The Puget Sound Group of Northwest Painters (now The Puget Sound Group of Northwest Artists) was founded in 1928 and continues to support visual artists through scholarship, education, fellowship, and historic preservation. The oldest professional arts organization in the Pacific Northwest, it was founded by Eustace Ziegler (1881-), who wanted the group to be self-supporting, to award scholarships to deserving students, and to provide funds for selected competitions. Mr. Ziegler and Seattle Art Museum founder Dr. Richard Fuller began a humorous tradition at the group's annual banquet where a few risqué "gag" paintings were auctioned off by group members. Eventually, a donated piece of art came to serve as a member’s annual dues and friendly competition ensued as to whose work would command the highest price at auction.

This program for the Puget Sound Group of Northwest Painters' 1949 banquet uses a humorous Western theme. The program lists the current members of group, along which are handwritten notes indicating how much money their paintings earned at the auction.

Caption information source: "Memorial Set for Erroll Rawson, Harborview's First Chief Surgeon," The Seattle Times, February 21, 1989, p. D10.
Caption information source: http://www.psgart.org/history