Artists Guild News

I missed July so this should catch everyone up. Hurry, the deadline for the Guild online juried exhibit is AUGUST 13. The distinguished juror is Dr Amy Galprin, the Executive Director and Chief Curator at the Miami Dade Museum of Art and Design. She recently debuted a major retrospective on Celia Cruz the venerable Cuban performer. $1,000 first place, $500 second place, $300 third place and four honorable mentions at $50 each. Please see the prospectus at:

https://www.OnlineJuriedShows.com/Default.aspx?OJSID=58870

Now you may ask where does that money come from? The Guild prides itself on creating and managing opportunities for its members. Your dues and fees are used to create, fund and reward its member artists all by a volunteer, hard-working board of directors. I sure hope I get juried in.

Our next exhibit will be at Gallery 21 in Spanish Village/Balboa Park. Keep an eye on our website for announcements.

In addition, Guild board members Kevin Inman (noted plein air artist and world traveler) and artist Lelsie Pierce (studio Liberty Station) have created two life drawing classes a month, one in the Prado classrooms in Balboa Park and another off site. Your dues pay the model. Kevin also manages the web site in his spare time. Leslie also codirects our monthly atelier workshop with Jody Abssy (our Historian).

You would be inspired by the buzz we are generating monthly at our Atelier sessions. For 3 hours once a month and six hundred site visits, emails, texts, phone calls, coffee chats we are conceiving a conceptual installation on “Nonsense”. AND, speculating on additional installations on concepts …well you need to be there to understand them. Does anyone have a vacant store front or gallery we can use to install for a few weekends? Board member Lunjia Hu is exploring the UCSD campus for us. Stay tuned and/or join in. Next session August 21 at MOPA building in Balboa park -11:00 sharp.

Another Guild dialogue session happens when long time board member and multi term President Angelika Villagrana hosts a monthly Art Exchange Zoom Call (August 9-10:00-12:00). Come and share your art, answer and ask questions about ideas, materials,etc.. We see some amazing art there.

Note, Guild artists are exhibiting everywhere. List your latest show and see what others are doing on the web site, Thanks Lily Tanzer, Angelica, and Kevin et al for keeping us all informed. Also the board was pleased to jury in new Guild artist Megan Bishop as an associate member and are right now voting on three new applicant artists. 114 artists have joined or rejoined starting June 30. All members are required to sign up again so do check in.

Best Regards,

Jim Bliesner

President

San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild

MEMBERSHIP ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Please note that membership renewal notices for our new fiscal year (July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026) will be e-mailed to our members on July 1. Since The San Diego Museum of Art takes care of our accounting and operates under a zero-based budget, all our funds will be moved over to the Museum's operating budget on June 30, and we will have to start with zero money on July 1.

Therefore, please do not renew your membership before July 1.

As I mentioned during our General Meeting, we will be able to transfer

close to $5,000 to the Museum on June 30.

We very much hope that you will continue your membership with the Guild.

Artist Members: Make sure you update your profile on the Guild website.

As an artist member you may create your own website on your profile page and set up six albums of 50 images each after you have logged into our website: http://www.sdmaag.org.

Many of you have not yet done so. I encourage you to take advantage of this promotion of your work since, when someone googles The San Diego Museum of Art, the Guild website also shows up.

Another Guild benefit is that you may announce exhibitions you are in on the Guild website.

After you have logged into http://www.sdmaag.org as a member, hover over Artists List and click on Artists Forum in the drop-down menu. The member blog will open. You can then click on

Create Topic to write a blog entry that will show up on our home page.

San Diego County Fair Awards:

The following artists who were juried in the Fair have received membership awards from the Guild.

2025 Fine Art Exhibition

Roberta Dyer, San Diego, for

Stargazer - Mixed Media on Panel

https://www.robertadyerart.com

Peg Klinger, Fallbrook

Circling Around Again - Acrylic paint with added acrylic collage pieces

Steve Lawrence, Fallbeook

Rip Tide - Wood sculpture (mobius form),

carved from walnut, maple and color dyed maple veneers.

Steve also has three works in the Design in Wood Exhibition at the Fair.

2025 Photography Competitive Exhibition

Susan Coppock, Vista

Starry Gaze - Photograph

The Fair will be open from June 11 through July 6 (closed Mondays and Tuesdays).

A number of our artists have been juried into the exhibition.

Dear Members of the Artists Guild:

We held our Annual Membership Meeting via Zoom on June 14. Many thanks to all of you who were able to join us and vote for the board of directors candidates for our upcoming fiscal year (July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026). After I presented the board candidates, a motion to approve the slate of candidates was made by Madeline Sherry and seconded by Doris Besikof. The motion passed unanimously. Below is a listing of the new board members and their positions:

Officers:

JIM BLIESNER – President/Atelier Project Coordinator

KEVIN INMAN – Vice President/Exhibitions Committee Co-Chair/

Website Assistance/ Life Drawing and Plein Air Sessions Coordinator

BARBARA LEITZEL - Treasurer

JON OHL WEBSTER - Board Secretary

ANGELIKA VILLAGRANA – Membership Chair/

Exhibitions Committee/Zoom Meetings Moderator

Members:

JODY ABSSY – Historian/Centennial Book/Exhibitions Committee/Atelier Project

MARK-ELLIOTT LUGO – Centennial Book

LESLIE PIERCE – Exhibitions Committee Co-Chair/Guild Instagram/Atelier Project

CECILIA ANASTOS – Member-at-Large

LUNJIA HU - Member-at-Large/Atelier Project

ARLETTE STELLA - Member-at-Large

LILY TANZER - Webmaster

VIRA USTIASKA - Member-at-Large

I reviewed our Guild exhibitions and activities for our 2024/2025 fiscal year as follows:

PAST EXHIBITIONS:

Highlights from The San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild

2024 Membership Exhibition at the Museum of Photographic Arts at

The San Diego Museum of Art (MOPA@SDMA)

Dammeyer Community Gallery:

November 7, 2024 - March 9, 2025

Juror: Hugh M. Davies, Ph.D.,

Director Emeritus, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

Membership Exhibition at Gallery 21

November 19 – December 2, 2024

Juror: Alex DeCosta, Gallery Director,

Hyde Art Gallery, Grossmont Art Gallery, Grossmont College

Membership Exhibition at PHES Gallery, Carlsbad

April 6 through May 31, 2025

Jurors: Gallery Owners Ellen Speert and Paul Henry

CONFIRMED EXHIBITIONS through 2025:

Online International Exhibition - Open to Members and Non-Members

September – October 2025

Submissions: July 1 through August 13, 2025

Juror: Amy Galpin, Ph.D., Executive Director,

Miami Dade College Museum of Art and Design

Gallery 21 Membership Exhibition

November 4 to November 17, 2025

Reception: Sunday, November 9 - 2 to 4 p.m.

Juror: Johnny Tran of Thumbprint Gallery, La Jolla

OTHER GUILD ACTIVITIES:

Atelier/Workshop Initiative - led by Jim Bliesner

with assistance from Jody Abssy, Leslie Pierce, Julie Weaverling and Lunjia Hu.

The Initiative was established in January 2025 to begin an exploration about future “pop up” exhibitions or collective installations. The group meets monthly at the MOPA@SDMA Building in Balboa Park. After much discussion, the group decided to create a "Nonsense" Exhibition/Installation at Graffiti Park on the UCSD Campus. The concept will be developed further in upcoming meetings.

The next meeting will take place on Thursday, June 26,

from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at MOPA@SDMA, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park.

Life Drawing - led by Guild Vice President Kevin Inman

Community Open Studio at The San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park

The first session was held on May 20.

The next session will take place in mid-July.

The Artists Guild provides a model (in a swimsuit).

Plein Air Painting Meetup - led by Guild Vice President Kevin Inman

The first meetup took place at Villa Montezuma on May 20.

Future events will be scheduled.

Our Monthly Artists Guild Discussions Meetings, led by Angelika Villagrana, on the second Saturday of each month, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon Pacific Time, will continue via Zoom. These monthly meetings have attracted members and guests from all around the United States, Canada, and even Germany, France and Italy. Images of attendees’ artworks are always posted on the Guild Face Book page – www.sdmaag.org (and click on FB). Our next Zoom meeting will take place on

Saturday, July 12, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon PDT.

I would like to invite you to join one or several of our board meetings to understand what issues we are dealing with and decide where you may assist us. Board meetings are held via Zoom on the first Tuesday of each month, from 10:15 a.m. to 12 noon.

Guild meetings are listed on the Guild website: www.sdmaag.org

It's that time of the year again when Guild members get to elect their board of directors. We look forward to your participation in the June 14th Zoom call. The board has voted on officers with me to continue as president, Kevin Inman as vice president, Jon Ohl Webster as secretary, Barbara Leitzel as treasurer.  The exhibitions committee will be co-chaired by Kevin Inman and Leslie Pierce, while Angelika Villagrana will continue as membership chair and recruiting volunteers to assist.

We have two exhibitions planned and locking in on the 3rd at Union Hall led by Leslie Pierce. First, is the online exhibition from September to October, with an entry deadline of August 13, which is an international invitational and will be curated by Dr. Amy Galpin, Executive Director, Miami Dade College Museum of Art and Design.  The second show is at Gallery 21 in Spanish Village in November, which is members only, and it will be curated by Johnny Tran, the owner of Thumbprint Gallery in La Jolla.  

Congratulations to the four artists who sold work at the recent PHES Gallery exhibition in Carlsbad.

We are honored to have had Julianne Ricksecker on the board for many, many, years. You cannot imagine how much she has contributed to the Guild's functioning. She will be greatly missed in that role, although she will continue as a member.

The board juried in two new artists in June, Jeney Hansen and Bruce Nihill, both painters. This brings Guild membership to 154 artists including associate and student members. Angelika does an amazing job keeping track of us all.

Also, at the June meeting the board allocated $700.00 for materials, fees and supplies for the workshops (figure drawing and plein air) led by Kevin Inman. Other funds will be used by the Atelier in its pursuit of a conceptual art installation on the concept of "nonsense" for its beginning effort. These working groups are open to all.

The Atelier will next meet on June 27th from 11:00 to 2:00 at MOPA. Two additional workshops are being scheduled with museum staff. Stay tuned.

It appears that we will be donating about $5,000 at the end of our fiscal year (June 30) to the San Diego Museum of Art. The Guild is the largest contributor to the San Diego Museum of its numerous support councils. In addition, we also are members and participants in the Museum programs, especially the community engagement efforts.

The big excitement this month was still the Artists Guild member exhibit at the Phes Gallery in Carlsbad. It is an outstanding group of work juried in by gallery owners Paul Henry and Ellen Speert and to date has registered four sales.

We added two new artists in May, Kai McCarty and Edwin Tuazon. In addition, we have appointed two new board members who, like all of the board, will be standing for election by the full Guild membership in June. We welcome Arlette Stella and Vira Ustianska to the board and appreciate their willingness to assist.

The regular exhibitions that the Guild develops have been supplemented by new initiatives. The “Atelier” has had its third meeting and are diligently focused on developing a “conceptual” work, brainstorming concepts, sites, materials and gradually construction. The Atelier has been meeting on the third Thursday of each month at the Museum of Photographic Arts building in a workroom graciously provided by the Museum. In addition to the brainstorming the group engages in a hands-on art making activity led by Leslie Pierce and Jody Abssy.

New educational workshops have also begun to percolate to the surface with Kevin Inman and Leslie Pierce working with Museum education staff to create a life drawing class (May 20).  Kevin is also convening a plein-aire session at the Villa Montezuma in Sherman Heights on May 22^nd. All members and the public are invited.

Julie Weaverling (a new grandmother) who engineered the Phes exhibit has also submitted the Guild video from the Highlights exhibit, along with Guild artists work, to the SD Airport New Terminal Inaugural Exhibition. It is competitive and hopefully her good work will prevail.

The Guild member exhibit for next year at Gallery 21 is locked in as is the Online International Exhibition. Curators have been selected for each. The board meeting for May was electric with discussions about additional exhibits for 2026. Stay tuned. You will be excited about the possible locations and ideas for future exhibits. But they all take a lot of hard work. And speaking of hard work... Leslie Pierce dramatically represented the Guild in playing a major role in mounting the large LA artist fire victim fund raiser event at the Union Hall Gallery. Over $40,000 was raised and Guild members were ever present volunteers (Angelica, Jody, John). Over 400 works of art were donated including work by 21 Guild members.

Finally, we have been nominated to receive the sParks Award from Forever Balboa Park along with other organizations. Their decision will be in Mid-May. The award is for organizations contributing to the vitality of Balboa Park and crossing boundaries. The nomination states “A practicing artists, architects, sculptors, we confront the formidable boundary between imagination and reality on a daily basis.”

Dear Artists Guild Members: 

On Sunday, April 6, we celebrated the artists who were juried into our membership exhibition at then  PHES Gallery. Many thanks go to the owners of the gallery, Ellen Speert and Paul Henry, for curating and hosting the reception and exhibition will which be on view at the gallery at  2633 State Street, Carlsbad, CA, through May 31.
The gallery is open from 2 - 7 p.m. - Thursday - Saturday,
and by appointment: (760) 696-3022.  
The exhibition can also be viewed on our website through May 31: 
 www.sdmaag.org and click on "Exhibitions."
 Direct link:  https://www.sdmaag.org/2025-Phes-Exhibition#gallery

Please join us for our next Artists Guild meetings:

Virtual Artists Discussions Series via Zoom

Saturday, April 12 - 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon PDT

To receive the Zoom link, please RSVP your attendance to

Angelika Villagrana, gelikavillagrana@gmail.com,

by Friday, April 11, 6 p.m. 

Atelier/Workshop Initiative Meeting

Thursday, April 17 - 11:00 a.m.  -  2:00 p.m.

Location:  MOPA@SDMA, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park To RSVP
and to receive the agenda for this meeting please contact 
Artists Guild president Jim Bliesner at jdbarte@gmail.com

The Artists Guild will hold its Annual General Meeting 
on Saturday, June 14, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon PDT via Zoom.  
We hope you will join us for this important meeting.  
During the meeting, you will receive updates on past and upcoming 
Guild activities and exhibitions.  Then, attending Artist Members 
will elect the Board of Directors for the coming fiscal year.  

The slate of the proposed Board candidates is as follows:

Jody Abssy; Cecilia Anastos; Jim Bliesner; Lunjia Hu; Kevin Inman;
 Barbara Leitzel; Mark-Elliott Lugo: Leslie Pierce; Lily Tanzer; 
Angelika Villagrana; Jon Ohl Webster

After serving on our board for close to 20 years, Julianne Ricksecker has decided not to seek re-election.  We owe her a lot of gratitude for her many years of service as membership chair, treasurer and webmaster.

We are looking for a few additional members to step up as either board or 
committee members, assisting us with exhibitions, promotion/publicity, and membership.

If you are interested, please contact me. You may also want to attend our
monthly board meetings on the first Tuesday of each month, from 10:15 a.m.
through 12 noon PDT via Zoom, to learn more about the Guild.

With best wishes,

Jim Bliesner, President 
The San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild

jdbarte@gmail.com

One exhibit finished (Highlights from the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild at MOPA) and another about to begin (Phes Gallery in Carlsbad – April 6-May 3) 47 works of art have been selected from 135 entries. The opening is April 6^th -. Exhibiting artists in the Highlights exhibit held an informal farewell reception on March 6^th and it was a grand farewell to an outstanding exhibit of Guild artists’ work. The range and quality of work was exceptional. 2025 will also include the Online International exhibit (August/September) and the Membership Exhibition at Gallery 21 (Nov 4-17). I am looking forward to continued Guild artist creativity and exploration of style, medium and ideas

Toward that end we have initiated a new project for Guild artists, soon to be artists and collaborators, the Guild Atelier. We have scheduled sessions in the MOPA Museum building in Balboa Park on the third Thursday of every month from 11:00 to 2:00 (except March when we will meet March 27 instead). In February Julie Weaverling lead us in an “imagining” session. The purpose was to freely suggest venues, concepts, installations, audiences, participants, etc. We will continue this exploration at the March 27 Atelier. Jody Abssy and Leslie Pierce have stimulated us with curious and innovative group art exercises

Another interesting experiment we are pursuing is in collaboration with the SD Museum of Art Community Engagement staff and muralist Mario Torero, a community engagement mural in the Sherman Heights neighborhood near downtown SD, Several Guild artists and sculptors are on board with this effort including myself.  Presentations were given by me on community engagement installations and John Ohl Webster on his conceptual art installation in Escondido.

 Guild artists and board members, Leslie Pierce and Kevin Inman are collaborating with the Museum staff in the development of an art workshop program. Potentially this will involve Guild artists as instructors for up-and-coming art students.

Finally... Please Note! --- Board elections are scheduled for June!!!! There are openings for additional board members so let us know if you are interested. All Guild members are eligible to vote for the board.

Jim Bliesner

I hope everyone is taking their friends to see the great Highlights Guild exhibit at the Museum of Photographic Arts. Dammyer Gallery. It remains on exhibit until March 9. Artists in the exhibit please mark that date for art pick up. Catalogues are still available in the MOPA bookstore. Mark Elliot Lugo has placed six copies at the Central Library which will allow artist biographies to be accessible on the library site. Kudos to Mark! The video of the exhibit is now available on YouTube. A second video will soon be posted focused on the indelible footprint of Guild artists on the San Diego cultural landscape. We are hoping to continue to feature Guild artists in the studio, etc. over the coming years. Many thanks to Leslie Pierce for featuring Guild artists regularly on Instagram and Angelica for posting the regular ZOOM discussion group artists on Facebook.

 If you are not in that show the Guild offers another opportunity with the recent release of the prospectus for the Phes Gallery Exhibit for Guild members only. This is an excellent Carlsbad venue, but space is limited so get your work in soon. Deadline is March 31,2025 and the exhibit will be up from April 6-May 31.

Our Online International Exhibition is planned for August -September 2025. This is open to all artists. Finally, Angelica has come though yet again for us and has scheduled an exhibition for Gallery 21 in Spanish Village. Stay tuned.

A few months ago, the Board approved an effort to create an Atelier/ Workshop Initiative. Thanks to the assistance of Lucas Perez-Museum Artist Guild Liaison. we have received permission from the San Diego Museum of Art to use a space in the MOPA building. We held our first session, and it was attended by 13 artists. Leslie Pierce led the group with an Expressionist group design session. Jim Bliesner and Mario Torero Acevedo presented an update on the Sherman Heights Mural/community engagement project being conducted with the participation of Deidre Guevera, Director of Community Engagement for the Museum. Discussion regarding the involvement of Guild artists followed. That was followed by a discussion about future “pop up” exhibitions or collective installations.

The room is available for one day per month, with additional time available. We will split the time between using the space for a workshop (ie life studies, various painting, sculpting and printmaking methods etc.) and using it to develop group conceptual art projects and exhibits. Currently we do not have a hook up for zoom participation, but we are working on it. If you are interested in attending the February 20 atelier/workshop message me.

Jim Bliesner -President

jdbarte@gmail.com

On December 1 the Guild hosted its Holiday Party at Gallery 21. It was a joyous event and John Ohl played Santa in his California garb!

    

Members gathered to share food, conversation, and a festive afternoon with fellow artists.

Guild Historian Jody Abssy created and presented an Anime book for Angelika Villegrana (holding many positions and wearing many hats throughout the years) in appreciation for all she does for the Guild and its members.

The book was an expression of appreciation that all Guild members feel toward Angelika.

ANIME ANGELIKA

1. Angelika may be a saint. 

She stays calm when most of us ain't!

2. She can no longer grin

when we're under her skin.

3. WHY can't my dear artist READ?

4. We can sometimes bring tears to her eyes. Do you part. Submit art. Know its medium, title and size!

5. Then she'll smile and all will be fine. 

All of us "cats' herded into line.

6. Look again and I know you will see

who she is for you and for me

Dear Members of the Artists Guild;

WOW, what a month! First, the big opening at the new Dannmyer Community Gallery on November 12, 5:00 to 7:00pm, with a full contingent of Museum staff lead by the Director Roxanna Velasquez and Community Engagement Director Deirdre Guevara and Lucas Perez. The Museum provided excellent food and some smooth jazz and invited all the docents who will be staffing the Guild Highlights exhibit for the next four months. It was interesting to note that as the art was being hung a narrative about tis collective meaning was created and installed by Deirdre Guevera and will be included in the docent tours descriptions of the exhibit. Included in the exhibit on a video loop was the video about the Guild, some of its history provided by Jody Abyssy and comments by Roxana Velasquez, Curator Hugh Davies PHD and myself, President of the Guild. That final video is now on YouTube https://youtu.be/9En1x337wF4?si=eP7dFkurKpI0dB-t. It was commissioned by the Guild board and completed by James Halfacre. Funds from artists membership dues were used for it. About 250 people were in attendance.

In addition to the video the Guild unveiled a full color catalogue with resumes and images by all 46 artists. Each artist was provided with one and the remainder will be on sale for $20.00 at the museum bookstore. All proceeds are returned to the Guild for future projects.

Then, as though that was not enough, the Guild opened another show in Balboa Park at Gallery 21 in Balboa Park on November 24-2:00-4:00. This show was juried by Alex DeCosta, Hyde Gallery and 40 artists were selected with three cash prizes and honorable mentions to three more. Thanks to all the Guild artists who volunteered to sit the gallery during the exhibit. The reception included refreshments, prize giving and an announcement of the upcoming Christmas get together at Gallery 21 on Dec. 1,4:00 to 6:00pm. Gifts will be exchanged, and Santa will be in attendance.

Be sure to consult the Guild website for the upcoming exhibit at Phes Gallery in Carlsbad. The exhibit will go from April 6-May 31 with an entry deadline of March 1.

You will recall the Board approved the effort to create an atelier/workshop in the Museum educational facility in the Prado in Balboa Park. Dates and schedule are being negotiated by VP Kevin Inman and Leslie Pierce. We look forward to your participation.