Currently on display

Meadows Gallery

The 62nd Annual Membership Exhibition of the Southwestern Watercolor Society (SWS) is a prestigious juried showcase celebrating over six decades of excellence in watercolor, inviting members from across the nation to exhibit their original works at the Patterson-Appleton Arts Center in Denton, Texas. Juried by renowned watercolorist Iain Stewart, the exhibition offers over $6,000 in awards and presents a significant opportunity for artistic recognition. Open exclusively to SWS members, with new memberships welcome, the event emphasizes originality, technical merit, and artistic vision while maintaining strict guidelines to preserve the integrity and caliber of the show. With events including a preview party, public exhibition, and awards reception, this exhibition reflects SWS’s ongoing commitment to elevating watercolor as a fine art form.

"As the juror for the SWS 62nd Annual Member Exhibition, Iain brings a wealth of knowledge and a refined eye for technical execution. His broad experience in both creating and curating artworks makes him a thoughtful and discerning judge. Iain’s ability to see beyond the surface will make for an insightful and inspiring selection process." To learn more about Iain Stewart, go to www.stewartwatercolors.com and to discover the SWS, visit https://www.swswatercolor.org/ .

On display: August 25 - September 27, 2025.

Poster artwork: "Niagara" by artist Murthy Mantha, done in 2023.

Gough Gallery

The exhibition features the visual-storytelling process of illustrator and educator Sheli Petersen, Texas Woman’s University Professor of Graphic Design & Illustration, for the picture book Rascally Ravens of Greystone farm, written by Patricia Petersen. Sheli and Patricia are life-long birders and a daughter-mother team who based their book on their direct observations of ravens in the wild.

Learn about the step-by-step process of designing and illustrating a picture book. This includes designing characters and world-building from photographic references and life-sketches, storyboarding for planning and sequencing layouts, and applying traditional and digital techniques to finish the illustrations.

Participate in the Rascally Ravens maker space and have one of your wildlife drawings included in the exhibition!

View the video version of Rascally Ravens, with motion graphics by Texas Woman’s University graphic design majors Shayan Bangash and Ayah Shalabi, voice over by author Patricia Petersen, and soundtrack by Jon Petersen.

Workshop Sign-Ups!

Self-Publishing Workshop, November 8, 2025 - https://form.jotform.com/GDAC/rascallyr-self-publish-workshop

Character Design Workshop, November 22, 2025 - https://form.jotform.com/GDAC/rascallyr-workshop-character-design

Workshops are FREE & we request that you sign up prior to the event so that we know how many folks to set up for.

Festival Hall

In the earliest days of GDAC, as far back as 1969, original members of our organization established the beginnings of a small permanent collection of artworks. Some of the early pieces were acquired as purchase awards from the Fine Arts Festival of Denton, while later works were gifts or bequests from artists and local patrons of the arts.

While GDAC no longer accepts or pursues additions to our permanent collection, we want to ensure the community still has the opportunity to enjoy the pieces that we have. Some of the works are on display around the building in perpetuity and others are hung in Festival Hall between exhibitions. Our staff is in the process of rebuilding the catalogue of our permanent collection artworks and researching further into the artists and their works to preserve their stories. The catalogue, still in progress, can be viewed here.