President's Message
Dear Guild Members,
From a Busy Summer to a New Season
It has been quite a summer for the Guild! In just the past month, we’ve had four different shows either being exhibited or in the submission process, providing our members with opportunities to exhibit their work and connect with audiences throughout the Charlotte region. Behind every one of those exhibitions are volunteers who have spent countless hours identifying venues, coordinating submissions and installations, communicating with artists, and making sure everything comes together. Thank you to everyone who has helped make these opportunities possible.
We’ve received a great deal of positive feedback about our Small Groups program, which has given members the opportunity to meet regularly with the same group of four to six people and develop deeper, more meaningful connections around a variety of shared interests and topics. Building relationships among artists is an important part of what the Guild is all about, and we’re encouraged by what we’re hearing from those who have participated.
We also know that every program can get better. We’ll soon be surveying current Small Groups participants to learn what’s working well and where there may be opportunities for improvement. We’ll use that feedback to make revisions as needed and, later this fall, invite more members to become involved. If you’ve been looking for a way to get to know some of your fellow Guild members beyond our larger gatherings, this may be a great opportunity.
There is good news on another front as well. We received a terrific response to our search for a Part-Time Director of Development & Partnerships. We’ve now evaluated the submissions and will be moving forward with interviews. This is an important step in the Guild’s continued growth, and we’re excited about the possibilities this new position can create for expanding our corporate relationships, exhibition opportunities, and presence throughout the Charlotte community. We’ll have more to share next month as the process moves forward.
And as summer begins to wind down, September brings the return of another important part of Guild life: our monthly meetings at the Mint Museum on Randolph. After our summer break, I’m looking forward to gathering again, reconnecting with friends, welcoming new members, and enjoying another season of programs designed to inform, inspire, and challenge us as artists. You’ll find information about the upcoming programs in this newsletter, and I hope you’ll make plans to join us.
Exhibitions, Small Groups, expanded professional support, and the return of our monthly meetings. There’s a lot happening at the Guild, but all of it ultimately comes back to the same idea: creating more opportunities for artists to connect, grow, and succeed together.
It promises to be an exciting fall.
Making Art. Building Community.
John Komisin
President
Guild of Charlotte Artists
Upcoming events.
Member Highlight
Jennifer Cline
Jennifer Cline is a self-taught artist born in Louisiana and based in North Carolina since 1995. She works in a variety of mediums, including watercolor, acrylics, charcoal, and more recently, oils. She often combines bold colors with layered brushstrokes to create depth and texture, infusing her work with a unique sense of feeling and bringing expression to her portraits. She is currently working on a series of portraits of local artists.
Elizabeth Quon
Elizabeth Quon is a photographer and writer whose work is shaped by a lifelong love of color, celebration, and meaningful moments. Born and raised in New Orleans and shaped by time in Tokyo, she is now based in Charlotte, where she is building her photography practice alongside her storytelling project, Life, Edited.
Michael Patterson
Michael Patterson, a New Orleans native, has called Charlotte, N.C. home for nearly 3 decades. Graduating from Louisiana Tech University in 1980 with a BFA, he pursued a career in video production while painting sporadically.
With construction of a studio in 2014, the past decade has become quite a prolific creative period for him. The studio setting provided traction and a haven for experimentation.
His work pursues texture, movement, tension, and color. Collectively, this mixture allows the fluidity which distinguishes his style. An artistic goal is to create in-depth, yet simple pieces. He intends his paintings to become enrichments toward the appreciation of the arts as a whole.
Michael’s wish is for his clients to retain that initial reaction provoked upon first viewing his art. He hopes this reaction enriches and evolves, much as the very process of the painting itself.
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