Dear Members of the Artists Guild:
We held our Annual Membership Meeting via Zoom on June 14. Many thanks to all of you who were able to join us and vote for the board of directors candidates for our upcoming fiscal year (July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026). After I presented the board candidates, a motion to approve the slate of candidates was made by Madeline Sherry and seconded by Doris Besikof. The motion passed unanimously. Below is a listing of the new board members and their positions:
Officers:
JIM BLIESNER – President/Atelier Project Coordinator
KEVIN INMAN – Vice President/Exhibitions Committee Co-Chair/
Website Assistance/ Life Drawing and Plein Air Sessions Coordinator
BARBARA LEITZEL - Treasurer
JON OHL WEBSTER - Board Secretary
ANGELIKA VILLAGRANA – Membership Chair/
Exhibitions Committee/Zoom Meetings Moderator
Members:
JODY ABSSY – Historian/Centennial Book/Exhibitions Committee/Atelier Project
MARK-ELLIOTT LUGO – Centennial Book
LESLIE PIERCE – Exhibitions Committee Co-Chair/Guild Instagram/Atelier Project
CECILIA ANASTOS – Member-at-Large
LUNJIA HU - Member-at-Large/Atelier Project
ARLETTE STELLA - Member-at-Large
LILY TANZER - Webmaster
VIRA USTIASKA - Member-at-Large
I reviewed our Guild exhibitions and activities for our 2024/2025 fiscal year as follows:
PAST EXHIBITIONS:
Highlights from The San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild
2024 Membership Exhibition at the Museum of Photographic Arts at
The San Diego Museum of Art (MOPA@SDMA)
Dammeyer Community Gallery:
November 7, 2024 - March 9, 2025
Juror: Hugh M. Davies, Ph.D.,
Director Emeritus, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
Membership Exhibition at Gallery 21
November 19 – December 2, 2024
Juror: Alex DeCosta, Gallery Director,
Hyde Art Gallery, Grossmont Art Gallery, Grossmont College
Membership Exhibition at PHES Gallery, Carlsbad
April 6 through May 31, 2025
Jurors: Gallery Owners Ellen Speert and Paul Henry
CONFIRMED EXHIBITIONS through 2025:
Online International Exhibition - Open to Members and Non-Members
September – October 2025
Submissions: July 1 through August 13, 2025
Juror: Amy Galpin, Ph.D., Executive Director,
Miami Dade College Museum of Art and Design
Gallery 21 Membership Exhibition
November 4 to November 17, 2025
Reception: Sunday, November 9 - 2 to 4 p.m.
Juror: Johnny Tran of Thumbprint Gallery, La Jolla
OTHER GUILD ACTIVITIES:
Atelier/Workshop Initiative - led by Jim Bliesner
with assistance from Jody Abssy, Leslie Pierce, Julie Weaverling and Lunjia Hu.
The Initiative was established in January 2025 to begin an exploration about future “pop up” exhibitions or collective installations. The group meets monthly at the MOPA@SDMA Building in Balboa Park. After much discussion, the group decided to create a "Nonsense" Exhibition/Installation at Graffiti Park on the UCSD Campus. The concept will be developed further in upcoming meetings.
The next meeting will take place on Thursday, June 26,
from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at MOPA@SDMA, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park.
Life Drawing - led by Guild Vice President Kevin Inman
Community Open Studio at The San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park
The first session was held on May 20.
The next session will take place in mid-July.
The Artists Guild provides a model (in a swimsuit).
Plein Air Painting Meetup - led by Guild Vice President Kevin Inman
The first meetup took place at Villa Montezuma on May 20.
Future events will be scheduled.
Our Monthly Artists Guild Discussions Meetings, led by Angelika Villagrana, on the second Saturday of each month, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon Pacific Time, will continue via Zoom. These monthly meetings have attracted members and guests from all around the United States, Canada, and even Germany, France and Italy. Images of attendees’ artworks are always posted on the Guild Face Book page – www.sdmaag.org (and click on FB). Our next Zoom meeting will take place on
Saturday, July 12, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon PDT.
I would like to invite you to join one or several of our board meetings to understand what issues we are dealing with and decide where you may assist us. Board meetings are held via Zoom on the first Tuesday of each month, from 10:15 a.m. to 12 noon.
Guild meetings are listed on the Guild website: www.sdmaag.org
