QUARTERLY QUOTE 

Artwork is a representation of our devotion to life. Agnes Martin

We’ve entered a new year, but Covid has not left us, so meeting in person will be challenging again. Thankfully, we now have lots of experience with virtual gathering, so let’s keep meeting that way if artists feel it’s safer than in person.

• Regional hubs met regularly during the summer but since the Delta surge, and now with the Omicron variant emerging, hubs will have to resort to zoom forums again to stay connected.
• Our next board meeting via Zoom is in April.

 

Continue reading below for more details.

CALENDAR OF UPCOMING EVENTS:

Mar 2022: Lyn Asselta virtual workshop

Jun 10-Jul 22, 2022: VPS Members’ Exhibition at Chaffee Art Center, Rutland, VT

Aug 8-12, 2022: Alain Picard workshop in East Montpelier, VT

Autumn 2022: Dawn Emerson workshop in Bennington, VT

Oct 2022: VPS Juried Show at Vermont Artisans Design, Brattleboro, VT

 

VPS REGIONAL HUBS UPDATE 

Summer saw plenty of hub events, but in autumn the number of hub activities dramatically declined.

VPS: MidState met in November to plan how to spend their 2021 hub money, to talk about hosting the upcoming Members’ Exhibition in June, and to look at their assignment: doing a painting from a reference photo displayed upside down.

VPS: Central hosted the Members’ Exhibition at the T.W. Wood Gallery, a major undertaking which eventually all hubs will be doing, if they haven’t done one yet.

VPS: SouthEast was scheduled to meet in person in December, but cancelled because of Covid. It looks like we may need to reload our zoom apps and continue to meet that way for a while, until Omicron peaks and fades away.

VPS EXHIBITIONS

For 2022, there will be one Members’ Exhibition in June/July at the Chaffee Art Center in Rutland, wholly-hosted by VPS: MidState, and a Juried Show in the fall at Vermont Artisans Design in Brattleboro, wholly-hosted by VPS: SouthEast. More details will be forthcoming in the next several months, so keep your eyes out for the “Save the Date” announcements.

VPS WORKSHOPS 

With the new variant of the coronavirus emerging, and perhaps others to follow, we will be holding one virtual workshop early in 2022, and hopefully two in-person workshops in later 2022. As of now, this is the schedule:

Lyn Asselta: This will be a 2-day virtual workshop in March 2022 with a facilitator “on hand” for coordinating all technical aspects so participants can relax and learn what Lyn has to offer. These virtual workshops have improved during the pandemic, as instructors, wanting to teach, have had to pivot in their instructional methods to make workshops both beneficial to participants and safe for all. Stay alert for more forthcoming details from Linda Masten and Mark Grasso!

Alain Picard: “The Painterly Landscape/ The Painterly Figure, August 8-12, 2022, East Montpelier, VT.

Dawn Emerson: Fall of 2022, Bennington, VT.

VPS BOARD NEWS 

We are looking for a VPS artist to join our board as Secretary. It is a two-year term, beginning immediately and ending at the VPS Annual Meeting in the fall of 2023. The responsibilities are essentially taking minutes for three meetings a year, so very manageable, and the board members you will be working with are fantastic, so please consider volunteering for this position by contacting Matt Peake, at this link, or your hub point person.

About 10 years ago, our VPS asked members to fill out a short survey to assess how well the VPS was doing in meeting artists’ needs and what else might our VPS do to “build and strengthen connections with pastel artists” as our mission statement declares. The board decided that we would like to again ask our membership for a similar assessment in 2022. Please be on the lookout for that survey and please, please take the time to fill it out. Hearing from everyone would be grand and would offer us a much-appreciated direction for our VPS going forward. We thank you in advance!

We will be holding our next board meeting virtually via Zoom on Wednesday, April 2, 2022, from 7-9 p.m. We always have a number of interesting subjects to discuss, so please feel free to attend. The link for the meeting will be provided closer to the date, but put it on your calendar now, and please join us.

Remember, as a VPS member, 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 a Juried Show and Members’ Exhibition coming this year, three workshops planned for spring, summer, and fall, and our Hubs staying active, whether in person or virtually, there is much to be gained by being a member of the VPS. Please renew your membership, if you haven’t already, and stay active in our society. We are who we are because of the support for our organization that each of you provides. Keep it strong, as you keep on painting!

Matt Peake, VPS President