The International Association of Pastel Societies (IAPS) is a non-profit organization representing pastel societies uniting in a common cause — to demonstrate the validity and quality of pastel fine art around the world. The coming together of pastel societies provides a strong voice for pastel artists and the luminous medium of pastel. The foundation of IAPS is based on networking and sharing. Individual artists benefit and expand their knowledge through the IAPS society of their choice.

MEMBERSHIP

Membership is limited to qualified pastel societies. There are no individual memberships available. Member Societies are eligible to participate in the activities of the International Association. The fee is US$100 per calendar year, due on January 1. If your society joins after October 1, your dues will be automatically credited toward the following calendar year. Newly formed societies pay US$50 for the first year only, providing they join during their year of formation.

How to start a new pastel society and become a member society of IAPS (Download pdf)

IAPS OFFICERS

President: Urania Christy Tarbet, Pollock Pines, California

Urania founded IAPS in 1994 and has served as its President since then. Listed in Who’s Who in Art, Urania’s work has appeared in American Artist, Artist’s Magazine, Art Revue (cover ‘95), The Pastel Journal, and International Artist, plus ten how-to art books. Exhibitions of her work have reached from France, Taiwan, and New York to San Francisco, with collectors worldwide.

Roses & Ribbons

Urania Christy Tarbet

Her art is represented in California by Helen Jones, Sacramento, and prints by Aaron Ashley, Inc. New York. Urania conducts national and international workshops in pastel and oil. “Early in my artistic life, I saw the need to network pastelists from all parts of the nation and yes, the world. This union was needed to establish a mighty voice to educate galleries, buyers, art magazines and the general public in the qualities of dry pastels.”

For more information: www.uraniachristytarbet.com

Vice President: Maggie Price, Rio Rancho, New Mexico

Maggie Price has worked in oils, acrylic and watercolor, but when she turned to pastel in the early ’90s, she found her passion, and it’s been her primary medium since then. In the late ’90s, she was co-founder and the former editor of The Pastel Journal, a national magazine for pastel artists with over 40,000 current readers, and has written over a hundred articles about pastel art and artists. She is a Signature Member of the Pastel Society of America, the Pastel Society of New Mexico and Plein Air Painters of New Mexico.

Approaching Cartajima

Maggie Price

She has served on the Board of Directors of IAPS since 2005 and as Vice President since 2007. She also serves on the editorial advisory boards of The Pastel Journal and The Artist’s Magazine. She is the author of the book Painting with Pastels: Easy Techniques to Master the Medium (North Light Books, 2007, and teaches numerous US and foreign workshops in pastel each year.

For more information: www.MaggiePriceArt.com

Secretary: Alan Flattmann, New Orleans, Louisiana

Alan Flattmann was inducted into the Pastel Society of America’s Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Masters Circle of the International Association of Pastel Societies in 2007. He was awarded the PSA Master Pastelist distinction in 1991, the American Artist Art Masters Award for pastel teacher in 1996 and has been listed in Who’s Who in American Art since 1981.

Preservation Hall Brass Band

Alan Flattmann

Flattmann’s work is the subject of three books, Alan Flattmann’s French Quarter Impressions, The Art of Pastel Painting, and The Poetic Realism of Alan Flattmann. His work has also been featured in major art magazines and is included in collections of several major museums, as well as numerous private and corporate collections.

For more information: www.alanflattmann.com

Treasurer: Patricia Suggs, San Jose, California

Pat Suggs, PSA, MC-IAPS, noted pastel artist, is a resident of San Jose and a third generation Californian. Pat was trained at the Leighton Fine Art Academy in San Francisco, and has concentrated in the art of pastels over the past twenty-five years. She has paintings published in Best of Pastel and Floral Inspiration, Rockport Publishers. Her article, Luminous Translucence, was featured in Pastel Artist International. She has been listed in Who’s Who in American Art since 1993.

Matilija Poppies

Pat Suggs

A full-time painter and a part-time art teacher, Suggs conducts workshops, performs demonstrations for art organizations and frequently serves as juror. She has had several one-person shows and participation in group exhibitions in the U.S. Her work has won many awards all over the U.S. and her paintings are in private collections in the U.S. and in Paris, France.

IAPS DIRECTORS

Peggy Braeutigam, Washington
Doug Dawson, Colorado
M. Stephen Doherty, New York
Alan Flattmann, Louisiana
Maggie Price, New Mexico
Jimmy Wright, New York
Urania Christy Tarbet, California

Duane Wakeham, California

IAPS COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Brenda Mattson, Exhibition Chair
Melody Lane, Publicity Chair
Mary Ann Broddrick, Masters Circle Chair
Sandra Burshell, Recording Secretary/Official Photographer