Message from the President

Fellow DVAS Artists:

Well the summer has pretty much come and gone - although with all the rain it has put a damper on many activities including some of the plein air sessions.

Now we are back in our fall routine of studio group. It was encouraging to see new members join the studio group last year.

This September will be our first annual dinner for DVAS members. I want to thank Joel Fraser for the work she has done on coming up with the idea and arranging this dinner. This will give us all a chance to socialize. So often, members who do not come to studio group or art shows are not known to other members. This dinner in September will give us all a chance for a good meet and greet.

We are currently in the process of revising our fee structure to better reflect the cost of running programs at DVAS. We are always mindful of our member’s budgets and strive to find a balance of what the fees should be. We will convene a general meeting to announce the new fee structure shortly.

Some of our members, under the direction of our new Exhibition Chair, Andrea Landry, are looking to find alternate avenues for DVAS to exhibit and sell paintings. During the AGM, it was brought up about using our website to sell paintings. In speaking with our Webmaster, Mary Lou Whitehorn, who has looked at this proposal in detail, this is not a workable option. Other venues will require us to have liability insurance as well as a vehicle by which customers can pay for the purchase of paintings. This is currently being worked on. In addition, other venues may require us to pay a rental fee – this rental fee will have to be paid for by the DVAS artists who are participating in the show.

I want to bring up the issue of aprons. Although a number of you have indicated that you are interested in purchasing aprons, we did not garner enough interest to meet the minimum number.

This coming year, our plan is to offer more workshops. Our Workshop Co-ordinator, Violet O’Connell, is currently working through some health issues and Steve Townsend is working with Violet to get some workshops booked. We will let you know when this is finalized and publish the dates and visiting artist’s instructor’s names.

With the incoming Treasurer, Beatrice Milner, we are looking to move forward with E-Transfers which will make it easier for people to pay for membership fees and studio group fees. We will let you know when this is set to go.

Happy painting!

S. Grebeldinger – President DVAS