January Notes
It’s a Brand New Year!
2025 is going to be an exciting year for our Guild. Not only do we now have a website (you are receiving this Guild Journal entry through the website!), but the Guild will have a permanent home this summer! The Buffalo Community Center will occupy the vacant PenRad building on Highway 25, north of Highway 55. They have invited us to be housed in there with them—we are so lucky!
I couldn’t be more excited for our Guild. It is quite a beautiful building, with lots of natural light. We will have use of a shared space, many spaces actually, and the opportunity to show our art throughout the building has been discussed. We will have a lockable area for our supplies, and we will start to hold our meetings there as well. I am still awestruck at this opportunity!
If you have any suggestions of how you might envision a studio space, special tools, supplies, even furniture, let me know. I am in contact with the director and he has asked us for some ideas of things we could use/share with the Community Center. Think at all levels—they want to hear what we have to say.
Our January meeting will be held on Monday, the 20th, at the Buffalo Municipal Airport. Doors will open at 6:30, meeting will start promptly at 7:00. Annual dues will be collected and we will have annual elections and an art swap meet. Please plan to attend. We need to hear your voices as to how you want YOUR guild to run. It’s time for me once again to step down, let new voices lead us. I have been in this position since 2021, and am truly happy for the time and energy I have given—this year alone a website AND a new home possibility, but I could use time as a member instead of a leader. We work best as a group, and we have a wonderful board of directors to assist leadership. Please consider throwing your hat into the ring.
As for the swap meet, bring any quality art supplies you no longer need, and pick up a little something for yourself! Keep in mind that what you bring needs to go back with you if it is unclaimed. We don’t have storage for items leftover.
Kites on Ice is scheduled for February, weather permitting. As of today, we need to start wishing for a little more cold and snow for the event to happen! John and Sarah Hoppe are once again our leaders for that day and we really could use volunteers to help keep up with all the action on the ice. Please consider being a volunteer for a shift that day to help your guild. You can reach out to Sarah at sjhoppe@gmail.com or John at jhoppe99@gmail.com, if you have any questions about the day and what it entails.
We are enjoying having a member-lead workshop at our monthly meetings and are looking for some of you to help out with getting us creative! Please let me know if you are willing and have a skill to share with the group. We can pay for supplies.
We received a question recently from Dwight Monson, a teacher at the Buffalo High School with the following request:
“I am a teacher at Buffalo High School. I teach a class on career exploration and we are currently working on exploring careers in the arts. I was hoping some members of your organization that are professional artists in some way could come and present to students about their careers. ”
Please reach out if you are interested in helping him out. Thank you—we are still working hard at making the connection between us and the school to give out our annual scholarship for a deserving art student.
I will close by saying, “Thank You” for being here with me, sharing a love of learning and creativity. Without membership, we wouldn’t thrive. We took a pretty good bite out of our budget this year, taking a chance on a website to gather more of us together and I hope it works. We will continue to find ways to be a part of the local community gatherings, but fundraising may need to also be a part of our discussion going forward. If you have ideas, please share.
I like to share the definition of a Guild, lest we forget.
Guild--noun an association of people for mutual aid or the pursuit of a common goal.
Thank you for sharing these goals.
Warmest wishes for a wonderful and happy new year!
Tamra