Watercolors depicting subjects ranging from people to animals from still lifes to landscapes, comprise the latest show at the Third Street Gallery.

The paintings are all a part of the Idaho Watercolor Society’s 35^th annual traveling show. Twenty paintings are chosen to travel to five regions in Idaho. The show starts in Boise, which then travels to Twin Falls, Idaho Falls, Pocatello, and finally finishes in Moscow. The pieces stay at each location for about a month, said Cherry Woodbury, the president of the Idaho Watercolor Society (IWS). The paintings at the Third Street Gallery in Moscow will be on display through the end of the month.

“It’s cool because (the traveling show) gives the 20 artists visibility through the whole state,” she said.

Once the pieces make it to Moscow, they are put on display at the Third Street Gallery, which is located above the City Hall, said Betty Benson, the IWS Northwest Region representative. The northwest region members have an open exhibition as well, which puts local work on display.

“Those of us in the Northwest Region are able to show some pieces in the gallery,” said Bobbi Kelly, a Moscow native who entered into the show.

Typically, the second floor of City Hall displays the traveling show while the third floor showcases Northern Idaho work, she said.

“We’d like to encourage people to tramp up those stairs to see paintings by local artists,” Kelly said.

Benson said all of the paintings in the show are worth seeing, but a few select artists stood out to her.  

“Tom Cunningham has some beautiful work in the traveling show,” she said. “And Will Nelson, who died recently, had some pieces in the show. It will be a real loss to the society … He did excellent work.”

As a medium, Kelly said she likes the freshness and immediacy of watercoloring.

“You can just suggest something without having to go into great detail,” Kelly said.

Of all of the watercolor societies in the nation, the Idaho Watercolor Society is the only one that has a traveling show, Woodbury said.

“We bring in nationally-recognized artists such as Don Andrews, Stephen Quiller, Nita Leland, and Sterling Edwards to be jurors. They are top-notch of the artist world,” Woodbury said.

The jurors are award-winning painters and have published books or have been in magazines, she said. This year, the IWS brought in Fealing Lin to judge the pieces.

“We usually get about 170 digital entries, which we put on a disk, and send to the juror,” Woodbury said. “The juror chooses 50 he wants in the show.”

Once Lin made a decision, she traveled to Boise to put on a four-day workshop. After the workshop, the juror visually judges the painting, giving special titles such as people’s choice, to 20 of the paintings, Woodbury said. These 20 pieces then become the traveling show.

The 50 pieces that the juror originally selected are displayed at Boise State University, Benson said.

“The quality (of the pieces) in the show is what stands out to me,” Benson said.

The show is on display at Third Street Gallery, open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The show ends Jan. 31.