Philadelphia-WCA: 2014 YEAR IN REVIEW- WCA PAP (FOR NATIONAL BOARD MEETING)

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

2014 YEAR IN REVIEW- WCA PAP (FOR NATIONAL BOARD MEETING)

2014 Year in Review- WCA PAP

Kristin Osgood Lamelas

Philadelphia Chapter President

2013 Recap

The Philadelphia Chapter was on the verge of collapse in 2013. Virginia Maksymowicz called an emergency meeting to deliver this somber news. Kristin Osgood Lamelas believed the chapter was worth saving. With a 9 month old baby and a full time teaching job, she agreed to take on this very challenging leadership role in July 2013, and was officially elected President of the chapter in 2014. She restructured the chapter and recruited some wonderful women to help with chapter duties- Cathy DeMarco and Teresa Unseld did a great job handling membership, Eva Preston was the Vice President and did a good job bringing members to meetings and updating our Facebook Page. Emily Schnellbacher was our secretary and sent out calls for art and updated our social media (she has since resigned to focus on her studio practice).

2014 Year in review

Change does not come easily, especially when things have been done one way for a very long time. There has been some major turmoil, conflict and administrative changes in the beginning of 2014. However, I am happy to report that the Philadelphia Chapter has finally reinvented itself, and is now back on course. Kristin's goal has been to put a friendly face on the local chapter; to keep it drama free; to make it more transparent, open and accessible to all of our members. Over the past two years, we have had many planning meetings, figured things out and even learned how to Zentangle. We designed and printed business cards and began a new feature called “Your WCA" so we can highlight and get to know the members in our chapter. So far we have featured Diana Riukas and Laura Petrovich-Cheney.

All of this hard work is finally paying off. During the month of September, thanks to WCA member Pamela Flynn, we held an exhibition at Holy Family University called Connections. The show, featuring seven WCA Philadelphia chapter members- Rosalind Bloom, Claire Giblin, Jude Lang, Kristin Osgood Lamelas, Virginia Maksymowicz, Simone Spicer and Laura Petrovich-Cheney, went extraordinarily well. As we were setting up the show, we placed a figure sculpture next to two figure paintings. Little did we know the connections that would soon be made.

During the opening reception and artist talk, it was really touching to hear Claire Giblin talk about the relationship between her paintings and Simone Spicer's sculpture of a homeless man, which was constructed out of discarded corrugated cardboard. Claire said she felt like she was standing there, surrounded by her family. The one painting she made was about her nephew who was an addict. The other was about her mother, called Madonna de la Roccia, painted after an experience of feeling so close to her mother spiritually, upon viewing so many madonnas in Italian churches. She then looked down at Simone's sculpture and shared the little known fact that her own father was indeed homeless. He used to come home with a bar of soap and a razor in his back pocket. Eventually he stopped coming home and died on the street. Her story was so powerful and brought many people to tears. It was truly a magical evening. We never really know how our art will personally affect the viewer. During the same time as the HFU show, we had a connecting show at Plaza Artist Supply that featured the work of Simone Spicer.

The catalog of the Connections exhibition is here: http://issuu.com/presphilawca/docs/wcaholyfamilyshowcatalog2014.

Special thanks to Virginia Maksymowicz for her compelling essay, to Jude Lang for the fabulous design and to Kristin Osgood Lamelas for designing the exhibition card and coordinating everything.

On October 12th, we had a photography workshop at Jude Lang's studio. Kristin Osgood Lamelas demonstrated how to properly light and photograph your artwork. Then, she and Jude demonstrated how to edit the photos using Adobe Photoshop.

On November 9th, we met at Laura Petrovich-Cheney's studio for a tour and to discuss the business of art. Laura gave us a tour of her workspace and generously shared her organizational tips for shows, residencies and grants. We also discussed future exhibition ideas.

Meeting and working with these women is what the WCA is all about. It's about stepping out of your comfort zone, getting involved in the art scene, meeting fabulous women, learning from them and forging new friendships.

2015 is off to a great start! We have fresh, postive energy and a really great group of women who are very active in the chapeter. We have worked out the kinks, established a By-laws committee, and set up a less stressful, less taxing, but more beneficial year. Since we lost our space at Moore due to renovations, we decided to do member studio visits and workshops.

2014 Meeting Summary

January 5, 2014- Elections at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

February 9, 2014- Welcomed the Dumpster Divers at Moore, discussed a 10x10 show idea.

March 9, 2014- Held a materials swap at Moore College of Art for the 10x10 show.

April 6, 2014- Met at Moore to discuss a collaboration with PLAZA.

April 10, 2014- Met at PLAZA to discuss the show and it turned into a nightmare. Held an Emergency Board Meeting that night through Google chat. Decided to put the PLAZA show on hold until we could regroup and stabilize.

May 4, 2014- Board Only Meeting at a restaurant regarding conflict and restructuring.

June 2014- Awarded WCA Philadelphia Chapter Scholarships:

Philadelphia Board of Education-WCA Philadelphia Chapter Awarded a $100 scholarship to Philadelphia School District Youth Artist Exhibition Award winner Meridian Rogers-Lowe of J.R. Masterman, Grade 12.
Moore College of Art Senior Show- Congratulations to Stephanie Paone, Graphic Design major and recent graduate of Moore College of Art & Design, for winning the $100 WCA Philadelphia Chapter Scholarship and Membership for her piece about Stroke Awareness in honor of her father!

July 13, 2014- Zentangles meeting at MoCAD, discuss “Connections”, Your WCA

September 9, 2014- Connections opening and artist talk at Holy Family University, sister show at PLAZA

October 12, 2014- Jude Lang Studio visit, “How to photograph your work”

November 9, 2014 - Laura Petrovich-Cheney Studio visit, “The Business of Art”

2015 Agenda

January 8, 2015- Wine and Art: Elections in Jude Lang's studio and Crane "Second Thursday" Opening
May 17, 2015- Fine Art and Framing Karen Love Cooler Studio Visit plus Christopher Company Ltd.
September 27, 2015- Rosalind Bloom studio visit and transfer printing workshop
November 2015- Planning a national juried show for November at the Crane called Old Enough to Know Better. Details to follow.