Dear Fellow AFC Artists,

Thank you for participating in the 9th Annual Artists for Conservation Festival!

With deep gratitude to the over 30 artist members who joined us and to all our exhibit artists, and broader AFC artist community. We were thrilled to have many members travel from great distances to attend, from as far away as India, Pakistan, Australia and Europe.

Thank you to all AFC artists that spent time with us during the festival demonstrating their art and to Vicky Earle and Dr. Rob Butler for hosting special tours. Thanks to Gregory Wellman and Edward Spera for working under pressure during the AFC opening night to raise funds for AFC in our annual Raptor Quick Sketch. Also a big thank you to Mary Jane Jessen for her work in designing this year's AFC book.

The AFC Festival was a great success this year at VanDusen Botanical Garden. The venue was a perfect setting for an artistic and cultural event surrounded by nature.

During AFC's artist dinner, several exhibiting artists received awards and many artists were recognized for having contributed 10 or more paintings to the Silent Skies Mural. Congratulations to all!

In addition, we made several exciting announcements, including:
  • A long-term partnership agreement with Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum to establish a bi-annual exhibit/event as well as various other ongoing joint programs planned thru 2024.
  • AFC's second exhibit in Qingdao, China (now underway). Three AFC artists are attending.
  • A Silent Skies Mural installation at a city-wide Earth Day event in St. Louis, MO (April, 2020).
  • A first exhibit at the James Museum of Western and Wildlife Art in St. Petersburg, Florida in 2021.
  • A 2020 Kenya Artist Safari with Allan Hallet and Karen Laurence-Rowe.

It's hard to believe that next year will be our 10th festival in Vancouver. Fall dates and venue to be confirmed soon.

This years Simon Combes award recipient is long-time AFC artist and conservationist, Priscilla Baldwin . She will receive the award during a special presentation on January 24, 2020 at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
 
We invite all AFC artists to attend and hope that many of you will plan to join us this January at the Desert Museum to celebrate the opening of our tour and to honor Priscilla.

We welcome any feedback, please email us . We would love to hear from you!
 
Your friend in art and conservation,

Jeff

Jeffrey Whiting,
President & Founder, Artists for Conservation