In 1991, a handful of Charlottesville, Va area watercolor artists under the leadership of Edith Arbaugh and Marion Hansen formed this organization for water-media painters. The term “water media” as used here embraces traditional transparent watercolor as well as gouache, acrylic, and other water based media. Today the guild has a membership of over one hundred artists.

The Central Virginia Watercolor Guild is a nonprofit educational organization formed under Internal Revenue Code #501(c)(3).