By now I am sure most of you have heard of the changes to the MoSAiQA conference. I share the sentiments of many when I applaud SAQA management's concise decision to cancel the Toronto conference when they did. What amazing work and huge disappointment for the organizing
committee and SAQA staff. As members we are so fortunate to have a devoted team that makes the most of unprecedented situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic.
The conference starts today March 19 and runs through Saturday March 20.
Also beginning today is the SAQA Spotlight Auction. This auction is usually the Saturday night fun at the in-person conference. Now anyone can bid on these lovely pieces.
Robin Fischer - Fire
Jenny Perry - Into the Woods
For more information about bidding in the Spotlight Auction please visit this link.
As we navigate these uncertain times, finding ways to connect virtually can be even more important.
Please keep an eye on this space and your newsletter for ways that we can reach out and support each other across the miles.
At the Opening Reception for My Corner of the World
Stratford, ON, May 2016
Checking back in the archives this morning, I found my first post on this SAQA Western Canada Blog. As its title read, I was the "new kid on the block" -- a newly-minted Co-Rep for our Region, following in the footsteps of Patti Morris (now retired from SAQA), who'd served at least five years of a two-year term.
These were big shoes to fill (yes, I said this at the time, too!) Patti didn't do much blog writing -- but she did spearhead at least two exhibits, along with her colleagues Jill Sullivan of B.C. and Dawn Piasta (MB/SK): "Meet the Best of the West" and "The Burgess Shale". The latter exhibit is now part of the permanent collection at the Philip J. Curry Dinosaur Museum in Wembley, Alberta -- just 19 km. west of Grande Prairie.
Patti also managed to have almost annual "Parlour Meetings" in her spacious home in Red Deer. Me? I live in a 1,050 square foot mobile home in the tiny hamlet of Mirror, a good hour's drive NE of Red Deer. It's perfect for my life and work, but...not for large groups!
Except for a brief interlude when Val Wilson (who took on Co-Rep MB/SK from Dawn) wrote the posts, I've been doing this Editorial task ever since. In the past six-plus years, I've tried to glean news, share solo and group exhibit information, post up-dates re: SAQA Benefit and Spotlight Auctions and Conferences, and share information about our members -- people in a Region that comprises 29% of Canada's land mass, clustered on Vancouver Island, on B.C.'s Lower Mainland, in Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg -- and sprinkled hither and thither in between.
But...now it's time for a fresh face, a new perspective and unique writing style to show up on these pages. Co-Reps Jennie Johnston and Susan Selby have helped me put the word out...and now it's up to you.
Without a willing writer/Editor, these pages will disappear into Internet archives -- wherever that is. Those who don't keep up with SAQA on its website or on Facebook, who don't (or aren't able to) participate in online meetings, and who don't read their newsletters -- whether from SAQA international or from our Co-Reps -- well...maybe they won't miss the stories about their colleagues, or news about the Region as part of the whole organization.
SAQA Regional Reps - Portland, 2015
But isn't that why we gather -- electronically and, when we're able, in person?
Connection, critique, inspiration, encouragement, education, exhibition...this is what SAQA is all about at every level.
Where am I going from here? Not far -- not at the moment at least! I'm a member of the SAQA Regional Grants Review Committee, chaired by Bethany Garner (former Co-Rep, Central Canada), alongside Georgia French, Karen Hansen, Jen Solon (Assistant Exec Director) and Desi Vaughn (Regional Reps Co-ordinator).
I'll be at MoSAiQA in March, and am excited to help Maggie Vanderweit and her team as an on-site volunteer. It will be my fourth conference and my first since Portland (2015). It's an understatement to say I'm excited about this first conference outside the U.S.! Canadian members from coast to coast have played a quiet but firm role over the years, helping our neighbours to the south to develop international perspective as SAQA has grown, and we should be proud of that.
Closer to home, I've been selected as Feature Artist at the 21st Annual Lacombe Art Show and Sale in April 2020...the first time a textile artist has been chosen for that honour. As I work with the organizers to plan my special exhibit for that event, I am mindful of the role my SAQA membership will play in helping me to educate the general public about studio art quilts -- and I look forward to the challenge.
On January 1, 2020 I'll change the settings on the blog so that Jennie and Susan can be 'writers'. I'll keep my access to the blog in order to help a new Editor feel comfortable, and then bow out. That said, I won't be a presence at all after March 31, 2020, and what will be, will be.
Thank you all for reading, all these years. Thanks especially for those who sent me news to share, photos of their work, awards, workshops and other accomplishments.
I'd be remiss, though if I didn't close with a couple of reminders 😉:
AND...submissions to the SAQA 2020 Spotlight Auction can be sent in any time now! (Eeeek! I have to make mine!) Online submission ends February 1; Canadian artists have until February 21 for their piece to arrive at Maggie's home in Fergus, ON. See this page for details!
All the best to you for the New Year -- and the New Decade...May 2020 bring you inspiration, creativity, new friendships and experiences...and many happy memories. -- Margaret
There's lots going on with our members this month and next -- so let's leap into Spring (even if there's still several feet of snow on the ground and you've just come out the other side of an Extreme Cold Warning!) with these wonderful shows:
Shifting Tides: Convergence in Cloth -- the multi-Regional SAQA exhibit -- opens in San Jose, CA at the "Works" on April 19, and a tour thereof will be part of the itinerary at the SAQA Conference this year. This piece was one of 3 accepted from SAQA WC members...Congratulations to Janet Scruggs!
Several SAQA WC members are participating in this exhibit, including Judi MacLeod, Lesley Turner, Lesley Comassar, Donna-Fay Digance, Karen Selk and Barbara McCaffrey.
And then there's this ON NOW!
Pieces by SAQA WC member from B.C., Karlie Norrish McChesney
If you're anywhere near any of these exhibits, DO be sure to take the time to enjoy the work. Congratulations to all of our members participating!
Well...she didn't tell me directly, but I follow her blog, so...I was able to see the delightful piece submitted by B.C. member Terry Aske:
Black Lines + Bright Colors (sic)
(c) Terry Aske, 2019
Inspired by the artist Mondrian, I'm thinkin' it's sure to bring a pretty penny at the auction, and to make one particular collector very happy every time s/he sees it!
Another opportunity to have your art seen -- without the jury process or a fee to enter! -- is SAQA's Annual Benefit Auction. The Early Bird deadline has now passed (March 1) but never fear -- you have till June 1 to have your contribution received by the Auction curator.
For us Canucks, that means -- get it in the mail by May 8 (or so) to avoid delays at the border! That's just over two (2!) months away...so...get on it! 😉
Please accept my apologies if you've got a piece in one of these shows and I've missed your name and/or photo of your piece. I am not on ALL social media -- just Facebook and my e-mail. If you think I'm going to see something on Instagram or Twitter...sorry. Please get in touch to share with your colleagues across Western Canada, TROC (The Rest Of Canada) and the world. Yes, we have readers from the other SAQA Regions. So please let me know...and thank you for your support!
This event is the perfect way to put your work out there for SAQA members and conference guests -- some of whom are avid collectors -- especially if you are new to the art quilt scene.
It's a way to volunteer for SAQA and "be" at the Conference even if not in person.
The deadline for entry is March 1, 2019 -- and the pieces have to have arrived at the curator's address in Virginia by March 8, 2019. This means, shipping from Canada, that it's time to "git 'er done!" if you want to participate.
I mailed my little "tracked packet" on January 28 from our tiny hamlet post office. Our mail goes up to Edmonton, then to Calgary, then out of the country. As of this writing, my piece "has arrived in a foreign country" (meaning -- per the tracking page -- the U.S) and that update on February 1 is the latest information available as to its whereabouts...so you see what I mean!
No time to waste!
That said, if you've finished your piece and have a photo to share with your colleagues, please send it to me by e-mail. Don't forget to tell me its title!
