Back to the walls!
The society is to have a "real" gallery exhibition for the first time since 2019. The annual show will take place at Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries, friom July 3 to August 7.
But we need to know by May 10 if you intend to submit work, so please let Kathleen Woods know by email or phone (see Contacts). You don't have to specify your work at this stage, just your intention of entering something. This is so that numbers can be estimated - Gracefield will be limiting the number of artworks to around 200.
Note: only fully paid-up members are eligible to enter.
Further details, such as the number of works each member can submit, will be published after May 10. There will be no selection process this time, and hand-in, in June, will have to be at pre-booked times, because of coronavirus restrictions expected to be still in force at that time.
Kathleen Woods, the chairman, told the society's recent annual meeting that the
Harbour Cottage Gallery at Kirkcudbright had been booked for November 1 to 13 for the society's winter exhibition.
The society will be celebrating its centenary next year and the possibility of a special exhibition at Kirkcudbright - the society's birthplace - is being explored.
Treasurer Audrey Grierson reported that as a result of savings made through not being able to hold talks, demonstrations, workshops or gallery exhibitions, there was a larger bank balance than usual, at £8,542.
This could be put to good use in marking the 100 year anniversary. Suggestions from the members for ways of celebrating the occasion are invited.
Three new members were elected to the society's council: Aileen MacEwan (previously co-opted), Maureen Edgar, and Caroline Hone.
(Members had voted by email because of the pandemic, and the meeting was conducted via Zoom).
No blanket ban on quilts
Contrary to what someone has been saying on Facebook, the society is not excluding quilting - or any other craft - from its remit. Craft entries of all kinds have always been welcomed at our shows, and, as the constitution states: "The Society shall promote the Fine Arts and Artistic Crafts and shall foster and encourage the practice and appreciation of drawing, painting, emerging arts and associated Artistic Crafts." This has not changed! In normal circumstances a selection panel would judge the artistic merit of all entries, but as mentioned above, there will be no selection process for this year's summer show. We don't yet have full details but there may be some size constraints on what can be entered.