TACA: Tennessee Association of Craft Artists
Highland Rim Chapter
Newsletter

TACA Highland Rim Chapter September 2005 Newsletter & Minutes

Highland Rim Officers for 2006:
President: Tim Hintz
Vice-President: John Lucas
Treasurer: Noreen Grisolano
Secretary: Carol Ventura
Board Reps: Jeanne Brady and Tim Hintz.

December 7, 2005 Meeting Minutes:

The Chapter met at Virginia Walker's new studio. In attendance were: Jeanne Brady, Margie Detring, Tom Fuhrman, Patrick A. Green, Noreen Grisolano, Rob Harvey, Tim Hintz, Susan and William Kooienga, Claudia Lee, John Lucas, Stiv Mackey, Deborah Sam, Joyce Sievers, Susan Thornton, Carol Ventura, Virginia Walker, and guest Reed Detring.

Margaret Shuster gave a presentation and led a discussion on “How to get coverage of your artwork in the Herald–Citizen.” See below for highlights. If you want to be profiled, please send Margaret the requested information. She is very interested in covering the arts in this area.

If enough people are interested, at the next meeting a committee will be formed to look into producing Made in Tennessee tags for our work.

Treasurer's Report: The balance is now $1,363.38. The 2006 budget report is available upon advance request. We expect to make and spend $1,800 this year.

By unanimous decision, the chapter is again donating $125 each for art grants in Jackson and Pickett Counties.

Traveling group exhibition: More members need to respond in order to be able to have a traveling exhibition. Send your slides and bio / resume / artist statement to Rob Harvey and Susan DeMay before January 15, 2006, if you would like to participate.

TACA Board meeting report: Alice is retiring! We will really miss her and wish her well. The board is looking in-state for an interim director. The Annual Retreat , February 3-5, 2006, will be a time for strategic planning for TACA. Please let the office know by January 1, if you would like to attend.

Renew your membership.

The TACA Spring Fair slide deadline is February 15th. You are welcome to sit in on the slide jurying, to see what one looks like. Contact the office for the date and time.

The TACA Spring Fair chapter group booth committee will be formed at the next meeting. Plan on attending the meeting if you are interested because a minimum number of participants are required.

End of Winter Blowout Event: March 18, 2006, 6:00 pm-9:00 pm. Tickets are available ($10). Please contact Tim (615 597-8770) to obtain one (psst-they make great holiday gifts). Come have fun and create community. The other TACA chapters have also been invited. Non-members welcome, too! A party committee was formed. Contact Tim if you would like to help.

www.finecrafts.org : Andrzej (agutek@tntech.edu) will make Highland Rim members a free web page or update a HR member web page. Send him negatives, slides, photos, and text. Digital images are best, but he can scan others.

Next Highland Rim Chapter Meetings:
Saturday, February 18th, 11:00 am; Jean and Tim's Program: Selling on the internet
Wednesday, May 10 th , 5:30 pm; Susan and William's
Wednesday, September 13 th , 5:30 pm; Claudia's
Saturday, December 2 nd , 11:00 am Carol and Andrzej's

Highland Rim Members in the News:

Christine and Louis Colombarini have again had two pieces (primitive-fired and embellished with oils, acrylic and textured modeling paste; Face Box and Textured Disc ) picked as finalists for the 2006 Niche Awards . Final decisions will be made at the awards ceremony February 18, 2006 during the Rosen Winter Market in Philadelphia, Pa.

Sally and Tom Freestone showed their pottery at the TN Farm Bureau State Convention at the Marriott Hotel, Cool Springs/Franklin on December 4 th by special invitation, as they were featured in the first issue of the TENNESSEE HOME AND FARM ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINE, December 2001 (that went out to 531,000 members).

Tom Fuhrman received the Distinguished Honor award at the Threefoot Festival in Meridian in Oct. He also had several pieces in Harris Arts Center Show in Calhoun, GA and currently has several pieces on exhibit at University of St. Francis, Ft. Wayne, IN Contemporary Crafts show.

John Lucas will have an article about turning Christmas ornaments coming out in WOODCRAFT MAGAZINE.

Carol Ventura had the following publications: Ambassador of Tapestry Crochet Goes to China , CHAIN LINK, January 2006; Down Mexico Way , CERAMIC REVIEW, November/December 2005; Horse Around Purse , CROCHETME, www.crochetme.com, October / November 2005. In October she taught two tapestry crochet workshops and spoke about the history of tapestry crochet in Vaasa, Finland, at Crocheting Days, sponsored by the Finnish Crafts Organization.

Kimberly Winkle was a Niche finalist in two categories: painted wood and fashion jewelry. She received an Evansville Museum purchase award at the 39th Mid-States Craft Exhibition in Evansville, IN, and is exhibiting work at Tercera Gallery in Palo Alto, CA, and Coady Contemporary in Santa Fe, NM. She will be teaching a three–day workshop in Atlanta at Turning Point Studios in March.

Post your news on Highlandrim-l or send it to the Highland Rim secretary so that we can keep up with what you are doing!

Also, feel free to post a reminder of your special event on the eMail list !

Margaret Schuster's Presentation at the Highland Rim December 2005 meeting:

How to Get Coverage of your Artwork in the Herald-Citizen

What the Herald-Citizen will publish in the Living Section:
- Notice of exhibitions in galleries here or elsewhere
- Any awards or honors, including winning or placing in competitions or having work accepted in a gallery
- Publication of photos of your work or an article by you as an artist in a magazine or trade publication
- Anything else notable or unusual, such as a new or innovative process you're using in your work.
- Special projects or prestigious commissions
- Ways you're using your art or craft to help the community (teaching it to schoolchildren, for instance)
- Artist profiles (a new feature; more on that below)

What to include in submissions :
Handwritten “rough form” is fine, as long as it includes the following information:
- What the event is
- When it happened or will happen (include times if it's a future event)
- Where it took or will take place
- A bit of background about you and your work
- Photos if possible, because they always add to the story and generate greater reader interest. If you're e-mailing the photo, the preferred format is a 300 DPI jpeg attachment. You can either submit close-ups of the work itself, a picture of you holding or displaying the work, or a picture of you busy creating it (these are always the best!).

Expanding coverage:
Artist Profiles
If you would like to be the subject of a profile, please provide Margaret with following information:
- Describe the work you do, in terms of medium, technique, style, themes.
- How long have you done this work?
- What brought you to this work?
- What are your influences?
- Where has your work been exhibited?
- Are there any honors or awards you'd like to mention?
- Where can people see and/or buy your work (galleries, shows, websites, etc.)?
- How can people contact you?
- Photo(s) You can either submit photos or let Margaret know if you'd like her to assign a photographer to take pictures.

Seeking larger stories about the arts in our community:
- Federal and state funding, or the lack thereof, and how that affects local artists and arts organizations
- Arts in the schools and what local artists are doing to help fill in the gaps
- What it takes to get grants, funding, etc. from state and national arts organizations. It is probably more involved and competitive than most people realize;

How to get it to Margaret:
- E-mail: lifestyles@herald-citizen.com
- Phone: 931 526-9715
- Mailing address: Margaret Shuster, c/o Herald-Citizen, 1300 Neal St., Cookeville, TN 38501
If you're wondering if it's something Herald-Citizen can cover, feel free to call or e-mail Margaret. Even if she's not able to do a story on it right this minute, she will keep a file of ideas for when she has the time and needs a story; usually there's quite a backlog.

Last updated on   September 16, 2007 . Comments? E-mail the webmaster. Maintained by Andrzej Gutek.