President's Letter - September 2020

September 04, 2020 8:55 AM | Deleted user

Dear Friends,

Who would have thought that we would be entering the 7th month of quarantining due to the COVID pandemic!?! Nothing seems normal and I am sure you join me in wishing for the time when this is behind us. Even the Esperanza shrubs at the building are going crazy as they tower over me as trees now! And as I write this, two potential hurricanes race toward us.

However, thanks to the efforts of our Education Director, Nicole Hansen, we continue to offer classes and workshops for you to participate in from your home.

We continue to host our monthly watercolor exhibits, thanks to the work of our Gallery Director, Paula Fowler, and her dedicated team of volunteers- Nancy McMillan, Sally Hoyt, Cissy Geigerman. Our administrative assistant, Martin Butler, helps with the online exhibits, still checks the mail, answers the phone from home, and checks all voice messages.

Artists entering the Annual Members Exhibit (AME) in October will submit photographs of their paintings online. Our October AME exhibit/workshop leaders, Kathleen Church and Karen Capper, are monitoring the ever changing public health conditions to make our final decisions about hanging paintings physically in the gallery.  The major workshop with Don Andrews has been converted to an online experience and we are excited about some of the new features we are introducing. There are still open spots if you want to join us.

Our Technology Committee, led by Laura McMahon, includes Nicole Hansen, and Louise Bateman. They have selected the best video broadcast equipment to enable us to soon be broadcasting live from the WAS-H classroom. We will kick-off using the new broadcast technology with the September Demo by Caroline Graham on Sept 6 and the October Major Workshop, October 5-9.

The International Watercolor Exhibit committee led by Tom Kraycirick, includes Haley Bowen, Laura McMahon, and Jan McNeill. They are wrestling with the decisions and challenges related to this wonderful exhibit as pandemic conditions persist.

Like many of you, this extended quarantine has been difficult for me, as I also help take care of grandchildren whose parents work, since day care facilities are closed.  Many days it is hard to paint.  I hope and pray for a quick return to our ability to gather together, visit, eat, drink, and paint. In the meantime...

Stay well, stay safe, and keep painting!

Beth Graham
WAS-H President

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