May 2025 Newsletter

Important dates in May 2025

May 1: (Thurs) New Member Orientation 2:00, SRAL studio

May 1: (Thurs) Mix and Mingle 3:00 - 5:00, SRAL studio

May 8: (Thurs) Monthly demonstration meeting 1:00 Anza room

May 1 – 31: Assemblage SIG in the Studio Gallery – new room

May 1 – 31: Masters Show in the Studio Gallery – main room

President's Message May 2025

Hello Artists!

For the first time since I moved to Green Valley, five years ago, my husband and I are going to be snowbirds. We will spend our summer in Hot Springs Village, Arkansas in a community that has many lakes and 8 golf courses. We are looking forward to it.  

With this, an update regarding my commitment to SRAL. I plan to manage my obligations by way of e-mail, text and phone calls. Pam Guard, one of our co- 1st Vice Presidents, will be in Green Valley if we need someone, hands on, to take care of any issue that may arise.

The Board has approved the purchase of a Zoom membership to support our monthly board meetings, and more. I also hope that some of the SIGs might be able to use Zoom to their advantage, as well. I know the watercolor SIG has been Zooming for several years.

There is plenty of important information in this newsletter, including details that you all need to be aware of, so please review this newsletter, with care.

I also want to emphasize that our art league is a remarkable organization, thanks to the unwavering commitment and dedication of our volunteers. Please accept my sincere gratitude to all who make this possible.

In closing, please also know that Arlene is doing well. As you are already doing, please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers! 

Happy painting!

Jeani Gustafson

Mix and Mingle

Our last gathering of the season is on

Thursday, May 1 from 3:00 to 5:00 in the SRAL studio.

Please join us to socialize with fellow artists. Do you have a piece you are working on that you would like to share? Please bring it.

You might also want to bring a snack and/or beverage to share.

Please note: Mix and Mingle will not be held again until September.

Studio Closure!

The Santa Rita Art League studio will be closed from June 7 through 23.

GVR will be doing some work in our studio, which will include removing the wall between Studios A and B.

They will also paint the walls and strip and refinish the floors, as part of routine maintenance. If you have things in your locker or slot that you might want during the closure, we recommend that you remove them by June 6th.

New Mat Cutter

Kris Martens KrisM@Santaritaart.org is the contact if you wish to be trained to use the mat cutter.  

SRAL Monthly General Meeting

&

Artist Demo

1:00-3:00pm • May 8, 2025 • Anza Room

Art Supply Sale

Several Artists have donated art supplies to the league, and we plan to have these supplies available at the next General Meeting. As always, they will be available to our members. With this, we suggest that a donation be made to the art league. There are a lot of wood and gesso painting substrates and much miscellaneous.

Demo Artist: Elana Bloom

"Mixed Media Collage

with Dyed Papers"

Our Guest Artist for May is Tucson mixed media artist, Elana Bloom. Elana will demonstrate how she develops human figures using her own naturally dyed papers. She will show us how to use mixed media to create works of art full of texture and depth. She will shed light on how to build shadows and highlights on human forms using cut materials. She will also explain the importance of paper weight, texture, color, and print in creating believable human forms. Her demonstration will include how she incorporates the finer elements of a human subject such as hair and skin tone to craft unique characters.

Our Next Art Exhibit Announcement! 

In December 2025, we will be hosting our next Members Art Exhibit, and it will be a themed exhibit. At our April General Meeting, the members voted on the theme, so CHAOS AND HARMONY will be the theme for the December show. Members, you now have 7 months to mull that over, be inspired, generate thoughts and ideas, and create a painting.



It is always very interesting to see the variety of artwork generated by a theme.

Painting size will be restricted to 24" x 30" or smaller.

Educational Opportunities at the

Community Performance & Art Center – CPAC

Adult Workshops

• Painting Animals with Pastels and PanPastels taught by Sonsoles (Sunny) Shack, a SRAL Member, on May 26 -27, 2025



Click here for more information (Adult Workshops | Community Performance & Art Center – CPAC)

Current Exhibit at CPAC

"Spring Into Summer"

April 30 – May 30, 2025

Featuring Works by SRAL Artists

Leslie Berry, Judy Lawrence, and Susan Ettl

Location: In the Harry and Ann Paxton Gallery & Theater Lobby

Reception: May 3, 2025, from 5:30 to 7:00 PM

Click Here for more information (Exhibits | Community Performance & Art Center – CPAC)

Volunteering at SRAL!

We could not function without the support of volunteers. We know that many have served and may not be able to continue to serve in specific roles, so we are always looking for new volunteers to support our programs and administrative functions. 

A new addition, at the studio, is a “Volunteer Board”! We need you! Please review the postings on a monthly basis, as new postings are added. Sign up, ask questions, find someone to share a job, if it seems a little more than you want to do alone. We really do need you!



This board will also be at General Meetings, especially through the fall and winter. Thank you for considering this opportunity! If you have questions, please email Brenda Stewart or contact her by way of the contact information on the back of the Volunteer Board.

ASSEMBLAGE SIG

Creative Challenge

One of our newest members created her first piece for a challenge involving block letters but chose to give the Art League a Linguistic Puzzle as a "bonus." LA Ashburn wants to challenge Art League members to stop by the studio over the month of May, while the Assemblage group's art will be displayed, pick up a form off of her art piece and submit your answers in the box located on the piece.  

Three winners will be chosen as described in the puzzle. Have some fun this summer (apart from your usual painting//drawing/assembling fun)!  

The attached photos give you the description for the puzzle and the elements on the art for you to ponder at home first, or if you've already left for the summer and want to submit answers, email them to LA Ashburn.

Linguistic Puzzle Art

Imagine you are on a quest through this art piece. Your mission: find objects within the artwork that, when you place an "en" at their beginning, morph into entirely new words.

It's linguistic puzzle art. One plural and one is tricky, so be careful!

There are two "bonus" words that appear when you add "en" as a prefix and suffix. Take a form, fill in your answers with your name, date and telephone number. I will randomly pick 3 correct submissions and contact you with a prize!

SRAL New Member Orientation

If you are new member of Santa Rita Art League or just want to be brought up to “speed” on how to benefit from your membership and how you can participate/volunteer, please attend our New Member Orientation on Thursday, May 1, at 2:00 pm at the SRAL Studio. Questions? RSVP? Contact Sally Bryan, New Member Liaison, SallyB@santaritaart.org

In Closing, 

We have saved something very special for the last...

Desert Hills Lutheran Church is looking for artists to apply to display at the church.  

Requirements:

1. The artist should have a website showing their work.

2. Ideally 15 to 20 art pieces are desired for display.

3. Their exhibit would stay up at the church approximately 1-2 months.

4. The artist has the option of putting on a reception at the church.

The art selection committee at the church will decide who can exhibit. If interested in this opportunity, please contact Desert Hill Lutheran Church by way of Karen Workman at Karenmaggieart@gmail.com or 801-420-8160.

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS (SIGs)

There are 11 Special Interest Groups and all of them are open to the members of the Art League.

• ABSTRACT
• ASSEMBLAGE
• COLLAGE/MIXED MEDIA and ACRYLIC
• FIGURE DRAWING
• LEARNING ABSTRACT

• OIL PAINTING & PASTEL
• OPEN STUDIO
• PLEIN AIR
• PORTRAIT
• PRINTMAKERS GUILD
• WATERCOLOR

On the SRAL website there is a complete description for each SIG.

If you wish to learn more about any of the SIGs, Click Here



Click here for the list of SIG chairpersons and their e-mail addresses.

Below is additional INFO not on the SRAL webpage.

ABSTRACT SIG

The Abstract BRIGGade, has changed their name to the Abstract SIG. 

After a very successful winter art season, the Abstract group will take a summer break with a final session called

“Paint a T Shirt” at 10 AM on Monday, May 5th.

Please reach out to Nan Lux if you would like the supply list. All SRAL members are welcome!

In September, the Abstract group will meet on September 8th. In October 2025, the group will switch to the first Monday of each month.

There are no special skills required to join in with this friendly group. Attendees always find artist support, often with live demos, workshops, and critiques.

For more information on the SRAL website, CLICK HERE

ASSEMBLAGE

The assemblage group will meet all summer in the studio, on the 2nd & 4th Fridays from 1p-3p.

COLLAGE/MIXED MEDIA and ACRYLIC

This group will be meeting one time monthly on the first Wednesday of the month, from 1-3 pm in the SRAL studio. 

The usual twice monthly schedule will resume in October.

You can contact Janet Johnson by Clicking Here.

All Art League members are invited to participate in this SIG. Get ready for a terrific year.

We will continue with our experiments in composition:

• Compositional Design: Pyramid
• Art Principle: Unity
• Element: Form

Again, it is not necessary for you to participate in our challenges to attend the meeting. Bring something to share or work on, resources to share etc. We love hearing new ideas and seeing new techniques.

FIGURE DRAWING

This group ended monthly drawing sessions on April 5th, 2025. We will not be meeting during the summer months. 

The Figure Drawing Group meets on the first Saturday of each month from November to April, 9 AM to Noon. We hope to see you then. Have a great summer!

 LEARNING ABSTRACT

This is a new group that is board approved and coming to you all in mid-October, on three Monday mornings each month, including the second, third, and fourth Mondays.

This group will be a work group, painting in the studio and learning together. We will work with artists from the Abstract SIG (formerly known as the Abstract Briggade) and utilize materials from our comprehensive library, as well as YouTube offerings, and more, to support everyone.

Reach out to Brenda Stewart if you are interested in joining the group or if you are interested in teaching using your medium of choice, or a favorite technique. Otherwise, just plan to attend in October.

OIL/PASTEL

This group meets every Monday from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm. 

We are a friendly, supportive, and informal group that allows our members a scheduled time to paint, share ideas, and techniques. We welcome both beginning and accomplished artists alike!

OPEN STUDIO

This popular event occurs every Tuesday from 9am to 1pm. As recently updated, all members are welcome to use all media types. Oil paint is allowed in the main studio on Monday and Tuesday only, so this is a great time for oil painting, but only an odor-less solvent, such as Gamsol, can be used. Our usual members stop to have lunch at noon. Come and join us for a cool time this summer, and bring a lunch!

PLEIN AIR PAINT OUTINGS

This outdoor group will be painting all summer, with a very early start time, on Thursdays, beginning about 6am to 9am, as it becomes too hot after that time. A schedule for May has not yet been decided, however many of our group have become full time residents, and we are happy to add anyone else interested in painting outdoors. 

If you would like to join us send an e-mail to Nanci Sheppard. Click Here

PORTRAIT

The Portrait group will continue to gather throughout the summer, although they will not have a model. The group will meet and share their work, including members works in progress.

PRINTMAKERS GUILD

Coordinators: Karen Keim and John McGraw

At our May meetings (the 14th and 22nd), John McGraw will demonstrate an easy and fun technique for monoprinting, using materials like plastic bags, newspaper or cereal box shapes to apply Akua ink. Our meetings are at 9:30 AM in the Studio, Room A. NOTE: We will not meet June through August.

In September, we return to our schedule on the second Wednesday and the fourth Thursday of each month (alternate Thursdays in Nov./Dec). Interested SRAL members are always welcome to visit or join us in printmaking. Limited supplies are available for participation. To join the e-mail list, or if you have questions, please contact Karen Keim.

WATERCOLOR

This group will continue to meet every Friday from 9 AM - 12 PM over the summer, except when the studio is closed for remodeling in June, of course. (Some of us also meet via zoom most Friday mornings in summer, 9 AM - 12 PM AZ time, probably beginning mid-May.



To contact Valerie St. Marie Click Here

Click here for the list of SIG chairpersons and their e-mail addresses.