Meeting Notes AND Please Welcome Our New SAQA CT Rep, Catherine Whall Smith!

A lot of information packed into one short meeting! But first…

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Please welcome Catherine (Cathy) Smith, our new SAQA CT Rep!

Cathy will take over as Co-Rep as Kate Themel steps down in April. 
Diane Wright will end her tenure as a SAQA Rep at the end of 2013, transitioning the role to Barbara Adams. But Diane and Kate won’t be far away – they’ll continue as Managing Curators for the “Local Color” exhibition through 2014.

Cathy is excited to take on this two year commitment and is eager to hear from the members regarding their goals for SAQA CT.

To learn more about Cathy Smith and her artwork, visit her website:
http://catherinewhallsmith.com/

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Now on to the 2/23/2013 MEETING NOTES:

February 23, 2013
Windsor Art Center (Windsor, CT)

Despite the threat of pending snow - 27 Members and 5 Guests attended our meeting at the Winsor Art Center. Marcia Hinckley, our host at the Windsor Art Center, spoke a little about the gallery’s current exhibition, “Ed Johnetta Miller: Fibers & Friends” (on display until March 3, 2013). 

As 2 of Ed Johnetta’s former students, SAQA-CT artists Carol Vinick and Diane Cadrain also have pieces in the Fibers & Friends show.

Cathy and Diane Wright presented Kate with a “going away – but not too far” gift.  A beautiful coffee table book, Georgia O'Keeffe and Her Houses and a card signed by CT members, fit nicely into a canvas tote.  The tote bag was printed with a lovely quote by Thoreau: “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined.”

Catherine Smith spoke about the Windham Textile & History Museum (WTHM)’s Now/Then Quilt show to take place in May 2014.
Twelve invited quilters (8 are CT SAQA members) will use their current techniques and materials to interpret one of the historical quilts in the museums collection. Many activities are being planned to enhance this 25th anniversary show, including a block challenge.

All SAQA Ct members have been invited to participate in the “Spool of Thread” Block Challenge. To participate, artists must create a 10 ½ inch block of their interpretation of a spool of thread. Twenty five blocks (signifying WTHM’s 25th anniversary) will be sewn into a quilt and machine quilted by Pat Ferguson.
The Anniversary quilt will remain in the permanent collection of the WTHM.  Extra blocks may be framed or otherwise finished and sold to benefit the museum.

The deadline for submitting a block is November 1st, 2013. Cathy will talk more about this challenge at future meetings.  Click here to review the “Spool of Thread Block Challenge” entry form, found on this blog (see tab above). 

Kate Themel shared her experience as a juror for the “Out of the Loop” show at the West Hartford Art League.

The show includes fiber works that advance traditional techniques through innovative artist interpretations. The group had many questions regarding how a juror picks pieces for a show. Kate explained her approach, and discussed some of the differences between a juror and a quilt judge.

Updates on the “Local Color” Show were presented by Managing Curators: Diane Wright and Kate Themel, and Exhibition Co-Chairs: Maryann Weinberg and Margaret Philips

• Jurors are reviewing all the entries now
• Email notification of accepted work will be sent March 10 – 15, 2013
• “Local Color” Opens at the Haas Library at Western CT University (WCSU) on May 4, 2013.
• Mayann is working on reserving space at WCSU for the next regional meeting. Tentative date is Saturday May 4, to coincide with the opening of Local Color.  More information will be provided as details are confirmed.
• There WILL be a catalog printed for the “Local Color” Show!

Show and Tell – many of the members actually brought pieces that they had entered into the CT “Local Color” show – lots of inspiration.

Lunch – there was a little confusion as to the member sign in sheet and the Lunch list – so we had plenty of food and were able to offer the lunch to any member that changed their mind once they saw the delicious sandwiches and wraps. (To eliminate any future confusion Catherine Smith has offered to purchase a Members Sign In Book for our next meeting.
The lunch list will be on a clip board clearly marked for that purpose.)
FYI - The German Chocolate Cake was from Motta’s bakery just outside Willimantic on Route 6 .

Since we were able to complete all of the members “Show and Tell” before Lunch members were able to get on the road following lunch and drive home in safety!!

Thank you, everyone who made trip.  If you couldn’t make it to Windsor this time, we hope to see you in Danbury in May!  Special thanks to Jan Doyle for providing these terrific photos of the meeting.