FOUNDERS:
In February, 1992 several of the present members of Art Focus XC (so named because they began meeting in the nineties), attended a workshop for artists seeking to push themselves beyond mid-career. Enthusiasm to continue this focus of sharing art developed and these artists agreed to meet informally as a group on the first Friday of each month at Artisan's Studio-Gallery. The first meeting was March 2, 1992. Founding members were: Martha Baker, Dorothy Barta, Cecie Borschow, Charlotte Cornett, Pat Kochan and Charu Shah.
OBJECTIVE:
To share related ideas and support the search for greater knowledge for the creative spirit.
MEETINGS:
Meetings were held informally without officers - everyone was to have an equal say; they were to be an open forum for anyone with the same interests and goals; they were to be fun and interesting; they were to be without commitment or pressure to attend meetings since the artists' lives were already quite busy. These meetings fulfilled the need that all artists have - to be with other artists with the same goals. By 1995, 14 artists with careers as teachers, art jurors, writers and leaders in the art community were attending meetings regularly. Each member was responsible for planning a meeting on a rotating basis. The program leader planned a collaborative creative activity, invited a guest to give a program, or planned for the artists to bring work to be critiqued.
EXHIBITIONS:
In 1994, the group of 14 artists planned their first exhibition for 1995. It was established that the exhibitions would be limited to those 14 artists or their replacements. Because the group had so much strength as individual artists with strong careers, the first exhibition was planned for 1995 to present a tremendously creative and innovative exhibition based on the process of creating art. The exhibitions became a yearly event followed by touring exhibitions to museums, universities, and art centers.
Website created by Christy Kochan Hartsell, e-mail: CHartsell26@aol.com
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