The big excitement this month was still the Artists Guild member exhibit at the Phes Gallery in Carlsbad. It is an outstanding group of work juried in by gallery owners Paul Henry and Ellen Speert and to date has registered four sales.
We added two new artists in May, Kai McCarty and Edwin Tuazon. In addition, we have appointed two new board members who, like all of the board, will be standing for election by the full Guild membership in June. We welcome Arlette Stella and Vira Ustianska to the board and appreciate their willingness to assist.
The regular exhibitions that the Guild develops have been supplemented by new initiatives. The “Atelier” has had its third meeting and are diligently focused on developing a “conceptual” work, brainstorming concepts, sites, materials and gradually construction. The Atelier has been meeting on the third Thursday of each month at the Museum of Photographic Arts building in a workroom graciously provided by the Museum. In addition to the brainstorming the group engages in a hands-on art making activity led by Leslie Pierce and Jody Abssy.
New educational workshops have also begun to percolate to the surface with Kevin Inman and Leslie Pierce working with Museum education staff to create a life drawing class (May 20). Kevin is also convening a plein-aire session at the Villa Montezuma in Sherman Heights on May 22nd. All members and the public are invited.
Julie Weaverling (a new grandmother) who engineered the Phes exhibit has also submitted the Guild video from the Highlights exhibit, along with Guild artists work, to the SD Airport New Terminal Inaugural Exhibition. It is competitive and hopefully her good work will prevail.
The Guild member exhibit for next year at Gallery 21 is locked in as is the Online International Exhibition. Curators have been selected for each. The board meeting for May was electric with discussions about additional exhibits for 2026. Stay tuned. You will be excited about the possible locations and ideas for future exhibits. But they all take a lot of hard work. And speaking of hard work... Leslie Pierce dramatically represented the Guild in playing a major role in mounting the large LA artist fire victim fund raiser event at the Union Hall Gallery. Over $40,000 was raised and Guild members were ever present volunteers (Angelica, Jody, John). Over 400 works of art were donated including work by 21 Guild members.
Finally, we have been nominated to receive the sParks Award from Forever Balboa Park along with other organizations. Their decision will be in Mid-May. The award is for organizations contributing to the vitality of Balboa Park and crossing boundaries. The nomination states “A practicing artists, architects, sculptors, we confront the formidable boundary between imagination and reality on a daily basis.”
