Gatherings are IAPS’s new in-person events: annual events hosted by member societies and supported by IAPS. We recently released details around the first two Gatherings. Enchanted Places, hosted by the Pastel Society of New Mexico, comes to Albuquerque in October 2027. Golden Spirit, the 2028 West Coast Gathering, is hosted by the Pastel Society of the West Coast and the Pastel Society of Southern California.
Since we announced them, societies have been asking questions about how to plan a Gathering. Below are some details around the process of hosting.
Hosting is your society’s choice
Hosting starts with your society. When your members are ready and excited to host, you reach out to IAPS to start the conversation. There’s no rotation schedule and no penalty for a society that never hosts.
You also don’t have to do it alone. Societies can host together, the way PSWC and PSSC are partnering for 2028. You don’t need an IAPS grant to host, either. Grants and Gatherings are separate programs.
Your society shapes the Gathering
The host society decides the scale and the program: workshops, demonstrations, plein air paint-outs, receptions, museum visits, excursions, and other activities that fit your region and your members. No two Gatherings need to look alike. Enchanted Places builds around New Mexico’s landscape, with workshops, plein air painting and day trips to places like Chaco Canyon and Santa Fe. The agenda can reflect the character, landscapes, and opportunities of your region.
What the host society takes on
The host society organizes and runs the event. That includes:
- Planning the program and booking venues
- Recruiting volunteers primarily from your own membership
- Managing the budget and registration, including collecting workshop or registration fees which the host keeps, to cover costs such as venue rentals.
- Managing the Gathering exhibition, including entry system, jury, judge and venue
- Coordinating local logistics including lodging, travel guidance, and the exhibition space
- In even-numbered years, coordinating the honors banquet
What IAPS brings
- The Best in Show award at the Gathering exhibition
- An IAPS exhibition featuring both U.S. and international artists
- Promotion through IAPS social media, the website, the blog and newsletters, so your event reaches the full international IAPS audience and not just your own members
- Guidance from IAPS project managers throughout your planning
- IAPS board participation is encouraged
Any additional financial assistance is determined with each host society based on its needs and available IAPS resources.
Even-numbered years also include the IAPS honors banquet, where Master Circle and Eminent Pastelist honors are celebrated. The host society coordinates the banquet.
How to propose a Gathering
IAPS has a proposal template that walks your society through the planning questions. The template includes dates and format, the program, venues, staffing, a preliminary budget, your location and how you’ll market the event. Societies can use the template found at the link below as a planning guide even before you’re ready to submit.
Download the planning template here.
The template’s planning timeline starts about two years before the event, so a society thinking about 2029 should start the conversation now.
The review process:
- Send your completed proposal to the IAPS Executive Committee at contact@iapspastel.org.
- The committee reviews it and may reach out with questions.
- Once the Executive Committee accepts it, the proposal goes to the full IAPS board for approval.
Start the conversation
If your society is interested, even if you are not yet ready to prepare a proposal, reach out to contact@iapspastel.org. An early conversation can help determine whether hosting a Gathering makes sense for your society and what format might work best.