November 15, 2020
In this Issue:
Thankfulness
Notice: Deadline extended
Thanksgiving In the Studio...
Student Highlights
#WAMArtChallenge
Student Highlight:
Prompts
- Writing Prompt
Adult & Youth Class News
Online Resources
- Artist Grant/Support Opportunities
|
|
Lunar Force, by Susan Swinand, featured in our 2017 WAM Faculty Exhibition.
|
Thankfulness
I know, we get bombarded with messages about thankfulness at this time of the year, prompted by the imminent entry into our holiday season. With the pandemic still going on, and many people experiencing hardship and loss, sometimes we can easily fall into the mindset of "What do we have to be thankful for?"
I propose that rather than asking this question rhetorically, we ask it in earnest. So, what do we have to be thankful for? I for one, have a safe place to live, a community of people - family, friends, and co-workers - who support me, and a good supply of caffeine. Yes, caffeine. I include caffeine because sometimes it's the little things that help us get through the day. A quarter-hour reading in the morning with a cup of tea, a half hour with your favorite sitcom rerun, squeezing in thirty minutes of painting or writing during your lunch break...small things.
What these "small" things examples all have in common is the arts. A writer wrote your book; actors, script writers, costumers, videographers, and more put together that sitcom; and the act of creating is itself an art, no matter the outcome.
If you have a hard time finding something to be thankful for this season (and I don't blame you if you do), consider being thankful for the arts. As someone who receives this newsletter, you are already part of the WAM Studio Classes Family in one way or another, and I, for one, am thankful for you!
Cheers,
Elizabeth Buck
Manager of Studio Class Programs, Worcester Art Museum
|
|
Notice: Deadline extended
2020 WAM Virtual Student Exhibition
We are still accepting submissions for the 2020 Virtual WAM Student Exhibit!
The deadline for submitting work is November 20, 2020. There are 2 ways to enter:
- You may submit up to 2 images of your work using the below google form. Please note that you may need a google account to submit your work this way. http://bit.ly/WAM2020StudentExhibit
- You may email up to 2 images to: transactions@worcesterart.org. You must title the images in the following format: Your Name, Artwork Title, Media
|
|
Thanksgiving In the Studio...William Griffiths |
|
An image from one of Bill's Classes a few years ago. Bill is the one seated wearing the Hawaiian shirt. |
|
In this month of Thanksgiving we give thanks to our retired Faculty member William Griffiths, "Bill". After graduating from Pratt University, Bill was "discovered" by WAM Education staff while practicing his master colorist work behind a make up counter in a local department store! Although he was originally brought on in the late 1970s to teach youth, he quickly transitioned to teaching adult classes. At his most busy with WAM, he taught 8 to 10 classes per week!
Through the years, Bill has taught countless students drawing, painting, and how to apply color theory in their artworks. Due to his depth of knowledge, ability to work with students at all levels, and sense of humor, he developed a devoted following who attended his WAM classes at home and abroad in WAM's travel classes! Although Bill is no longer teaching with WAM, his legacy of teaching for nearly 40 years will be long-lasting.
|
|
Fans of Bill will be happy to hear that he still has his unique sense of humor, and is still creating art when the chance arises. We wish all the best for Bill and hope to see him back at WAM in the future!
For a little "taste: of Bill's funny, informational style, here is a peek of him doing a demo painting at an event at the Worcester Art Museum a few years ago!
|
|
#WAMArtChallenge Highlights |
|
These participants all submitted to the "Red" Challenge.
Thank you all for participating in a #WAMArtChallenge!
|
|
Student Writing Highlight |
|
When I Lay Beneath the Elm
Barbara H. Roberts
Back in the 50’s before the housing boom, when dirt roads with grass down the middle led off to the other side of town, a field of grass - about two acres - lay across the street from our house. The field played sanctuary to a stately old elm tree just North of an equally old oak tree abutting a stone wall with old barbed wire now unused since the farmer drove his cows to a different field. The grass in that field, in yellow summer days, blew in waves as the wind flowed over it, up one small hill and down the other.
It was here in this field that as a child I made a friend of that old stately elm and it of me. Being alone with few if any playmates, I would lay beneath the old elm, watching the sky, the birds, daydreaming I suppose. And it came to me slowly that this old elm knew who I was as I knew who it was. And I sensed that it in some way loved me - if I can attribute that emotion to a tree. There were no other elms around for they had died from the Dutch Elm disease but I didn’t know that then. Throughout that summer I would go frequently and lay peacefully beneath the elm.
But it was right after the war - World War II - and a baby boom had followed all the death and dying. Those new families with children needed new houses to live in. One day my father knowing my love for the tree told me a building contractor had purchased the field and was going to build a small subdivision in the elm’s field. To make matters worse the old elm stood right where the planned street was to go.
After lots of my crying and pleading my father went and negotiated with the builder and reported back to me. There was no way to save the old elm. The builder was firm on that. But the road could be moved slightly westward to save the old oak next to the stone wall with the barbed wire. And so the new homes were built, families moved in, new people became our neighbors. Three quarters of a century later the sweet memory of the spirit of the old elm tree remains with me.
---Thank you to Barbara for sharing her work with us!---
|
|
|
|
Writing Prompt
Many people have started getting ready for the holidays a bit earlier than normal this year in order to combat pandemic blues. Let's take this time to look back on fond, or funny, autumn or Thanksgiving memories! Take inspiration from your memories to write a short memoir-like story or a fictional account of a Thanksgiving holiday. Will you gathering go as planned, or will everything go awry? Serious, silly, or space-themed, have fun with turning your memories into art!
Image Information:
Getting Ready for Thanksgiving
1948
mixed media on board
2006.20
Submit your writing to elizabethbuck@worcesterart.org. We may pick a piece to highlight in a future issue of the Sketch and will compile submissions for later presentation!
|
|
|
|
December/January Classes
We have a variety of new studio art and writing classes and workshops in December and January!
Artist's Journal Workshop
The Art and Craft of Collage
Digital Art Classes on Mandalas and Character Design
Home for the Holidays Writer's Workshop
Mixed Media Workshop
Oil Stick/Pigment Stick Workshop
Elements of Landscape Painting
Palette Knife Workshop
and more...
We may even add more workshops - so keep an eye on the website for new additions!
|
|
Opportunities and Resources |
|
Artist Relief from Americans for the Arts
To support artists during the COVID-19 crisis, a coalition of national arts grantmakers have come together to create an emergency initiative to offer financial and informational resources to artists across the United States.
|
|
Now accepting submissions for the 2020 WAM Virtual Student Exhibition
We are excited to announce that we are now accepting submissions for the 2020 Virtual WAM Student Exhibit! The Deadline for submitting work is November 20, 2020. There are 2 ways to enter:
- You may submit up to 2 images of your work using the below google form. Please note that you may need a google account to submit your work this way. http://bit.ly/WAM2020StudentExhibit
- You may email up to 2 images to: transactions@worcesterart.org. You must title the images in the following format: Your Name, Artwork Title, Media
|
|
COVID-19 Resources for Artists and Arts Organizations
Are You an Artist in Need of Aid? Here Are Dozens of Emergency Grants, Medical Funds, and Other Resources to Help
|
|
If a friend forwarded this email, click the link to add your email to our mailing list! |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
