QUARTERLY QUOTE 

Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
Pablo Picasso

• We are anticipating a great reception for our Juried Show this Friday, October 6.
• The Members’ Exhibition “People’s Choice Award” will be decided soon.
• Hub activities have continued throughout summer and into autumn.
• Our Annual Members’ Meeting via Zoom is coming up later this month

Continue reading below for more details.

CALENDAR OF AUTUMN 2023 UPCOMING EVENTS:

Jun 4-Oct 8, 2023: Members’ Exhibition (ME) at Park McCullough House in North Bennington, VT

Sep 1-Nov 18, 2023: Juried Show (JS) at Long River Gallery in White River Junction (WRJ), VT

Oct 26, 2023: Annual Members’ Meeting via Zoom, 6-8pm

VPS REGIONAL HUBS UPDATE 

VPS: Champlain has had two meetings this summer, busy with concluding the ME, planning to host a hub demonstration in November, planning to host a VPS Workshop for 2024, and arranging for a hub show in summer 2024. At each meeting, they ask hub members to offer comments on their ongoing pastels.

VPS: MidState met twice over the last three months. At the first meeting they discussed their painting style, discussed how to catalogue their paintings, and reviewed a challenge to paint several pastels in the style of an artist they were inspired by. In their second gathering, they reviewed the challenge to find a simple subject to render in mark-making with pastel pencils, hard pastels, and soft pastels.

VPS: SouthEast discussed a slew of items ranging from how to paint outside, to PR concerns, and VPS membership skewing to older members. Then they had a group critique of the paintings they were working on.

VPS: UpperValley painted a pond en plein air in August, then went for a swim! They also reviewed plans for the JS that they are hosting.

 VPS EXHIBITIONS

This year’s Members’ Exhibition (ME) hosted by VPS: Champlain is in its final week of display. Please consider an expedition to the historic Park McCullough House this weekend to see it before it comes down on Tuesday, October 10—when the “People’s Choice Award” will be announced!

The Juried Show (JS) hosted by VPS: UpperValley will have its opening reception this Friday, October 6, 2023 from 5-7pm at the Long River Gallery in White River Junction, VT. Our paintings have been on view since September 1, and will continue to be up during some busy months for WRJ through November 18. Come to the reception and celebrate some of our juror-selected best pastels and the artists who created them.

VPS WORKSHOPS 

Two workshops are being planned for 2024. The who, what, when, and where will be coming in the next quarterly report.

VPS BOARD NEWS

Our Annual Members’ Meeting of the VPS is scheduled for Thursday, October 26, 2023 from 6-8pm via Zoom. Here is the link:

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86285092650?pwd=3WyhztifxYTpFKFM3PRMsa0VUFUeDu.1

We will have our business meeting from 6-7pm where we ask our members to approve the budget for the coming fiscal year, and to elect five board officers for the next two years (Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, and 2 Members-at-Large), and one for the next one year (Exhibitions Coordinator).

Following the business meeting, we have a very interesting demonstration by Judy Albright and Matthew Peake on the novel application of collage beneath clear gesso as an underpainting. As you will see, this can add texture and visual interest to your overpaintings.

The agenda will be coming in a separate communication, but please mark your calendars and make a plan to attend this meeting and demonstration.

As you know the VPS Is powered by you but steered by the ten-member Board of Directors. These are voluntary positions, and they depend on a member of the VPS offering to fill a position for a minimum of 2 years. Most of our board members have been serving for 5 to 9 years, partly because the job is rewarding, but partly because no one else has offered to do it.

Because the two-year terms are staggered, five board positions come up for election every year at the autumn annual meeting. This year, we have candidates so far for all but Vice President, Treasurer, Member-at-Large #1. The job description for each of these can be found in our bylaws by going to https://vermontpastelsociety.com/bylaws/ and reading Article 7: OFFICERS

The board meets twice a year remotely and once a year, also remotely, with all VPS Members at the annual meeting. Occasionally the board discusses issues via email.

Please contact me at [email protected] with any questions and make my day by letting me know that you are considering volunteering for one of the board positions.

 As a VPS member, you are permitted to post two pastels on the website gallery. Remember to check what is up there now and update your images as you make new work. We get over 5000 visitors and 8000 visits a year, and the Gallery of Member Art gets the most traffic, so take advantage of the exposure:

https://vermontpastelsociety.com/participation-in-the-members-gallery/

Also, you can share noteworthy news about your artwork, about prizes you were awarded, about your upcoming shows, about your hub, or about other pastel items of personal interest. Check it out by going to the VPS website and clicking Member News on the drop-down menu or click on this link for submission instructions:

https://vermontpastelsociety.com/vps-member-noteworthy-news/

Don’t forget that you can also rent DVDs for free as a member. The information is on our website.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED PARTICIPATION IN VPS! 

With one more VPS-sponsored show in 2023 to exhibit our works, and with most of our Hubs meeting regularly, there is great value in being a member of the VPS. We stay vibrant because of the continual support for our organization which each of you provides. Thank you all so very much!

Matt Peake, VPS President