The Master IAPS Circle was created to honor those artists whose work has been accepted and/or given awards in specific IAPS Exhibitions. Artists who receive the Master Circle designation may use the letters “IAPS MC” on websites, brochures, magazine articles and other media to indicate their membership in the Master Circle.

Each recipient of the award receives a gold medallion engraved with his or her name and the year the honor was bestowed engraved on the back. The design of the medallion was created by IAPS founder and President Emeritus, Urania Christy Tarbet. “It is of a rose with a pastel stick next to it. When I designed it, I was thinking about the rose as the resurgence of spring, as pastel is in its Renaissance period, now being recognized as a wonderful medium after being in the dark for so long. I wanted something very special that had never been done in the art world before, to honor pastel artists whose work was accepted in our exhibitions or awarded prizes.”

The three-inch round medallions were created with a bronze core and then dipped in 24k gold. Prior to the awards ceremony at each convention, the medallions are sent back to the foundry to be engraved on the back with the recipient’s name and the year of the award, and then dipped into 24k gold the second time. “It is important for the recipients to cherish this symbol of excellence,” Urania says. “It can be worn at IAPS exhibitions and conventions, and readily identifies IAPS artists who have received one of the most important honors in the pastel world.”

Eligible IAPS competitions include annual IAPS Juried Exhibitions, and in the past has included IAPS Convention Catalogue Cover Contests, the 2009 Calendar competition and the 2011 Poster Competition (one point awarded to the winner of that competition). (See upcoming IAPS exhibitions for future entry possibilities.)

To receive the Master Circle designation, artists must accrue five (5) points; for Eminent Pastelist, fifteen (15) points are needed.Points may be obtained as follows:

• One point for acceptance into a juried IAPS exhibition (whether the Web Exhibition or a physically-displayed Juried Exhibition), no matter the number of paintings accepted.

• One point for any award given by the judge in any juried IAPS exhibition.

Only IAPS Exhibitions accrue points; acceptance or awards in a member society’s exhibition does not count towards Master Circle or Eminent Pastelist status.

For information about the IAPS Eminent Pastelist, please see the Eminent Pastelist page; for information about other IAPS honors and the IAPS Code of Ethics, please see the Honors page.

RECIPIENTS OF THE IAPS MASTER CIRCLE AWARD

Click on any highlighted name below to see more about the artist

(The year in which each artist was awarded the medallion is shown after the name;
an asterisk* indicates the artist is deceased.)

Qualified for IAPS Master Circle (Medallion will be awarded at the 2013 Convention):

Lynn Asselta, Karen Budan, Sandra Burshell, Robert Carsten, Eileen Casey, Christine Debrosky, Linda Dellandre, Susan Grinels,
Karen Howard, Gary Huber, Karen Israel, Barbara Courtney Jaenicke, Edward Kennedy, Cheryl LeClair-Sommer, Patsy Lindamood, Kim Lordier, Andrew McDermott, Dan Michael, Paul Murray,
Barbara Benedetti Newton, Colette Odya Smith, Daggi Wallace, Kurt Weiser

Information about IAPS Master Circle Pages (download pdf)