New Jersey Water Color Society Collection

The collection is comprised of correspondence, exhibition catalogues, notices, invitations and posters, membership lists, and published articles and reviews. Although some artists are not identified as to their place of residence or place of work, Newark venues and individuals with Newark connections, are well represented. A binder of detailed biographical information on members (ca.1940-1952) includes many mentions of artists who lived in Newark, trained at the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Arts, belonged to Newark arts organizations, and/or exhibited in Newark.

In the 1940s most annual exhibitions were held at the Newark Arts Club, 38 Franklin St., but there are notices of exhibits by the Society at the Newark Museum in 1942 and 1947. A number of early exhibits were held at Kresge's Department Store, and from 1956 until the early 1960s the Society's annual exhibitions were held at the store. The collection includes a list of works by Henry Gasser exhibited at Kresge's in February 1940. Gasser, a Newark native, was Director of the Newark School of Fine and Industrial Art and Art Director of the Prudential Insurance Company. He served as president of the Water Color Society in the late 1940s.