The February meeting was held at Ben and Mary’s studio on Thursday the 4th. Members in attendance were Ron Cloyd, Ben and Mary McFarlin, Ruth McCrea, Susan Wallace, Beth Walker, Carol Proud, Gen Morris, Joanie Post, Bob Walsh, Ronda Clark, Wayne Petefish, Ashtonn Means, Harold Snider, and Cindy Logue.  Also in attendance was Tim Wedel.

We had a new member join the group at this meeting.  Welcome to Pirie Smith! We hope to see you on a regular basis.

Business for the month included:
    We are going to present cash award to two artists in the spring to the Mesa State College Student Art Show at WCCA. There will be a member’s award and a president’s award. Suggested amounts are $75.00 for the member’s award and $125.00 for the president’s award.  More to come on this one.

    The guild is scheduled for a guest show at Art Matters Gallery in Salida, Co. The show will be in mid July.  I will forward the exact details and dates soon.  Anyone interested can submit work for this, and there are possible artist’s discounts for lodging in Salida.

    We are also scheduled to have our annual show at the Art Center from September 3-25.  For those who are new members, this is the big one.  The previous shows at this venue have been very well received.

    The Steven Hill workshop is approaching fast.  If you are going to participate in this one and haven’t signed up, please do so ASAP.  You can contact either me or Bob Walsh (Bob’s email is bullseyerw@gmail.com).  Half of the fee ($175) for this is due by March 15 to hold your spot.   If you want more information about Steven Hill, his website is www.centerstreetclay.com

    The Art Center is hosting a workshop with Jake Allee the weekend of March 13 and 14. Watch your email for a flyer I will be sending out in the next couple of days.

    We have a fairly large list of members who haven’t paid their dues for 2010.  If you are one who has forgotten, please help out.  $30.00 to Harold Snider.

    We have been working on revamping the guild website to increase emphasis on displaying member’s work.  If you would like to have a page on the site for your work, please email me, and I will ask Andrea to set up  a page for you.  You can then email photos to me, or get them to me in another format, like CD or a thumb drive and I will get them posted.

    Tim Wedel approached the group with a concept called “100% for Haiti”.  Originated in Palisade at the Blue Pig Gallery and the Twisted Brick Studios, artists are joining forces to raise funds to help with relief in this devastated nation.  Proceeds for sales on March 6 will be donated to a fund of our choice.  Harold is working on securing a venue.  Please see Tim’s description below:  If you are willing to donate a couple of pieces, please contact me or Harold as soon as you can so we can secure plans.
 100% for Haiti
      Saturday, March 6, 2010

As all of you know, the small island nation of Haiti was devastated by a 7.0 earthquake on January 13th.  Government estimates as of this week top 150,00 causalities, 200,000 injuries, and one million people homeless. This will be one of the largest humanitarian assistance programs in history. The people continue to endure unfathomable loss, a complete life changing moment for every Haitian.  The magnitude of the disaster is incomprehensible.  Rebuilding efforts could take a decade.

"100% for Haiti” is comprised of a core group of artists affiliated with the Palisade Arts Community.  Our intention is to provide a banner under which other businesses (pods) can contribute to the cause of health maintenance and the rebuilding of Haiti.  Each participating pod makes their own decisions as to how they would like to run their event, agreeing to conform to minimal standards such as 100% of sales heading to relief organizations and participation on Saturday March 6th.
Presently participating are The Blue Pig Gallery and the Twisted Brick Studios and Gallery.

Items offered by Artists should be representative of the quality work of each individual.  Prices will be designated by the artist, commensurate with the market value of the piece.  This is not an auction style market.  It is a means for artists to retain respect for the value of their work.  Pieces unsold will be returned to the artists.

Our goal is to give all money raised to the relief organization.  All donations must be 100%. This provides a challenge for individual pods to use creative marketing techniques to give their pod exposure.  Expenses incurred should also be pod donations, not deducted from gross sales.  The exception to this would be credit card fees, if pods choose to accept this form of payment. Keep things simple.  Be creative.

Under consideration:  A Facebook site could act as an umbrella for participating businesses and artists.  This site could provide more specific information of individual events.    It is each pods responsibility to provide the administrators of the facebook page a streamlined description of their event.  Individuals may also comment via the site's Wall.   All information should concentrate on product, artist, activity, and location, keeping in mind that this is a fundraiser for the people of Haiti, as opposed to a disguised promotional opportunity.  100% for Haiti will distribute poster publicity for the public.
It will be the responsibility of each pod to create their own event, handle their own funds, and contact their regular client base.


Finding ways to help is often a difficult thing to do, but we are a rich nation.  We hope you'll support "100% for Haiti" on March 6. This event is approaching quickly.

Giving away a little is easy when you consider a nation that has lost so much.