|
October 2024
Membership Newsletter
| |
|
Hello, Everybody.
Hang on. October is going to be a busy month!
| |
|
|
Oct.1 starts our membership enrollment time. Please note that there is a new NBAL Membership Form this year in a different format so be sure you are filling out the 2025 form.
General Members: you may note that we are no longer charging a late fee; but, please understand that you need to turn in your form and payment by December 31 to be included in the yearbook and be eligible for "Artist of the Year " next year.
Displaying Members: you still have a penalty of $20 for paying after December 31 due to the extra work that it causes several job positions to make the needed changes to staffing paperwork and calendars. Be sure to write down the job you plan to do next year. Those paying first have the best chance of getting their 1st choice on the Docent Schedule. After Nov 26, any job not claimed is offered to the newly selected displaying members who will have just juried in on December 7.
Tap on the link to go to the NBAL Membership 2025.
| |
Oct. 4 is 1st Friday, and the city is having the annual Wine Stroll happening downtown. | |
|
Oct.14 the Two Rivers Plein Air Event starts with the Quick Draw and Meet & Mingle at Krause’s Beer Garden.
Winners from 2023: Diane Parker for still life and Shea Daniel Youngblood for street scene.
| |
|
|
Oct.18 the TRPA Reception will take place at 6pm in the gallery, with the Downtown Association joining us for their Fall Social. Come see all the finished plein air paintings, who won the big prize, and all the recognition of our generous sponsors. Wonderful food from River City Catering, desserts by 2Tarts, wine from Water to Wine, and beer from Tri-City Distributors will be served so come to help us make it a great happening. | | | |
Shout out to Gretchen Goode and Vickie Merchant for doing such a fantastic job creating the ads /videos for our sponsors that have been posted on social media. Good Job, Ladies. They look awesome! | |
|
Oct. 18 - 20 Elizabeth St. Hilaire workshop.
Oct. 21 the 59th Annual “Artoberfest” submission day is scheduled. Don’t forget that this is a juried open show with outside artists invited.
The End of October is the time of year that the Executive Board has to start looking at the timesheets for Docents. This is not an easy job but one that has to be done to ensure that Displaying Members have met the required days of work for the organization and that the Docent Desk is being staffed. Please be sure to check your timesheets to make sure that they are up to date. If you forget to sign your timesheet and then do not sign the Daily Sales Log there is no way for us to know if you worked or not. Both of these forms need your signature for it to count as a day being worked.
Team Board members please have your timesheets ready to turn in at the end of December.
Docents who have missed a workday due to bad weather, a holiday, or emergency illness, need to make up the day. We have some jobs we need help with at our TRPA event that will count as a full workday. Please see the work schedule that is hanging on the door from the gallery to the kitchen and sign up.
See you guys in the gallery, 😊
Mary Hammond
NBAL President
| |
|
Locating the Membership Renewal Form
Soon the new 2025 membership form will be on our website. It is easy to locate! Using your search engine, go to nbal.org. This will take you to the Art League website. Click on the MEMBERS tab. This will give you a drop down box, click on MEMBER RESOURCES. You will see many useful links. Just click on the link Membership & Renewal Form. That’s it!
| |
|
Treasurer's Report October 2024
Top ten sellers: Mia Lambert, Gerlyn Friesenhahn, Diane Black, Bob Bogucki, Richard Lopez, Joe Meyer, Fred French, Robert Woolley, Melanie Reel Chaffin, Debra Cooper
Total Sales: Aug 2024 $6628.62
Aug 2023 $5241.87
A detailed financial report of the Art League balances is furnished to the Board monthly and is available to anyone upon request.
| |
|
Open Positions on the NBAL Executive Board
Larry Johnson
drljohnson@gmail.com
There are two positions on the Executive Board coming open at the end of this year. As Vicki Houston and Jeanne Balkman are stepping down as 1st Vice President and Board Secretary respectively, we are announcing these positions as open for nominations.
Nominations are due by November 1. All that is required to nominate yourself or someone else is to send an email confirming your interest to the Chairperson of the Nominating Committee, Larry Johnson, at drljohnson@gmail.com. It is perfectly fine and encouraged for you to self-nominate. Nominations of others must be accepted by the Nominee before becoming official.
The nominees’ names will be provided to the Executive Board and then confirmed by a vote of the members at the November meeting.
The 1st Vice President oversees the Main Gallery, docent training and staffing, as well as special events and demonstrations.
The Board Secretary records the official minutes of NBAL Executive Board meetings and oversees the Library and the Library Coordinator.
| |
|
Our current shows are “Art of Photography” and “Impending Growth”. These shows will continue through October 12. There will be a closing reception for Johnny Duncan’s exhibition on Friday, October 11, 6-8PM. If you have art hanging in the show gallery, please have it removed no later than October 13 to make way for the next show. Much appreciated.
Our next event is the Two Rivers Plein Air Special Show and reception. Registration begins on Monday, October 14. The show opens Tuesday, October 15 and ends on Saturday the 19th with pickup also on the 19th. The reception is on Friday, October 18th from 6-8PM. Come out and see the great art created in just a few days.
Artoberfest submission day is Monday, October 21. The show runs Wednesday, October 23 through November 16th. The reception is Sunday, October 27th, 2-3:30pm. This is a juried show and open to outside artists.
Special Show Schedule - I really appreciate everyone who has signed up to co-chair a show in 2025. I greatly appreciate your support. There are only two shows left without co-chairs. These are “Texas Contemporary” in July and “Come and Gift It” which begins in Mid-November through January 5. Please reach out to me if you are feeling called to co-chair one of these shows. You’ll have lots of help and it will be a wonderful opportunity to grow, meet more NBAL members and share a love for art. Thank you!
| |
|
Message from our
Webmaster
After our last board meeting, I looked in on our web stats, and, well, WOW!
Our daily visits are — I am not kidding — up 16,600% over a year ago. (That is NOT a typo — sixteen-point-six thousand percent!) That means the number of times that people visit our website each day is up over 166 times from a year ago! That is 40,416 visits since this time last year!
Our newly-added NBAL.org domain points to the actual 23-letter domain name, thenewbraunfelsartleague.com, that will also help our numbers! Please use and promote it as it takes you right to our homepage!
We've seen 15,997 unique visitors to our website over the past year, more than 53 times as many people as we have as members! That is an amazing reach — an average of some 44 different people every day — 15,997 different people this year!
Larry Johnson
Website Coordinator
| |
|
Facebook Fun-formation
The New Braunfels Art League Facebook Page has exploded with new Followers and Likes. In the last 30 days, we have broken through the 3,000 Follower ceiling with 3,098 now! Exciting! Since the opening of The Art of Photography and Impending Growth, we have had 10,793 people engaged with 88 New Page Likes and 132 New Followers.103 NBAL Members are followers on our private Facebook page and we’re excited that people are using it.
A big thank you was given to 17 followers who have been very active on our Facebook page. Another post that received lots of Likes and engagement was the NBAL Outreach Group working with the Westside Community Center. If you haven’t seen the photos of their work, you are missing out. Those who attend are creating some fantastic art.
If you have been on Facebook recently, you have seen videos of our Two Rivers Plein Air Platinum Sponsors. These businesses have donated $500 in cash or goods to support this event. Please share these short videos to your page so that they will also be seen by a greater number of people. That will enhance NBAL’s and their presence on Facebook.
Gretchen is doing a fantastic job with the movie trailers that she is creating as well as other signs for NBAL’s use. Hope you catch those on our Facebook page. Please share those trailers! Fantastic job!
Karen and Ralph are attending the First Friday and Opening Receptions and getting lots of great shots. We thank them for their diligence in gathering the Happenings around the League so that those who can’t attend can see what’s going on at NBAL.
Our webmaster, Larry has instituted some exciting new opportunities so that YOU can sign up on the website -www.thenewbraunfelsartleague.com – for WORKSHOPS!
Register and Pay with a CREDIT CARD! Wow! Thanks, Larry, for your continued development of our website.
For those of you on Instagram, Tracy is really doing a great job of getting our message to a younger audience since most of them use Instagram. We have 2,500 Followers on that platform. If you are an Instagram person, please give us some LOVE.
Until next time, please continue to Like and Share and be engaged. Lots of info there.
| |
|
NBAL Library
Do you doodle? Do you noodle? Then you are already on your way to becoming a great artist. All artistic pursuits point to drawing as their basic root from which painting, sculpture, architecture, and illustration is born. We all have an innate need to communicate, and drawing is amongst our first learned skills of expression as children. It is as if we were born to leave our mark while we are on this earth.
Did you know there are over 40+ books in your NBAL library on the subject of drawing. You can find several shelves full by looking for the Dewey number 740. There are some really fun books to get you started if you are new to drawing and there are a few that are more structured and advanced, but all of the books point you in the same direction: you can absolutely learn to draw. You can learn to doodle, noodle, invent, distort, shade, silhouette, shape and much, much more.
Check this out at your NBAL Members’ Library. Upstairs off the Bower Classroom. Always open - key at the docent desk. Enjoy
Myra Knapp,
Librarian
| |
|
Two Rivers Plein Air Program Sponsors
We wish to thank the following businesses that have partnered with NBAL to make the Two Rivers Plein Air event a reality for the community of New Braunfels.
| |
|
Mill Street Art Gallery
387 W Mill St
New Braunfels, Tx 78310
millstreetartgallery@hotmail.com
Off the beaten path to exceptional art.
| |
|
|
Tri-City Distributors
523 FM 306
New Braunfels
MAKING FRIENDS IS OUR BUSINESS
We’re the number one beer distributor for Comal, Gonzales, and Guadalupe counties, for a reason. Delivering Quality Service since 1988
| |
|
2tarts Bakery
139 N. Castell Avenue, “Sweet” 300
New Braunfels
Voted Best Desserts in New Braunfels for 14 years running! Home of the Food Network Champ, Ashley Landerman and her sister April Ryan. Together these 'tarts' are making Downtown the destination for sweet treats, made from scratch daily, with love and a whole lotta butter! Stop by 2tarts Bakery and sample their culinary artistry, located just around the corner from NBAL Gallery.
| |
|
|
Gruene Estate
1030 River Road
New Braunfels, TX 78130
Gruene Estate Event Venue is proud to host Two River Plein Air artists at our beautiful 17-acre Historic Gruene Family Farm.
Come see artists painting all day Wednesday, Oct. 16, in these scenic surroundings.
| |
|
|
The Mess Around at Crosswalk
471 Main Plaza
New Braunfels, TX 78130
| |
|
|
Water 2 Wine
185 S. Seguin Ave.
New Braunfels
World Sourced – Texas Made!
A small-batch winery in the heart of downtown New Braunfels. Offering daily wine tastings and selling wines by the glass, bottle, and batch.
Voted BEST WINE SELECTION & BEST BARTENDER in New Braunfels!!
| |
|
|
Committed to Being Your Community Bank with
Global Experience.
In all that we do, our mission is to build long-lasting customer and employee relationships by living our core values of respect and delivering excellent financial services. Moody National Bank, founded in 1907, is one of the oldest and largest privately owned Texas-based banks.
| |
|
Comaltex
Insurance Agency
1110 Eikel Street
New Braunfels, TX 78130
| |
|
Decades of Local Insurance Knowledge.
Professionals with Hearts to Serve.
Come see us and our rescue cats, Sylvester, Flo, Catzilla and Cab
| |
|
|
AMMO
240 Comal Avenue,
New Braunfels
www.theammogroup.com
Tactical marketing.
Dominating results.
| |
|
|
290 W. San Antonio St.
New Braunfels
830-627-0808
| |
|
|
Explore downtown New Braunfels’ vibrant culture at the Brauntex Theatre, a cherished historical gem. With accessible art and entertainment, we enrich lives and create unforgettable moments, blending education, entertainment, and community for all. | | | |
|
Scoop Street
230 W San Antonio St
New Braunfels, TX 78130
Located just across the street from NBAL you will find premium ice cream made in-house from scratch. Enjoy a scoop of ice cream, sorbet, or dairy free ice cream in a cup, cone, shake or float. Come see what we are scooping today!
| |
|
|
ART COTTAGE
307 West San Antonio St.
New Braunfels
Located in the Grassmarket behind the Huisache Grill, right across the railroad tracks from NBAL.
| |
|
|
Gallerie at Gruene
1633 Hunter Road, Suite A,
Gruene TX
Beautiful view of downtown Gruene and the Gruene Dance Hall from their front lawn.
| |
|
President - Mary Hamond
1st VP - Vicki Houston
2nd VP - Debbie Cooper
3rd VP - Gretchen Goode
Secretary - Jeanne Balkman
| |  |
|
Treasurer - Marcie Helmke
Ass. Treasure - Chase Willett
President Emeritus - Elaine Felder
Parliamentarian - Larry Johnson
| | | | |
