Artists Guild News

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

On December 1 the Guild hosted its Holiday Party at Gallery 21. It was a joyous event and John Ohl played Santa in his California garb!

    

Members gathered to share food, conversation, and a festive afternoon with fellow artists.

Guild Historian Jody Abssy created and presented an Anime book for Angelika Villegrana (holding many positions and wearing many hats throughout the years) in appreciation for all she does for the Guild and its members.

The book was an expression of appreciation that all Guild members feel toward Angelika.

ANIME ANGELIKA

1. Angelika may be a saint. 

She stays calm when most of us ain't!

2. She can no longer grin

when we're under her skin.

3. WHY can't my dear artist READ?

4. We can sometimes bring tears to her eyes. Do you part. Submit art. Know its medium, title and size!

5. Then she'll smile and all will be fine. 

All of us "cats' herded into line.

6. Look again and I know you will see

who she is for you and for me

Dear Members of the Artists Guild;

WOW, what a month! First, the big opening at the new Dannmyer Community Gallery on November 12, 5:00 to 7:00pm, with a full contingent of Museum staff lead by the Director Roxanna Velasquez and Community Engagement Director Deirdre Guevara and Lucas Perez. The Museum provided excellent food and some smooth jazz and invited all the docents who will be staffing the Guild Highlights exhibit for the next four months. It was interesting to note that as the art was being hung a narrative about tis collective meaning was created and installed by Deirdre Guevera and will be included in the docent tours descriptions of the exhibit. Included in the exhibit on a video loop was the video about the Guild, some of its history provided by Jody Abyssy and comments by Roxana Velasquez, Curator Hugh Davies PHD and myself, President of the Guild. That final video is now on YouTube https://youtu.be/9En1x337wF4?si=eP7dFkurKpI0dB-t. It was commissioned by the Guild board and completed by James Halfacre. Funds from artists membership dues were used for it. About 250 people were in attendance.

In addition to the video the Guild unveiled a full color catalogue with resumes and images by all 46 artists. Each artist was provided with one and the remainder will be on sale for $20.00 at the museum bookstore. All proceeds are returned to the Guild for future projects.

Then, as though that was not enough, the Guild opened another show in Balboa Park at Gallery 21 in Balboa Park on November 24-2:00-4:00. This show was juried by Alex DeCosta, Hyde Gallery and 40 artists were selected with three cash prizes and honorable mentions to three more. Thanks to all the Guild artists who volunteered to sit the gallery during the exhibit. The reception included refreshments, prize giving and an announcement of the upcoming Christmas get together at Gallery 21 on Dec. 1,4:00 to 6:00pm. Gifts will be exchanged, and Santa will be in attendance.

Be sure to consult the Guild website for the upcoming exhibit at Phes Gallery in Carlsbad. The exhibit will go from April 6-May 31 with an entry deadline of March 1.

You will recall the Board approved the effort to create an atelier/workshop in the Museum educational facility in the Prado in Balboa Park. Dates and schedule are being negotiated by VP Kevin Inman and Leslie Pierce. We look forward to your participation.

2024 Membership Exhibition at Gallery 21

Live at Gallery 21, Spanish Village, Balboa Park, San Diego, CA

November 19 – December 2, 2024
Online through December 2024: www.sdmaag.org

Juror Alex DeCosta
Director, Hyde Art Gallery at Grossmont College
Co-Founder & President, Front Row Center

Congratulations to our

First Place Award of Excellence Winner 

WILL GIBSON
Vincent Munch (2013)
Unique Platinum/Palladium
Print - $800.

About Will:

After spending seven years in medical research, Will Gibson turned his photographic hobby into a vocation in 1979. He opened his own studio a year later. By 1999, the business was a full-service commercial studio with a full wet lab and one-stop desktop publishing. What followed next was a three-year sojourn based in Columbus, Ohio, where he concentrated on his personal photography, traveling the art fair circuit all over the American east.

Returning to Escondido, California, Gibson began teaching photography at Palomar College, and later also at UCSD Extension. During the next fifteen years he taught fifteen separate class titles, including Alternative Processes, Portraiture and Commercial Photography. He continued to exhibit his work in group and one-man shows, was a founding member of the PhotoArts Group in Escondido, co-produced six Best of Nature shows at the San Diego Natural History Museum and has been a speaker and juror in photo clubs in the greater San Diego area.

Gibson is currently showing his varied work in his Escondido studio and exploring wet-plate collodion and digital infrared photography.

About Vincent Munch:  Vincent Munch is a close-up image of the exposed bark of a Ponderosa Pine Gibson calls the Survivor in Rocky Mountain National Park. This tree has been hit by lightning, burned and otherwise contorted by the elements over at least a hundred years. The image was captured digitally with the technique of focus stacking where multiple images at different focal distnces are used to create a composite of uniform sharpness and focus. The resulting image was inverted in values and printed on a clear material to create a suitable negative for a unique print in platinum and palladium on rag paper. The photographer sees elements of the paintings Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh and The Scream by Edvard Münch, hence the title.

Website:  www.willgibsonphoto.com

Congratulations to our

Second Place Award of Excellence
JOHN OLEINIK
MAINTENANCE (2020)
Oil on Linen - $2,800

About John:
I have been an architect with a private practice since 1983 specializing in the design of custom single-family homes. Starting in 2014, I have been making the professional transition into Fine Art. I am able to bring some of the unique skills acquired as an architect, into my oil paintings. My most recent work is an investigation into the human-condition. I have been exploring the aspects of man that distinguish humanity from machine as the line becomes increasingly blurred in the digital age. Stylistically best described as Abstract- Surrealism or Abstract-Realism.

General:

I paint with oil on linen. I used Fredrix acrylic primed linen that I stretch myself on 1 ¼” stretcher bars from Stretcher Bar Warehouse (you can buy online from central California factory). I use Princeton “Dakota’ 6300B paintbrushes (synthetic bristles. I mostly use Old Holland Paint or Windsor Newton. I use Utrecht alkyd glazing medium. The glazing medium allows me to build up many layers of paint over time. It also acts as an accelerator, so I can paint the next day. This painting is the product of about 20 sessions or layers. Each session is about 4 or 5 hours, not including painting the edges. The time between painting sessions gives me time to look at the work and plan the next move. I will work on a painting until I feel that I have little chance of making an improvement.

Starting with the blank canvas I will transfer the images using various means. Some freehand or carbon paper, plus I will use photographs that I have taken. From that point I will paint in the classic style. Light to dark. Front to back. Thin to thick.  Which I learned from my only true painting teacher, Ardith Melzer. On my palette I will usually use two yellows, two reds, two blues and white. I always start a painting with black that I mix from the primaries. The darkest black I have found is using Prussian Blue and Cadmium Red Dark. After several painting sessions with different blacks, I will go straight to white tints to establish the highlights. I learned this from Norm Daniels, who is a plein air artist. He taught me that it is important to establish your lights right away, especially in plein air when the light is changing all the time. I know that I do not have the same time consideration, but it still helps to establish the composition early on. At this point I may start to see figures emerge from the canvas and I will need to draw over the canvas to bring them out. This will add more painting sessions in order to merge the added figures into the existing compositions. Once I have covered the whole canvas with paint, I will start all over and repaint it again several times. Each time sharpening the image and detailing as I go.

About MAINTENANCE:  This painting entitled MAINTENANCE is part of a series that I have been working on for the last seven years and now totals over fifty paintings. I start the creative process by taking a number of photographs and superimposing them over each other.  I spend a lot of time carefully moving the images around on my computer till I get the correct composition. I then transfer the image onto the primed linen canvas. During the painting process, I continue to distort and pixelate the image giving the impression of a technological interference. I invented this process and it is unique to this series.

MAINTENANCE was created during the holiday season. This time of year elicits mixed emotions. It can be both a fun and magical time of the year and also be very stressful and emotionally draining. And for some it is a period of religious introspection and devotion. I leave it up to the viewer to connect with this painting according to their personal experience.

Congratulations to our

Third Place Award of Excellence Winner 

MARCY STINTON
Amber & Unber (2023)
Kiln Formed/Fused Glass - $400.

About Marcy:

I have worked with fused glass for over thirty years and have been a member of The San Diego Museum of Art Artist Guild for more than eighteen years. I draw |my inspiration from the vibrant colors of nature. Amber and Umber are two hues that are not commonly used in glass sculptures, and I wanted to create a piece that reflects their unique beauty together.

Exhibitions:

Glass Art Association of Southern California

There Ain’t Nothing Like a Dame

Encinitas Art Night

Small Image Show at Spanish Village Art Center

La Jolla Art Association

San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild Show

HONORABLE MENTION:

MAIDY MORHOUS
Cache (2024)
Bronze - $3,300.

JULIANNE RICKSECKER
Cascade Creek Falls (2008)
White Ground EtchinG - $350.

VIKTORIA ROMANOVA
Breakfast Joy! (2024)
Oil on Canvas - $4,000.

October 6, 2024

Dear Members of the Artists Guild;

The Guild has finished the month with 135 members all resigned or new. Welcome to you all and I look forward to seeing your work in one of our exhibits or on the monthly zoom call. Thank you all for completing this annual ritual. We remain probably the largest practicing artists guild partnering with an art museum in the US. New members come mostly from San Diego but also throughout the US and Europe, a dynamic union.

Remember, all members are invited to our monthly Saturday morning zoom call where artists show and discuss their most interesting work, new and old. Over 40 members regularly participate. Join us. Just click on the zoom link you receive in your email monthly. 

REMINDER- All artists juried into the MOPA/MOMA show must deliver their work to the back of MOPA on OCTOBER 28. The opening reception at the MOPA Museum is November 12^th. Wine, refreshments, speeches, a new Guild video and best of all member art, paintings and sculptures will be on display. This is the inaugural exhibit for the new Dannemeyer Community Gallery and not the last. The last time the Guild was exhibited in the Museum was 1997. So, let’s celebrate.

Gallery 21 -Spanish Village Exhibit -Juror Alex DeCosta, Director, Hyde Park Gallery has selected the art for this show, and you will be receiving notice if you submitted work. The show will hang from Nov 19-Dec. 2 and the reception is Sunday, Nov 24, 2-4PM.

A new gallery exhibit at the Phes Gallery in Carlsbad is being organized by Julie Weaverling, a Guild member. It will hang April 6-May 31. Submissions are due by March 10 so watch the website for announcements.

Our board member and exhibition co-chair Leslie Pierce invites Guild members to promote their work on the Guild's Instagram:

Submit_5_Images_for_SDMAAG_Instagram

The video for the MOPA/SDMA exhibit by James Halfacre is nearing completion- about 13 minutes shown on a loop throughout the show. It includes an exciting welcome by Museum Executive Director and CEO Roxana Velasquez and juror Hugh Davies Ph.D, Director Emeritus-Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego. It also includes great shots of current Guild artists at work in their studios, past notable art covering the San Diego region by previous Guild artists as well as excellent images of the art in the current show. We are all part of an exciting cultural legacy so get painting, sculpting and dreaming and I will see you at the opening.

Jim Bliesner, President

Catalogue Statement

Jim Bliesner -President

San Diego Museum of Art-Artists Guild

The San Diego Museum of Art-Artists Guild history is one of diversity, experiment and innovation. Guild visual artists, sculptors, and architects have played a major role in defining the artistic culture of the San Diego region for over 120 years. Its partnership with the Museum, starting with its inception, continues to present a national model of collaboration and community engagement.

This exhibit continues this tradition and presents a new generation of Museum/Guild exhibitions. The juried artists present a dynamic and eclectic survey of art styles, materials and ideas. It also premiers the art book “100 Artists,100 Years” featuring Guild artists both in and out of the Museum collection.

I am honored to be the incoming President of the Guild and look forward to many more outstanding exhibitions in and out of the San Diego Museum of Art and continuing to build artists membership and opportunities. It is my hope that the Guild will provide a dynamic community engagement opportunity for the Museum as well as Guild artists.

We are sincerely appreciative and honored to be the inaugural exhibit in the new Museum community gallery.