booked in the last 15 years."

On the flip side, Quinlan said she likes to work with oil because you have a week to wait for it to dry so she can go back and alter the painting during that time.

Quinlan also teaches art classes at St. John Chrysostom and at Newton South High School. Her work has been displayed around the area too, and sells some of her art as placemats.

Some of the artists who have demonstrated their skills in the past include Tom Sutherland, Paul Garnett and Diane Miller.

While Fitzgerald doesn't fancy herself as an artist, she does sell association members' art in her store.

Members may also display their own art at the two yearly association gallery shows in June and November. The displays are also at the library.

Local West Roxbury artists like Quinlan, Anthony Lobosco and Betty Mahoney, all association members display their work at the shows and around the area.

The art association also awards a $1,000 scholarship to a graduating high school senior who wants to pursue a career in the arts. This past year's winner was Meagan Walsh of Roslindale, who is now attending UMass-Dartmouth and is working on photography and the fine arts. The scholarship was set up in honor of Janet Murphy by her family, who was a West Roxbury artist.

If you are interested in becoming an association member or learning more, drop by Picture This at 2093 Centre St., West Roxbury and pick up a membership application.

Demonstrations are held monthly from October to June at the West Roxbury Library held on the first Monday of each month starting at 6 p.m.