Artists Guild News

President's Statement - December 2025

Well, here we are closing in on the end of 2025. For the Guild, it has been an exciting year headed by our members exhibition at the Museum of Photographic Arts Gallery (MOPA@SDMA), curated by Dr Hugh Davies from the Contemporary Art Museum (emeritus). We also just finished our members only exhibition at Gallery 21 in Balboa Park, curated by local gallery owner Johnny Tran - Thumbprint Gallery.  With super prize-winning art and eclectic surprises in style, concept and medium. the International Online Exhibition, which closed on November 15, drew over 700 entries from around the world, but our members dominated the selections by Dr. Amy Galpin of the University of Miami as curator.

The long-planned book “100 Artists-100 Years,” edited by board member Mark-Elliot Lugo, and ably assisted by Guild Historian Jody Abssy, is undergoing excruciating detailed fine design by Mark and should be published in time to add to The San Diego Museum of Art 2026 Centennial celebrations. Exhibitions of some of the works in the book are also under discussion with the Central Library and other academic venues in the region. There is high demand in the academic community for hundreds of copies for its unique historical and cultural value.

Kevin Inman continues to host monthly figure drawing classes with Museum staff with a mix of Guild members and others attending. Kevin has also hosted several on-site plein air painting sessions with open enrollment. Kevin also manages our online presence, helps build exhibitions (i.e. International Online/Gallery 21 exhibitions) and serves as the Guild vice president.

The Guild has also initiated a groundbreaking experience in the formation of an “Atelier.”  The Atelier is intended as a hands-on exercise /dialogue between Guild artists interested in experimenting with “conceptual” art projects. The important one going on now is “One day in the life of Imperial Avenue” in partnership with the Barrios Artists Partnership (non-profit). Twenty Guild artists will create their impression of life on Imperial Avenue and receive a $500 stipend. An exhibition of the collective artwork will be (tentatively) from February 14-22nd at a gallery on Imperial Avenue. The Guild involvement is part of an effort to develop the Imperial Avenue Arts District by the Partnership. This project is an exciting experiment in art and community engagement for the Museum.

Board member Leslie Pierce is knee-deep in organizing an exhibit on the theme “The Art of Now” at the Union Hall Gallery in Golden Hill, near downtown San Diego. She has short listed a distinguished list of potential curators, leased the space, and designed a prospectus which will invite artists throughout California. The tentative opening date is June 2026.

Additional exhibitions for Guild members are in the planning stages, including a return to Gallery 21 (pending parking rules) in Balboa Park.

Finally, Guild President Jim Bliesner (with board approval) has drafted and submitted a request to Deidre Guevera, Director of Community Engagement for the Museum, for a Biennale Exhibition (every two years) over the next ten years. The proposal suggests that such a declaration would provide a signature event for the Museum's Centennial celebrations, The primary argument is that the Guild and member artists are a constantly evolving phenomenon and that a benchmark exhibition highlighting this evolution would be distinctive. From artist dues and fees, the Guild has donated over $70,000 to the Museum's regular programming during the past ten years and would help defray the costs of an exhibition every two years.

Finally. TAKE NOTICE! Museum membership fees will increase in 2026. You might want to renew your Guild and Museum membership before the end of the year to avoid this increase.

That’s all for 2025.  It has been a good year for the Guild, and hopefully for the artist members, and we look forward to new and exciting things for 2026.

With best wishes for a Happy and Creative Holiday Season,

Jim Bliesner, President
The San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild
www.sdmaag.org - jdbarte@gmail.com

Here it is with the month half over and finally some time to summarize where things are at. Most of the information about exhibitions etc. is on the web site already thanks to Kevin Inman and Lily Tanzer. The volunteer hours of these two and all the board members is significant, and it doesn’t stop…upwards of a thousand monthly. Angelika keeps track and submits monthly reports to the Museum as they get credit for them in their grant writing.

The International Art Exhibit had over 700 entries and of those 21 Guild artists and 2 Associates were juried in. Charlene Moseley received an “Honorable Mention” award. Entries were from all over the country and many from other countries. The upcoming Gallery 21 exhibition will take place from Nov 4-17. Curator Johnny Tran will announce recipients on October 20. Good luck. Awards will be given. The opening is Nov 9th.

Exhibition Committee Co- Chairs, Leslie Pierce and Kevin Inman are hard at work in building for a proposed Union Hall exhibit in June of 2027. The amazing space is at 2323 Broadway. The theme for the exhibition is “The Art of Now; Pushing Boundaries” which is the brainchild of Leslie, as is the current negotiation with the Museum and the Gallery over rental agreement, liability insurance etc. all of which requires a signoff by the SD Art Museum which of course involves Angelika. Kevin will be coming on board to deep dive into the many other details that staging an exhibit entail. Unfortunately, I have had to be in Paris for two weeks so have not been of much help.

The ”Atelier” is in full swing as well. Our next meet up is Oct 16 and will happen at Imperial Avenue. 17 Guild artists have signed on to create work on the theme “One Day in the Life of Imperial Avenue” and will receive a $500 stipend to compete and exhibit work. This effort is in partnership with the Barrio Artists Partnership a local non-profit that is engaged in creating the Imperial Ave Arts District. Potentially an exhibition of completed work will be developed as well.

The twice a month figure drawing workshops are happening at the SD Art Museum studio spaces in Balboa Park. Meeting times and date will be on the website.

Lots more exhibits and events coming up so stay tuned and watch your mail.

I missed July so this should catch everyone up. Hurry, the deadline for the Guild online juried exhibit is AUGUST 13. The distinguished juror is Dr Amy Galprin, the Executive Director and Chief Curator at the Miami Dade Museum of Art and Design. She recently debuted a major retrospective on Celia Cruz the venerable Cuban performer. $1,000 first place, $500 second place, $300 third place and four honorable mentions at $50 each. Please see the prospectus at:

https://www.OnlineJuriedShows.com/Default.aspx?OJSID=58870

Now you may ask where does that money come from? The Guild prides itself on creating and managing opportunities for its members. Your dues and fees are used to create, fund and reward its member artists all by a volunteer, hard-working board of directors. I sure hope I get juried in.

Our next exhibit will be at Gallery 21 in Spanish Village/Balboa Park. Keep an eye on our website for announcements.

In addition, Guild board members Kevin Inman (noted plein air artist and world traveler) and artist Lelsie Pierce (studio Liberty Station) have created two life drawing classes a month, one in the Prado classrooms in Balboa Park and another off site. Your dues pay the model. Kevin also manages the web site in his spare time. Leslie also codirects our monthly atelier workshop with Jody Abssy (our Historian).

You would be inspired by the buzz we are generating monthly at our Atelier sessions. For 3 hours once a month and six hundred site visits, emails, texts, phone calls, coffee chats we are conceiving a conceptual installation on “Nonsense”. AND, speculating on additional installations on concepts …well you need to be there to understand them. Does anyone have a vacant store front or gallery we can use to install for a few weekends? Board member Lunjia Hu is exploring the UCSD campus for us. Stay tuned and/or join in. Next session August 21 at MOPA building in Balboa park -11:00 sharp.

Another Guild dialogue session happens when long time board member and multi term President Angelika Villagrana hosts a monthly Art Exchange Zoom Call (August 9-10:00-12:00). Come and share your art, answer and ask questions about ideas, materials,etc.. We see some amazing art there.

Note, Guild artists are exhibiting everywhere. List your latest show and see what others are doing on the web site, Thanks Lily Tanzer, Angelica, and Kevin et al for keeping us all informed. Also the board was pleased to jury in new Guild artist Megan Bishop as an associate member and are right now voting on three new applicant artists. 114 artists have joined or rejoined starting June 30. All members are required to sign up again so do check in.

Best Regards,

Jim Bliesner

President

San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild

MEMBERSHIP ANNOUNCEMENTS:

Please note that membership renewal notices for our new fiscal year (July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026) will be e-mailed to our members on July 1. Since The San Diego Museum of Art takes care of our accounting and operates under a zero-based budget, all our funds will be moved over to the Museum's operating budget on June 30, and we will have to start with zero money on July 1.

Therefore, please do not renew your membership before July 1.

As I mentioned during our General Meeting, we will be able to transfer

close to $5,000 to the Museum on June 30.

We very much hope that you will continue your membership with the Guild.

Artist Members: Make sure you update your profile on the Guild website.

As an artist member you may create your own website on your profile page and set up six albums of 50 images each after you have logged into our website: http://www.sdmaag.org.

Many of you have not yet done so. I encourage you to take advantage of this promotion of your work since, when someone googles The San Diego Museum of Art, the Guild website also shows up.

Another Guild benefit is that you may announce exhibitions you are in on the Guild website.

After you have logged into http://www.sdmaag.org as a member, hover over Artists List and click on Artists Forum in the drop-down menu. The member blog will open. You can then click on

Create Topic to write a blog entry that will show up on our home page.

San Diego County Fair Awards:

The following artists who were juried in the Fair have received membership awards from the Guild.

2025 Fine Art Exhibition

Roberta Dyer, San Diego, for

Stargazer - Mixed Media on Panel

https://www.robertadyerart.com

Peg Klinger, Fallbrook

Circling Around Again - Acrylic paint with added acrylic collage pieces

Steve Lawrence, Fallbeook

Rip Tide - Wood sculpture (mobius form),

carved from walnut, maple and color dyed maple veneers.

Steve also has three works in the Design in Wood Exhibition at the Fair.

2025 Photography Competitive Exhibition

Susan Coppock, Vista

Starry Gaze - Photograph

The Fair will be open from June 11 through July 6 (closed Mondays and Tuesdays).

A number of our artists have been juried into the exhibition.

Dear Members of the Artists Guild:

We held our Annual Membership Meeting via Zoom on June 14. Many thanks to all of you who were able to join us and vote for the board of directors candidates for our upcoming fiscal year (July 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026). After I presented the board candidates, a motion to approve the slate of candidates was made by Madeline Sherry and seconded by Doris Besikof. The motion passed unanimously. Below is a listing of the new board members and their positions:

Officers:

JIM BLIESNER – President/Atelier Project Coordinator

KEVIN INMAN – Vice President/Exhibitions Committee Co-Chair/

Website Assistance/ Life Drawing and Plein Air Sessions Coordinator

BARBARA LEITZEL - Treasurer

JON OHL WEBSTER - Board Secretary

ANGELIKA VILLAGRANA – Membership Chair/

Exhibitions Committee/Zoom Meetings Moderator

Members:

JODY ABSSY – Historian/Centennial Book/Exhibitions Committee/Atelier Project

MARK-ELLIOTT LUGO – Centennial Book

LESLIE PIERCE – Exhibitions Committee Co-Chair/Guild Instagram/Atelier Project

CECILIA ANASTOS – Member-at-Large

LUNJIA HU - Member-at-Large/Atelier Project

ARLETTE STELLA - Member-at-Large

LILY TANZER - Webmaster

VIRA USTIASKA - Member-at-Large

I reviewed our Guild exhibitions and activities for our 2024/2025 fiscal year as follows:

PAST EXHIBITIONS:

Highlights from The San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild

2024 Membership Exhibition at the Museum of Photographic Arts at

The San Diego Museum of Art (MOPA@SDMA)

Dammeyer Community Gallery:

November 7, 2024 - March 9, 2025

Juror: Hugh M. Davies, Ph.D.,

Director Emeritus, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego

Membership Exhibition at Gallery 21

November 19 – December 2, 2024

Juror: Alex DeCosta, Gallery Director,

Hyde Art Gallery, Grossmont Art Gallery, Grossmont College

Membership Exhibition at PHES Gallery, Carlsbad

April 6 through May 31, 2025

Jurors: Gallery Owners Ellen Speert and Paul Henry

CONFIRMED EXHIBITIONS through 2025:

Online International Exhibition - Open to Members and Non-Members

September – October 2025

Submissions: July 1 through August 13, 2025

Juror: Amy Galpin, Ph.D., Executive Director,

Miami Dade College Museum of Art and Design

Gallery 21 Membership Exhibition

November 4 to November 17, 2025

Reception: Sunday, November 9 - 2 to 4 p.m.

Juror: Johnny Tran of Thumbprint Gallery, La Jolla

OTHER GUILD ACTIVITIES:

Atelier/Workshop Initiative - led by Jim Bliesner

with assistance from Jody Abssy, Leslie Pierce, Julie Weaverling and Lunjia Hu.

The Initiative was established in January 2025 to begin an exploration about future “pop up” exhibitions or collective installations. The group meets monthly at the MOPA@SDMA Building in Balboa Park. After much discussion, the group decided to create a "Nonsense" Exhibition/Installation at Graffiti Park on the UCSD Campus. The concept will be developed further in upcoming meetings.

The next meeting will take place on Thursday, June 26,

from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at MOPA@SDMA, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park.

Life Drawing - led by Guild Vice President Kevin Inman

Community Open Studio at The San Diego Museum of Art, Balboa Park

The first session was held on May 20.

The next session will take place in mid-July.

The Artists Guild provides a model (in a swimsuit).

Plein Air Painting Meetup - led by Guild Vice President Kevin Inman

The first meetup took place at Villa Montezuma on May 20.

Future events will be scheduled.

Our Monthly Artists Guild Discussions Meetings, led by Angelika Villagrana, on the second Saturday of each month, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon Pacific Time, will continue via Zoom. These monthly meetings have attracted members and guests from all around the United States, Canada, and even Germany, France and Italy. Images of attendees’ artworks are always posted on the Guild Face Book page – www.sdmaag.org (and click on FB). Our next Zoom meeting will take place on

Saturday, July 12, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon PDT.

I would like to invite you to join one or several of our board meetings to understand what issues we are dealing with and decide where you may assist us. Board meetings are held via Zoom on the first Tuesday of each month, from 10:15 a.m. to 12 noon.

Guild meetings are listed on the Guild website: www.sdmaag.org

It's that time of the year again when Guild members get to elect their board of directors. We look forward to your participation in the June 14th Zoom call. The board has voted on officers with me to continue as president, Kevin Inman as vice president, Jon Ohl Webster as secretary, Barbara Leitzel as treasurer.  The exhibitions committee will be co-chaired by Kevin Inman and Leslie Pierce, while Angelika Villagrana will continue as membership chair and recruiting volunteers to assist.

We have two exhibitions planned and locking in on the 3rd at Union Hall led by Leslie Pierce. First, is the online exhibition from September to October, with an entry deadline of August 13, which is an international invitational and will be curated by Dr. Amy Galpin, Executive Director, Miami Dade College Museum of Art and Design.  The second show is at Gallery 21 in Spanish Village in November, which is members only, and it will be curated by Johnny Tran, the owner of Thumbprint Gallery in La Jolla.  

Congratulations to the four artists who sold work at the recent PHES Gallery exhibition in Carlsbad.

We are honored to have had Julianne Ricksecker on the board for many, many, years. You cannot imagine how much she has contributed to the Guild's functioning. She will be greatly missed in that role, although she will continue as a member.

The board juried in two new artists in June, Jeney Hansen and Bruce Nihill, both painters. This brings Guild membership to 154 artists including associate and student members. Angelika does an amazing job keeping track of us all.

Also, at the June meeting the board allocated $700.00 for materials, fees and supplies for the workshops (figure drawing and plein air) led by Kevin Inman. Other funds will be used by the Atelier in its pursuit of a conceptual art installation on the concept of "nonsense" for its beginning effort. These working groups are open to all.

The Atelier will next meet on June 27th from 11:00 to 2:00 at MOPA. Two additional workshops are being scheduled with museum staff. Stay tuned.

It appears that we will be donating about $5,000 at the end of our fiscal year (June 30) to the San Diego Museum of Art. The Guild is the largest contributor to the San Diego Museum of its numerous support councils. In addition, we also are members and participants in the Museum programs, especially the community engagement efforts.

The big excitement this month was still the Artists Guild member exhibit at the Phes Gallery in Carlsbad. It is an outstanding group of work juried in by gallery owners Paul Henry and Ellen Speert and to date has registered four sales.

We added two new artists in May, Kai McCarty and Edwin Tuazon. In addition, we have appointed two new board members who, like all of the board, will be standing for election by the full Guild membership in June. We welcome Arlette Stella and Vira Ustianska to the board and appreciate their willingness to assist.

The regular exhibitions that the Guild develops have been supplemented by new initiatives. The “Atelier” has had its third meeting and are diligently focused on developing a “conceptual” work, brainstorming concepts, sites, materials and gradually construction. The Atelier has been meeting on the third Thursday of each month at the Museum of Photographic Arts building in a workroom graciously provided by the Museum. In addition to the brainstorming the group engages in a hands-on art making activity led by Leslie Pierce and Jody Abssy.

New educational workshops have also begun to percolate to the surface with Kevin Inman and Leslie Pierce working with Museum education staff to create a life drawing class (May 20).  Kevin is also convening a plein-aire session at the Villa Montezuma in Sherman Heights on May 22^nd. All members and the public are invited.

Julie Weaverling (a new grandmother) who engineered the Phes exhibit has also submitted the Guild video from the Highlights exhibit, along with Guild artists work, to the SD Airport New Terminal Inaugural Exhibition. It is competitive and hopefully her good work will prevail.

The Guild member exhibit for next year at Gallery 21 is locked in as is the Online International Exhibition. Curators have been selected for each. The board meeting for May was electric with discussions about additional exhibits for 2026. Stay tuned. You will be excited about the possible locations and ideas for future exhibits. But they all take a lot of hard work. And speaking of hard work... Leslie Pierce dramatically represented the Guild in playing a major role in mounting the large LA artist fire victim fund raiser event at the Union Hall Gallery. Over $40,000 was raised and Guild members were ever present volunteers (Angelica, Jody, John). Over 400 works of art were donated including work by 21 Guild members.

Finally, we have been nominated to receive the sParks Award from Forever Balboa Park along with other organizations. Their decision will be in Mid-May. The award is for organizations contributing to the vitality of Balboa Park and crossing boundaries. The nomination states “A practicing artists, architects, sculptors, we confront the formidable boundary between imagination and reality on a daily basis.”

Dear Artists Guild Members: 

On Sunday, April 6, we celebrated the artists who were juried into our membership exhibition at then  PHES Gallery. Many thanks go to the owners of the gallery, Ellen Speert and Paul Henry, for curating and hosting the reception and exhibition will which be on view at the gallery at  2633 State Street, Carlsbad, CA, through May 31.
The gallery is open from 2 - 7 p.m. - Thursday - Saturday,
and by appointment: (760) 696-3022.  
The exhibition can also be viewed on our website through May 31: 
 www.sdmaag.org and click on "Exhibitions."
 Direct link:  https://www.sdmaag.org/2025-Phes-Exhibition#gallery

Please join us for our next Artists Guild meetings:

Virtual Artists Discussions Series via Zoom

Saturday, April 12 - 10:00 a.m. to 12 noon PDT

To receive the Zoom link, please RSVP your attendance to

Angelika Villagrana, gelikavillagrana@gmail.com,

by Friday, April 11, 6 p.m. 

Atelier/Workshop Initiative Meeting

Thursday, April 17 - 11:00 a.m.  -  2:00 p.m.

Location:  MOPA@SDMA, 1649 El Prado, Balboa Park To RSVP
and to receive the agenda for this meeting please contact 
Artists Guild president Jim Bliesner at jdbarte@gmail.com

The Artists Guild will hold its Annual General Meeting 
on Saturday, June 14, 2025, from 10 a.m. to 12 noon PDT via Zoom.  
We hope you will join us for this important meeting.  
During the meeting, you will receive updates on past and upcoming 
Guild activities and exhibitions.  Then, attending Artist Members 
will elect the Board of Directors for the coming fiscal year.  

The slate of the proposed Board candidates is as follows:

Jody Abssy; Cecilia Anastos; Jim Bliesner; Lunjia Hu; Kevin Inman;
 Barbara Leitzel; Mark-Elliott Lugo: Leslie Pierce; Lily Tanzer; 
Angelika Villagrana; Jon Ohl Webster

After serving on our board for close to 20 years, Julianne Ricksecker has decided not to seek re-election.  We owe her a lot of gratitude for her many years of service as membership chair, treasurer and webmaster.

We are looking for a few additional members to step up as either board or 
committee members, assisting us with exhibitions, promotion/publicity, and membership.

If you are interested, please contact me. You may also want to attend our
monthly board meetings on the first Tuesday of each month, from 10:15 a.m.
through 12 noon PDT via Zoom, to learn more about the Guild.

With best wishes,

Jim Bliesner, President 
The San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild

jdbarte@gmail.com

One exhibit finished (Highlights from the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild at MOPA) and another about to begin (Phes Gallery in Carlsbad – April 6-May 3) 47 works of art have been selected from 135 entries. The opening is April 6^th -. Exhibiting artists in the Highlights exhibit held an informal farewell reception on March 6^th and it was a grand farewell to an outstanding exhibit of Guild artists’ work. The range and quality of work was exceptional. 2025 will also include the Online International exhibit (August/September) and the Membership Exhibition at Gallery 21 (Nov 4-17). I am looking forward to continued Guild artist creativity and exploration of style, medium and ideas

Toward that end we have initiated a new project for Guild artists, soon to be artists and collaborators, the Guild Atelier. We have scheduled sessions in the MOPA Museum building in Balboa Park on the third Thursday of every month from 11:00 to 2:00 (except March when we will meet March 27 instead). In February Julie Weaverling lead us in an “imagining” session. The purpose was to freely suggest venues, concepts, installations, audiences, participants, etc. We will continue this exploration at the March 27 Atelier. Jody Abssy and Leslie Pierce have stimulated us with curious and innovative group art exercises

Another interesting experiment we are pursuing is in collaboration with the SD Museum of Art Community Engagement staff and muralist Mario Torero, a community engagement mural in the Sherman Heights neighborhood near downtown SD, Several Guild artists and sculptors are on board with this effort including myself.  Presentations were given by me on community engagement installations and John Ohl Webster on his conceptual art installation in Escondido.

 Guild artists and board members, Leslie Pierce and Kevin Inman are collaborating with the Museum staff in the development of an art workshop program. Potentially this will involve Guild artists as instructors for up-and-coming art students.

Finally... Please Note! --- Board elections are scheduled for June!!!! There are openings for additional board members so let us know if you are interested. All Guild members are eligible to vote for the board.

Jim Bliesner

I hope everyone is taking their friends to see the great Highlights Guild exhibit at the Museum of Photographic Arts. Dammyer Gallery. It remains on exhibit until March 9. Artists in the exhibit please mark that date for art pick up. Catalogues are still available in the MOPA bookstore. Mark Elliot Lugo has placed six copies at the Central Library which will allow artist biographies to be accessible on the library site. Kudos to Mark! The video of the exhibit is now available on YouTube. A second video will soon be posted focused on the indelible footprint of Guild artists on the San Diego cultural landscape. We are hoping to continue to feature Guild artists in the studio, etc. over the coming years. Many thanks to Leslie Pierce for featuring Guild artists regularly on Instagram and Angelica for posting the regular ZOOM discussion group artists on Facebook.

 If you are not in that show the Guild offers another opportunity with the recent release of the prospectus for the Phes Gallery Exhibit for Guild members only. This is an excellent Carlsbad venue, but space is limited so get your work in soon. Deadline is March 31,2025 and the exhibit will be up from April 6-May 31.

Our Online International Exhibition is planned for August -September 2025. This is open to all artists. Finally, Angelica has come though yet again for us and has scheduled an exhibition for Gallery 21 in Spanish Village. Stay tuned.

A few months ago, the Board approved an effort to create an Atelier/ Workshop Initiative. Thanks to the assistance of Lucas Perez-Museum Artist Guild Liaison. we have received permission from the San Diego Museum of Art to use a space in the MOPA building. We held our first session, and it was attended by 13 artists. Leslie Pierce led the group with an Expressionist group design session. Jim Bliesner and Mario Torero Acevedo presented an update on the Sherman Heights Mural/community engagement project being conducted with the participation of Deidre Guevera, Director of Community Engagement for the Museum. Discussion regarding the involvement of Guild artists followed. That was followed by a discussion about future “pop up” exhibitions or collective installations.

The room is available for one day per month, with additional time available. We will split the time between using the space for a workshop (ie life studies, various painting, sculpting and printmaking methods etc.) and using it to develop group conceptual art projects and exhibits. Currently we do not have a hook up for zoom participation, but we are working on it. If you are interested in attending the February 20 atelier/workshop message me.

Jim Bliesner -President

jdbarte@gmail.com