Exhibition Jurors:
The jury for 100th Annual Open Water / L'Eau Claire 2025 is comprised of two elected CSPWC members and one Guest Juror.
Ron Hazell, CSPWC, SCA is an Elected and Life Member of the CSPWC. He is also an elected member of the Society of Canadian Artists (SCA). He is the author of the North Light Book “The Artist’s Guide to Painting Water in Watercolor”. Ron has been giving painting workshops for forty three years across Canada and in the United States.
Ron has juried many international watercolour shows over the years, including Open Water and The Royal Trust Collection at Windsor Castle. He is a former chair of the CSPWC Membership Committee. Ron has also acted as a juror for the Society of Canadian Artists. His work is in many national and international collections, including the Permanent Collection of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Scotiabank, and the Royal Trust Collection at Windsor Castle.
Ron’s work has been published in the American Artist Watercolor Magazine, as well as the International Artist Book - 100 Ways to Paint Landscapes. He has also been included in International Contemporary Artists, ICA Publishing, New York.
Ann Balch, CSPWC, SCA
Ann Balch, CSPWC, SCA is a Canadian artist based in Moncton, New Brunswick. She was elected to the Canadian Society of Painters in Water Colour (CSPWC) in 2001 and the Society of Canadian Artists (SCA) in 2007. Confident use of colour and emotional intensity in her images of black women have garnered national awards and recognition in print, including features in art publications in America and France. Her portrait-like paintings of sheep, also award-winners, were born out of her fascination with texture, and her delight in sensing the innate dignity and different personality in each sheep she painted.
Ann’s art has been showcased in Canada, Fabriano Italy, and Mexico City. Her painting of a young black woman titled “Alone” was recently chosen for inclusion in the Royal Collection Trust at Windsor Castle, England, and her piece “Eye of the Beholder” in Canada’s Crown Collection hangs in Rideau Hall, Ottawa, home of Canada’s Governor-General. Other paintings are found in the Department of Foreign Affairs, Government of Canada; the University of New Brunswick; the New Brunswick Art Bank; the City of Moncton, and Atlantic Lottery Corporation.
Ann is represented by Gallery 78 in Fredericton, NB. www.annbalch.com
Michael D. McCormack
Michael D. McCormack (he/him) is an intermedia artist, curator, and educator of settler ancestry living in unceded territory of the Mi’Kmaq people in K’jiputuk (Halifax). He has worked extensively within the artist-run centre community as Director of Eyelevel Gallery from 2009-2013 and president and representative of the Association of Artist Run Centres from the Atlantic from 2011-2013. He has worked as an independent curator for exhibitions, festivals and events, and as a guest curator for Nocturne: Art at Night (2016), Flotilla Atlantic (2017), and KIAC’s Natural & Manufactured exhibition (2018). Michael currently works as Assistant Curator of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. He also works as a mentor and teacher with artists through organizations such as the Centre for Art Tapes, Visual Arts Nova Scotia, The Klondike Institute of Art and Culture, and NSCAD University
https://michaeldmccormack.wordpress.com/portfolio/
