Volume 2 | December 20th, 2024

Best wishes for a peaceful and happy holiday season!

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Welcome to the Lopez Artist Guild second monthly newsletter. You can find each newsletter archived on the LAG website or by going to the LAG website main page, then "The Guild", then "Newsletter" and scrolling down to see the list of archived Newsletters. NOTE that anyone can receive the newsletter by filling out a form on this page, so please invite all who might be interested; it can help each of us in our advertising. And, you can now pay your dues by credit card!



ALSO see the article below about exciting changes to the LAG website!

The Lopez Artist Guild is open to anyone who is involved in the visual arts; identifies with our mission, purpose, and program; has a connection to Lopez Island; and pays the annual membership fee of $25 (due in January). To join, click here.

The San Juan County Arts Council is offering Lopez Island Artists three grants: one for $500 and two for $250. These funds are to be used for materials, supplies, tools, equipment, etc. in the 2025 year. The intention of these grants is to "encourage the creative process and help boost the creative flow in our community." All artists are strongly encouraged to apply for this grant. The application is relatively easy but the deadline is December 31st, 2024.

Many know of Rick as our Board President and talented artist of a variety of media, including stone carving in the image shown, but not all know that Rick was a highly successful teacher for 32 years. He is a member of Chimera Gallery, shows at our Studio Tour, and in 2017 was a featured artist at the Lopez Island Library. See the Chimera Gallery link for a thoughtful statement by Rick about his experience, art, and philosopy. Rick is included in the current show at the San Juan Museum of Art discussed in the article that follows.

The San Juan Islands Museum of Art is having its Artists Registry Show that began December 13th and runs through February 24th, 2025.

This year's show includes several Lopez artists: Bryan Gooding, Steve Hill, Pete Kuentzel, Barbara Nepom, Michael Peterson, David Raynalds, and Rick Wigre. This is a show that is well worth seeing.

Steve Hill is a VIP artist in the 4th Annual Desert Plein Air Painting Event and Competition. Eighteen nationally recognized plein air painters from around the U.S. were invited to participate as VIP artists in this big annual event. Click link for more info.

Congratulations Steve!

Our first show at The Gathering Place will feature artist Audrey Bordvick. It will be part of the Lopez Island Art Walk with the opening night on December 7th, 2025, from 5-7 pm. There will be a presentation by Audrey at 6:30 pm. The show will be up through the months of December and January. Everyone is encouraged attend on the 7th, to help with refreshments and to support our fellow artist Audrey.

Lynne Davies and Carol Deckelbaum have made several improvements to our website, including:

• New look and added menus
• Newsletter archive
• Password protected member-only page
• Shortened member renewal form
• Ability to charge member fees online

And Coming Soon:

• Links to pages of supporting groups
• Sponsor button with form
• Analytics so LAG can track web usage
• along with many more improvements.

Image shows a sample of the LAG website Artist page, with works of Amy Ferron, Bryan Gooding, Anne Heitbrink, and Steve Hill. Each artist on this page is represented by an image; each images links to that artist's page. For example, here is Bryan's page.

Help Wanted: The Lopez Artist Guild is accepting nominations for the position of Secretary. If you are interested, or if there is someone you wish to nominate for this position, contact Rick Wigre with a list of suggested nominees. Nominations are due by February 1st. Voting for this position will be by closed ballot at the general meeting on March 19th, 2025. 

Upcoming Shows: In addition to our art shows at the Lopez Island Community Center, LAG artists will also be showing at the Hamlet House Gathering Place. Art shows will occur at The Gathering Place throughout the 2025 calendar year and will be bi-monthly and monthly, with both group and individual shows. The next show at The Gathering Place will be a group show with an Art Walk on February 1st. Labels will need to be sent in by January 28th to Brooks and the drop off date for artwork is January 30th. See our next newsletter for more information.

Newsletter Deadline: If you have copy and art for the LAG Newsletter, the deadline for submission is the 10th of each month for that month's newsletter. Send all to the newsletter editor, Linda Ann Vorobik.