President’s Message

Our business year is coming to a close.  It has been a very successful year and I want to thank AWA members for their contributions to this success.  Additionally, I’d like to highlight the contributions of the more than 30 members who have served on the AWA Board and in Committees this past year.  We are all indebted to those who continue to make our organization run smoothly.  THANK YOU.

News from the Board:

• Our Board Member Retreat will be held May 18. A major focus of this year’s retreat is expanding our membership.  We will be discussing ways in which we can reach out to a younger group of artists.  If you have ideas about how we can reach more people, please let one of the board members know.
• We are also collaborating with AAG to update our media capabilities in the AAG building, so stay tuned!

I enjoyed being able to hand out awards to 12 well deserving artists at our Spring Exhibition held at the West Valley Art Museum in Peoria, AZ.  If you haven’t had a chance to see this exhibit, please take the opportunity to do so.  I am also fortunate to be able to select one painting from each exhibition for the President’s Choice Award.  This time I chose Carol McSweeney’s painting: “Sign of the Times”, a painting of a homeless man sitting in a doorstep with a newspaper on his lap.  Having worked some with the homeless population, I am moved by their plight and admire Carol’s decision to reach out to them.

“It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.”  – Henry David Thoreau

Ruth Philliben, President