Monday, October 27, 2008

Jennifer Weigel - En Plein Air


Jennifer Weigel
En Plein Air
a show of artworks created en plein air during 2008 events
November 2008
at the Washington Avenue Post
1312 Washington Avenue Saint Louis, MO 63103
Monday - Friday 7:00 am to 7:00 pm CST
Saturday and Sunday 9:00 am to 2:00 pm
Holidays 9:00 am to 2:00 pm
314.588.0545
http://www.washingtonavepost.com/

Friday, October 24, 2008

Crossroads Art Studios Grand Opening

Please join us for the grand opening of Crossroads Art Studios tonight, Friday, October 24, 2008!

The second floor gallery will debut kiln-formed glass work by Lisa Becker, and fiber art by Nino Hecht. The main level studios and gallery will feature pottery by Tim and Christy Sawyer, mixed media by Laura Lloyd, Printmaking by Cassandra Jarvis, and Photography by Sarah Riorden.
We will have food, drink, and fabulous art! Stop by for a while and take a tour!

Reception is from 6 p.m to 10 p.m
501 North Kingshighway
St. Charles, MO 63301

Hope to see you there!
http://artglassarray.com/
http://www.crossroadsartstudios.com/

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Brunch with Brenda Oelbaum

The WCA Midwest VP, Brenda Oelbaum, will be visiting St. Louis this weekend. (Brenda Oelbaum is the president of the Michigan chapter.)

She would like to meet with our members to discuss their concerns, ideas about continued growth and development of the WCA and the arts in the Midwest Region and the 2010 National WCA conference in Chicago.

There will be a potluck brunch at Janice Nesser's house this Saturday, October 25 at 11 AM to offer members an opportunity to meet Brenda Oelbaum and to get involved with the conference if they would like to do so.

Friday, October 17, 2008

From Carol Horstman


Hello WCA,

While I am awaiting thyroid surgery I have been busy with exhibits. I am in the St. Louis Artists Guild show, Surface Designs, with one of my reverse prints on canvas. I developed a new technique.

I am invited to show in the 2009 Venice Biennial in Florence Italy. It may be too expensive, But I have been invited at least.

I will show a wine series at Provisions Cafe in November, along with my plaster bowl sculpture. I also developed that technique from being fascinated by crumbling ancient plaster walls.

I am at best an experimental artist. I dream these things in my deep REM sleep.

Good vibes to all,
Carol Horstman

Recent Work - Amy Firestone Rosen

Amy Firestone Rosen has a show of recent work at the University City Library Gallery from November 2nd through the 29th. The opening reception is Nov. 2, 2 - 4 PM.

Art for Human Rights

Dail Chambers and Jennifer Weigel have work in the Art for Human Rights exhibit in conjunction with the Amnesty International Midwest Regional Conference. The show will be on display during the conference, at the Hilton St. Louis Airport, 10330 Natural Bridge Road, from Oct. 24 - 26.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

No Time to Spare

Jennifer Weigel is the featured member artist in the No Time to Spare show at the Edward Jones Family YMCA, 12521 Marine, Maryland Heights, organized by the Academy of Contemporary Arts. She has several necklaces on display, just in time for holiday shopping. The show runs from Friday, Oct. 17 - Thursday, Nov. 20, 2008 with a reception Friday, Oct. 17 from 6 - 8 PM.

Call to Members

Dear WCA Members,

I have created a new Members' Blogs section on the WCA-STL blog. (Check it out on the right, below the archive.) If you are blogging, please send me a link to your blog and I will link it from the WCA-STL one. This way we can all be more interconnected.

And please don't forget to let me know what you're up to for the member announcements on the blog. We would love to post what you are doing. Just email me a brief description of your project, along with a photo if you want a photo posted, and I will copy it verbatim to the blog.

Please email your blogs and announcements to the exhibitions address.
wcastlexhibit@charter.net

- Jennifer Weigel
Exhibitions Chair

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

WCA Night Out at Spirits


Please join us for WCA' Night Out'
Thursday October 16, 2008
6:30 pm
Spirits restaurant
300 State Street in Alton, Ilinois

Come on out, see the new STL-WCA alternative exhibition space (part of the emerging Alton art district called 'Artfully Alton' ) and the current exhibition by Barbara Merlotti. Come out and have drinks or dinner and support the business that is supporting us.

Barbara Merlotti will have some new pastel drawings on display along with some photo collage portraits. The drawings were inspired by a trip to Bluefields Villas in Jamaica. If you only know her portraits, click on this link to get a SNEAK PREVIEW of the drawings... www.myspace.com/merlottidesigns and just click on Pics (under "Mood" in the "About Me" section, upper left corner, for all you non-MySpace viewers).

Exhibitions in the space are available to WCA members for 6 week exhibitions on a first come first serve basis. The space consists of 2 walls - an 18 ft. wall and a longer wall that is divided into 3 sections - (12/12/10.5 feet).
If you are interested in exhibiting at Spirits in the future, please email the WCA-STL Exhibitions account.
wcastlexhibit@charter.net

Monday, October 13, 2008

Meeting Minutes - September

Women’s Caucus for Art – St. Louis Chapter
General Meeting – Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Olivette Community Center, Olivette, MO

Jan Nesser, President, called the meeting to order at 7:15 following a wine and snack reception. Jan introduced herself, noting that she is now serving as National WCA President-Elect. Nineteen officers, members and guests introduced themselves.

MJ Goerke moved we accept the minutes of the previous meeting as printed. Dayle Barrett seconded the motion. The minutes were approved.

National WCA: Jan reported on the national Board meeting in Washington, D.C., July 24-26, 2008. She and Marsha Heck, St. Louis Chapter’s Representative to the National WCA Chapter Council attended the meeting. Marsha’s account of the meeting is in both the local and the regional newsletters. Jan was enthusiastic about the direction of the national board which emphasized envisioning oneself as an artist and discovering what WCA means for an artistic life. One concern for the national organization is the establishment of organizational relevance for younger women artists. The national theme will be Arts as Activism. Not all chapters have the same goals and national/chapter themes may have individual meanings for different members. Chapter and individual themes would deal with social awareness and activism with each chapter determining its own direction. Jan called attention to the handout laying out a first look at the 2009 Los Angeles national meeting – Art and Activism - Share Your Passion! -- and encouraged members to attend. The outline also appears on the national WCA website.
National meetings will be held in Chicago in 2010 and in New York in 2011. The Chicago chapter is asking for help in organizing the conference for 2010. Information will be available later.

Regional WCA: The regional newsletter is on STL-WCA’s website – www.wca-stl.com.
Brenda Oelbaum, President of the Michigan Chapter, and Vice President of the Midwestern Region, plans to visit the St. Louis chapter. Details will be available later.

WCA Office Space: St. Louis Community College –Florissant Valley may give STL-WCA office space and access to a computer and phone. This would also give the organization a central space for record storage.

Webpage: Michelle Thomas has done a masterful job of recreating and updating the webpage. Check it out – www.wca-stl.org. Pages will be created for members who do not have a website, thus giving members a presence on the web. Members who have websites are listed with links to those websites.

Blog: Send information for inclusion in STL-WCA’s blog to Jennifer Weigel.

Membership: Leslie Hume reported that we have 54 members. The membership directory has been distributed. Please sign up for 2009 membership by December 15 as the national dues will increase after January 1.

Fundraising: Roxie Phillips reported on a new initiative. Current members who enroll new members will receive a chance to win a $50.00 gift certificate from Art Mart – one chance per new member. Goodsearch.com was mentioned as a site for web searches and shopping. STL-WCA receives $.01 for each search and a percent of the value of goods purchased when shopping as a variety of vendors following a Goodsearch. And, don’t forget to sign up for eScript through Schnuck’s.

Treasurer’s Report: Evie Shucart’s report noted: Checking acct balance $436.90, Savings acct balance $1365.71, Total available $1802.61. The Tsai fund CD balance (not available for general expenses) $2121.21. Income July/Aug. $0.00. Expenses: June $403.36 (Gathering/newsletter) and July/Aug $171.00 (Gathering), Total $574.39. Donations made by the members for expenses: $210.00 (Gathering), $155.00 (website hosting/domain), and $10.00 (State of Missouri registration fee) for a total donation of $375.00 for June/July/August.

Nominating Committee: Roxie Phillips reported that a slate of candidates will be e-mailed to the members 6 weeks before the election and that voting would occur at the November 25 business meeting.

Exhibitions: Jennifer Weigel reviewed the rules for the “Raising Our Voices” exhibition. The prospectus is available on the website www.wca-stl.org
Spirits, a restaurant in Alton, IL, hangs WCA art work in conjunction with Artfully Alton, a project aimed at placing art in a number of buildings in the city. Currently showing is the work of Marie Samuels. Barbara Merlotti’s work will be on display October 16 through November 15. Erica Popp and Heidi Fox will display work November 20 through January 10. “Girls Night Out” at Spirits to celebrate the exhibitions and thank the management of Spirits will be October 16 and November 20. FYI -- One or two artists will be featured in exhibitions which will run for approximately six weeks. WCA will receive 10% of the sale price if work is sold while being exhibited at Spirits. Work needs to be at least 16” x 20” as the exhibition walls are large.
Women and Environment: The exhibition, in conjunction with the Philadelphia chapter and the WCA collaborative quilt project “Women Helping Women Stitch by Stitch,” will be held during Women’s History month and will be at SLCC-Florissant Valley. The college will pay for cards, announcements and the reception. An entry fee of $10.00 will go to the Rubia Project. If sales result, 20% of the sales price will be retained by STL-WCA to go to a local women’s organization. The opening reception will be Thursday, March 5, 6:00 – 8:00 PM. There will be a lunch-time panel discussion hosted by WCA featuring women involved in social activism.
Contemporary Women Artists XV: Yolanda Lopez will be the juror for the exhibition. Lopez received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Women’s Caucus for Art in 2008 and was pleased with the opportunity to work with STL-WCA. Possible venues are being considered with the plan to have the exhibition in late 2009 or early 2010.

Marsha Heck showed a bag that had been printed with art work by Café Press and suggested that products produced by Café Press could be used as a fundraiser.

Jan Nesser emphasized the value of volunteering.

Program: Virginia Dragshutz has been an exhibiting artist for over 30 working in a wide variety of media. She has been a member of the St. Charles Art Council for over 25 years and is Past President. Virginia was instrumental in organizing the 'Paint the Katy Trail' state-wide plein air event in 2002; and traveled state wide to promote it. She has been a member of the St. Louis Artist’s Guild for over 25 years. Virginia has been an art/workshop instructor for the last 30 years.
Images shown in slides included current and historical clay pieces and illustrated a number of end uses for clay, different methods of forming clay objects, and the effects of different firing techniques. Virginia also showed design possibilities that could be found in other artistic media. Kiln types and firing cones were discussed. One particularly interesting image was of an art object made from the pieces of a deliberately broken clay pot. The pieces along with stained glass had been refired.
Workshop participants were given a piece of clay, given minimal instructions, and invited to shape a human figure. A remarkable variety of shapes ensued. Wet figures were carefully placed on stable boards and will be dried and fired. Just wait until the unveiling at the next meeting.
Virginia, thank you for an enlightening and fun evening.

Respectfully submitted,
Pat Owoc
Recording Secretary

Monday, October 6, 2008

St. Charles Plein Air Competition

Jennifer Weigel is participating in the St. Charles Plein Air competition this year. The event officially started Oct. 1 and is hosting three quick paint events along with another juried competition. If you want to catch the artists at work, I'd recommend checking out the quick paint competitions. And if you want to see all of the works created, please feel free to check out the show and sale on Oct. 12.
Check it out on their website:
http://www.stcharlespleinair.com/home.html

About the WCA-STL

On the local level, STL-WCA organizes 3-4 exhibitions a year; organizes the biennial Contemporary Women Artists Exhibition; participates in local events that enact awareness and change in the community; holds meetings so women can network; presents lectures by women artists; holds 'girls nights out': evenings of art and conversation; produces a newsletter and sponsors a web-page where women artists can list their upcoming exhibitions, papers, etc and link their web-site.
Visit our website at http://www.wca-stl.org/