About Pastel Society of the West Coast:

PSWC was organized in 1984 to promote pastel artists and the soft pastel medium.

We offer opportunities for pastel artists through "pastels only" exhibitions in

International Open Shows
Membership Shows
Informative demonstrations by recognized pastel artists.

An emailed Newsletter for pastel artists is included with PSWC membership and all pastelists are invited to join. Pastel workshops, classes, exhibitions and pastel related editorial articles can be found in the newsletter.

PSWC members are from all around the US from New York to California.

The Pastel Society of the West Coast is incorporated as a non-profit organization. The PSWC is run completely by volunteer Board Members and others.

PSWC: Brief History and Purpose
by PSWC Founder, Margo Schulzke ©2009

We have focused our attention where we feel it benefits our members most. Artists want to paint, to compete and test their work. And since PSWC represents artists from a wide area, we limit our meetings in order to emphasize quality competitions. We believe the best use of our volunteer force, which resides primarily in the Northern California area, is in providing information via our newsletter and in promoting exhibitions, since there is no shortage of workshops available in this area—without consuming the time and energy of our volunteers. The result of that focus is what many consider the most prestigious annual international open exhibition in the world of pastel, Pastels USA, and the finest membership shows. READ ARTICLE