Marietta Resident Juried into Portrait Society of Atlanta

Marietta resident Rita Pelot was juried into the Portrait Society of Atlanta, which is the oldest organization of its kind in the U.S. Of the 275 Portrait Society of Atlanta members, there are only 60 with juried status.

"It is an honor to be juried into the Portrait Society of Atlanta, as the exhibitions are judged by nationally recognized nonmember portrait artists,” said Pelot in a press release. “As a life long learner I enjoy being a member of an organization which is dedicated to education about the fine art of portraiture."

Pelot has loved to draw for as long as she can remember. In college, the art classes she took for an elementary education degree were her favorite classes.

Though she laid her art aside while marrying and raising two daughters, her passion for art was again renewed when her daughters went to college. She has taken workshops and classes from well-known artists such as Mel Stabin, Tony Van Hasselt and Greta Schelke, Jim Schelle and Marc Chatov. She is currently a student of Kris Meadows.

Pelot's paintings have been selected for juried shows at the Abernathy Arts Center, the Atlanta Artists Center in Buckhead, Johnson Ferry Baptist Church, the , Mt. Bethel United Methodist Church, the Portrait Society of Atlanta and the Roswell Visual Arts Center.

"Mother," one of Pelot’s works, will be in the Portrait Society of Atlanta's Spring 2012 Exhibition at the Sandy Springs Branch of the Fulton County Library from March 1 through March 31.

Pelot is a member of the Portrait Society of Atlanta and the Portrait Society of America. She and her husband Bill live in Marietta.

To become a juried member of The Portrait Society of Atlanta, an artist must have three different paintings juried into three separate shows by the Portrait Society of Atlanta. An artist must also complete two full calendar years of service to the Portrait Society on one of the committees. For more info, visit www.portraitsocietyofatlanta.org