President's Statement – September 2026

I most often end up working on these statements mid-month mainly because the early part of the month includes the Guild Board meeting, Exhibitions Committee meeting, preparation for zoom and onsite Atelier meetings, website review committee…you get the idea.

Of course, these and more involve various board members and Guild artists, e.g monthly artist and art zoom dialogue. Then too, come the periodic (3,4) Guild exhibitions where I get my exercise hanging art with Will Gibson et al.

This past month saw the entry deadline of the Guild International Online Exhibition and indeed it was international with entrants from all over Europe, China and Canada as well as all over the US. Most heartening was the showing of so many Guild “world class” artists being curated into the finalists by Tina Yapelli, Professor and Senior Curator at the School of Art and Design, San Diego State University.  The first-place award went to San Diego artist Lori Mitchell, with Christine Ames and Laurie Batter taking other prizes. Guild artists represent the Guild and San Diego arts community well. The exhibition will be on the Guild's Online Gallery, www.sdmaag.org, through October 31, 2026.

The Board continues in its pursuit of excellent exhibition venues, curators and participants with another exhibition this year. This is the HARD one…SHIFT Gallery Membership Exhibition "16 and Under: Small-Scale Works by Members of the San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild" ... juried by Barbara Sexton,Artist/Professor of Fine Art, San Diego Mesa College (ret.), with cash awards. Creating all that we have to say in a small space is not easy for artists and sculptors! Challenging the boundaries once again. Sometimes we experiment and hopefully stimulate new visions.

A primary mission of the Guild is to bring value and promote the outstanding work of the San Diego Museum of Art. We are linked through the community engagement department with Deidre Guevera and Lucas Perez. All 154 Guild artists are Museum members and regular attendees at openings and events at the Museum. We donate funds annually. In addition, we bring the presence of the Museum into communities throughout the region, for example, the intense community dialogue we had with "One Day in the Life of Imperial Ave" about the Museum and its value to Logan Heights residents. Guild artists represented the Museum at the schools with classes. Plus, they dug deeply into the history and ambiance of the neighborhood to create their art (exhibit and catalogue).

We continue that community engagement for the Museum with “One Day in the Life of Newport Ave” Ocean Beach. Join the Atelier on October 15, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at OB Coffee Roasters, 4879 Newport Avenue, and see for yourself. If not this month, then every third Thursday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.  We are the Museum in these communities and neighbors as Atelier artists in their art and in turn bring these communities to the Museum. We continue to explore “conceptual art” with an intense dialogue on the concept of “Myths,” lead by Julie Weaverling, on zoom the third Wednesday of every month at 5 p.m. Try that one on!

Check out our website (www.sdmaag.org) for all of the interesting opportunities (i.e. Life Drawing at the Museum and Paint Outs around town) and see what Guild artists are doing these days as well.

See you out there or on the walls.

With best wishes,

Jim Bliesner, President 
The San Diego Museum of Art Artists Guild
 
The Artists Guild is the oldest Support Council of
The San Diego Museum of Art – www.sdmart.org.