At our June General Membership Meeting, about 35-40 members gathered to eat, drink and figure out what we most wanted to put our energy into as an organization.  Many ideas were expressed by writing on colorful post-it notes and affixing them to a large wall. The post-its were then organized by topic, and everyone selected up to three ideas to endorse.  There was a lot of overlap in the suggestions, but the THREE overarching desires were:

•       MORE COMMUNITY

•       MORE SKILL-SHARING

•       MORE WAYS TO SHARE OUR ART 

Below are some of the ways that the board is acting on this input. If there is something else that you have the energy and desire to take ownership of within the AOPR community, don’t hold back! Email info@artsofpointrichmond.com to get started!

SECOND THURSDAY MEETUPS AT THE MAC

The Board proposes monthly Second Thursday Meetups at the Hotel Mac – a loose, no-host get-together to discuss art, life and everything in between.  The first meetup will be on August 14th at 5:00pm.  

QUARTERLY MEMBER GATHERINGS

Additionally, we will have a Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter gathering at the Point Richmond Gallery at which AOPR members will be invited to bring a piece of their work for “show & tell”. These gatherings will also function as membership meetings, in case there are issues to share or address. Watch the AOPR bulletin and website for the announcement of our autumn gathering.

FIELD TRIPS TO GALLERIES, STUDIOS, ETC.

Another way to build community within AOPR is to visit galleries and/or other artists’ studios together. If you’d like to suggest an outing or invite folks to your studio, let us know by emailing info@artsofpointrichmond.com with the following information and it will be listed in the AOPR bulletin and on AOPR website:

1.   What

2.   When

3.   Where

4.   Website link (if applicable)

5.   An eye-catching image

SPECIAL INTEREST SUBGROUPS

ArtFULL Conversations and Art Tag continue to thrive and the Photography Group has been re-energized with a dedicated page on the AOPR website. Find it on our homepage or click here https://www.artsofpointrichmond.com/photography. The photography group plans to announce skill-sharing ZOOMs and other events on their page on the website, and if the skill might be of general interest, it will be announced in the AOPR email Bulletin.  A new Watercolor Group has recently come into being and will also have a dedicated page on the AOPR website.

SKILL-SHARING WORKSHOPS

Andi Biren and Brian McGilloway have volunteered to organize skill-sharing workshops that will take place either virtually via our new AOPR ZOOM account or live and in-person.  Contact Andi (andi.biren@gmail.com) or Brian (Brianmcgilloway@gmail.com) if you have tips or a skill you’d like to share, whether it be about color theory, gelli printing, marketing, using AI or whatever.