Prez Sez October 2018
At the September meeting, we were sharing how last year we had 150 members by the end of December. This year we were presently at 138 at the beginning of the meeting. That evening we gained four more new members. A warm welcome to you!! If we invite others to our Association, and get the word out, we still have time to reach that benchmark again with 8 members in the next 3 months. That would be awesome. However, we are also more than number seekers. We are a wonderful Association that is unique among our neighboring Associations.
We don't have a gallery to display our work, but we are blessed with many show/sale avenues throughout the year. When we do show there are hundreds of individuals who walk through our displays - not only locals, but vacationers to our region.
We have wonderful instructors with their own followings. I do want to stress to those taking classes - PLEASE do not wait until the last week to sign up. There have been too many instances where we have considered cancelling the class because of lack of participation, only to have sufficient registrations come in at the last minute. We have considered having a deadline of one week out, but have been hesitant for this reason. Please do not keep taking advantage of our leniency, and sign up for classes at least a couple of weeks before the start date. It is respectful of the instructor, our class chair, and the Society which has set aside the days of our classes.
My favorite gem of our Association - our monthly meetings. Many have said they joined because of this factor. We average 43 members in attendance each month. There is great camaraderie at these gatherings, and we have wonderful speakers and functions at each one. I say it so often - we are the only art association I know of that does this. At the others, you find your "niche", but don't have the opportunity to "rub shoulders" with the other artists like we do within HAAA.
One facet of our meetings that has developed recently is the opportunity for artists to pass on unused items to the other members as a donation to HAAA. We greatly appreciate this gift, and the first place these funds go is towards our yearly $1,000 scholarship to a high school senior, or present college student, who uses the money towards an advanced art major. We desire to have just one or two artists per month bring in their contribution . Angela Lapioli has volunteered to oversee this process and we are asking you to adhere to our guidelines. Angela's role in this is to coordinate the artist and the month(s) available. She can be reached by email or (717) 514-9607.
It is the artist's responsibility to:
Set up the items
Collect the money
Give the donation money to Angela
Then take home any unpurchased items.
There will be watercolor books available for donation purchase at the October meeting. Contact Angelia for November 2018, or the months in 2019.
We also appreciate your use of rebates through Amazon Smiles, Dick Blick and Utrecht art supplies. These are easy ways to help our Association.
Thank you to each one of you who make our association special.
Cindy Ankney, President