Greetings! Thank you to everyone who came to the March meeting. We voted on two important matters.

The first was the Slate of Officers for the coming season which was voted on and approved: Lorraine Capps, President Dee Cooper, Jenny Burnham, Francine Gerson, VP Committee Jim Sobel, Secretary Sandi Krym, Treasurer Anna Marie Jacobi, Dale Eulitz, Trudy Edlebeck, Marsha Bisson, Directors Thank you to everyone for serving and for all the Committee Chairs who are remaining for the upcoming year! The second matter was the approval of the Revised By-Laws as approved and recommended by the Board of Directors. This step enables us to move forward with re-writing the Articles of Incorporation and bringing them into compliance with the new By-Laws. We will now file them with the State of Florida, which will make our new name change official! That brings us one step closer to filing our 1023 to obtain our 501(c)(3) status. Thank you to the Board, and in particular, Dee Cooper and Kathy Erickson, for all your hard work on these documents! The Board is also in the process of revising our Standards Procedure for the new Yearbook. As part of this process, we have changed the Guilds media. We have added Metal and Sculpture to our media, and have approved the change in the logo that you see above. Since metal, glass, wood, stone, fiber, clay, and mixed media are the materials with which we work, they will be represented in our logo. This keeps the logo clean and simple, and keeps it the same size, which allows for it to be replaced in our publications easily and cheaply. Jewelry and

Sculpture are different because they are final products that can be made with any one or any combination of the other seven media. They will be our eighth and ninth media, and we will include them in all of our publications and discussions. Many thanks to Nancy Giffin for updating the logo so quickly! I hope you all will attend our April 20 meeting, which will be our last meeting of this season. This is our second party meeting of the season where we have a door prize drawing. This differs from our Dirty Santa gift exchange in that you are able to keep the gift you receive. No one will take it away from you! If you would like to participate, please bring a small, wrapped gift, which can be something you made or purchased. Also at this meeting we have a Buy/Sell/Trade event where any member who is interested may bring their work to buy, sell or trade. Its always a fun afternoon! We will also be installing our new slate of officers. Please bring a dish to pass, as always, and food donations for CCMI. Please be generous with your donations as this is the last food collection of the season. CCMI has a hard time over the summer because so many people leave the area. The people they help are not snowbirds, so their needs do not change in the summer! Remember, you may also include donations of pet food, as CCMI helps people keep their animals, which is not only a fabulous thing for them to do for their clients, but it keeps pets out of area shelters. They will always accept monetary donations as well, of course. Please read this Newsletter carefully, as it is full of valuable information and potential opportunities for you! Remember to send me info for the Newsletter by the 25th of the month: lorrainecapps@embarqmail.com. I hope you are enjoying the Spring, and I look forward to seeing you soon! Lorraine

SWFL FINE CRAFT GUILD GENERAL MEETING MINUTES: MARCH 16, 2013
Meeting called to order at 1:04 PM. President Lorraine Capps welcomed new members both present and unable to attend: Al Liccardi, Louis Ford, Lisa Tully, and Maryanne Olson. The following matters were discussed: Lorraine reminded all of the upcoming scholarship awards ceremonies, March 22 at Cypress Lakes High School Center for the Arts, and FGCU on April 3, and asked for membership participation to reinforce the fine effort of the Scholarship Committee and to enjoy the student artwork. Lorraine announced that the Board of Directors in its morning meeting decided to opt out of the tentatively scheduled exhibit at Arts for Act Gallery in December of 2013. Lorraine notified members that the Board has restructured the Guilds accepted media by officially adding Metal and Sculpture to our list of accepted fine crafts, and has changed our logo by changing the word Jewelry to Metal. Lorraine covered Volunteering in Phyllis Riesers absence. We will be inducting three people to the Vice President Committee, but we ideally would like the Committee to consist of five members, and thus are still looking for VP volunteers. Also, we need someone to create and maintain a computer program to track member info for each exhibit and to create presentations of photographs from shows and events, as well as other advanced computer responsibilities. Sherry Moesch volunteered to take this task on, (TY, Sherry). Lorraine also discussed the potential of the Guild working with the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on Sanibel for mutual benefit and asked for a volunteer to be the liaison for this project. Trudy Sampson, Toni Ory, and Joan Klutch all volunteered for this and will meet with them with Lorraine to get started. (TY) Lastly, Lorraine called for a volunteer to be a liaison with the Alliance for the Arts in the hope that if we had such a person, we might have a better chance of landing an exhibition venue with them, which we have been unsuccessful with to date. Lorraine reported that the Board approved a motion to make a formal written request to the Art Council of SWFL for the Guild to have a separate exhibit at the Coconut Point Co-op Gallery similar to the exhibit the Pastel Society had in February. Dee Cooper had to leave early, so Lorraine filled the members in on the 501(c)(3) progress. We are getting very close to submitting our application. The Slate of Officers for next year was read. The addition of Marsha Bisson as a Director was made. Motion was made and passed to approve said slate as final: Lorraine Capps, President; Dee Cooper, Jenny Burnham, Francine Gerson, VP Committee; Jim Sobel, Secretary; Sandi Krym, Treasurer; Anna Marie Jacobi, Dale Eulitz, Trudy Edlebeck, Marsha Bisson, Directors. The Revised By-Laws, as approved and recommended by the Board of Directors, was voted on and approved by the membership. The Treasurers Report was read and approved. Jacqui Smith announced that three members had passed their initial Standards Review: Trudy Sampson, Stone; Alex Chung, Clay; Nancy Giffin, Fiber. Their work will be on display as a show n tell after the meeting. Congratulations to all three! Angela Aradia reported on Publicity Committee progress in creating a data base of interior designers, public officials, all art organizations, and artrelated venues that we can use to publicize the Guild to the benefit of our membership. Kathy Erickson reported that we currently have a total of 74 members, both paid and honorary, and that March 1 was the final date for dues payment to be included in next years Yearbook. Also, that it is imperative that you sign both attendance lists when you attend meetings. Pam Bradfield announced that the Spring Art Affair at Bell Tower Shops was coming up and that she and other members would be participating: Kathy Waller, Phyllis Rieser, Janet Sigman, and Trudy Edlebeck. Marsha Bisson reported that the ACSWF April meeting would be at the Sandy Hook restaurant in Matlacha and attendance was open to all. Forty + people have responded to her survey and indicated interest in participating if the Coconut Point Gallery was open during the summer. She will be meeting with Sandra Mark soon to discuss this potential further, and will keep us updated on any new developments. She will notify participants of dates and times for final removal of work. Reminder that next months meeting on April 20th will be the Installation of Officers and our last meeting of the season. We will also have a party so feel free to please bring in party food and also a small gift if you wish to participate in the gift exchange (its a pickers/keepers event). Tania Begg announced that the Sea Grape Gallery in Punta Gorda is looking for 3D artists to join the Gallery. Contact her or Sea Grape for full information. Further that Dee Cooper is the Gallerys Featured Artists for the month of March. Anne DeLaCroix will be hosting the next Friendship Meeting. The membership was reminded to bring food donations to the April meeting, it being the last until fall. The 50/50 was won by Kathy Erickson, and added another $19 to our checkbook. Meeting adjourned at 1:40 PM. Respectfully submitted: Jim Sobel, Secretary

APRIL, 2013
SUNDAY MONDAY
1.
Passover (cont.) Receiving Co-Op Gallery 10-1

TUESDAY
2.
Passover (cont.) Receiving at BIG Arts Fine Crafts Exhibit 9-12; pick up declined work 2-4

WEDNESDAY
3. Art Council Mtg;
@Sandy Hook Rest., Matlacha 9:30 FGCU Guild Awards & Reception 5-7 Element. & Middle School Recep. @ Alliance 5-7

THURSDAY
4.

FRIDAY
5.BIG Arts
Reception 5:30-7 Reception at CoOp Gallery 5-7 Art Walk Night, Ft. Myers

SATURDAY
6.

7.
Holocaust Remembrance Day World Health Day

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.
Alliance for the Arts Artists Studio Tour, 9-4; Rose Young, Petra Kaiser, Phil Krym on tour; CCAS is last stop!

14.
Reception for Cypress Lakes High Senior Art Exhibit FMB Art Association 2-3:30

15. Deadline for

entry SBDAC Art of Playing Exhibit

16.

17.
Cypress Lakes High Exhibit @ Alliance Reception 5-7

18.

19.

20.Deadline to enter
Alliance All Florida Show Board Meeting 11:00 Business Meeting 12:30 Installation of Officers Exchange of Door Prizes Buy/Trade/Sell

Tax Day

21.

22.
Earth Day

23.

24. RSVP deadline

for Friendship Mtg! Admin. Professional Day

25.
Deadline for May Newsletter

26. April
Friendship Mtg 1:20 check in Pelican Sound Arbor Day

27.

28.

29.

26.

27.

28.

29. Receiving for

Mays Bouquets, CCAS 9-12

30.

Angela Aradia will be showing her work at the Cape Coral Library from May 1 through June 14. Angela also has an Etsy shop! You may check it out on www.etsy.com/shop/zenclownproductions. If you are interested in purchasing, you may contact her to avoid shipping charges. She also has an online bookstore: www. alibris.com/stores/zenclown, so check it out! AND a vase of Angelas was accepted in an online juried event: www.vasefinder.com. This is an international invitational show, and includes potters from six countries. The judge this year was Phil Rogers, a contemporary Welsh potter who specializes in ash glazes. Congratulations, Angela! You certainly have been busy! Alice Melzer will be teaching Drawing the Still Life classes at CCAS this summer. The first session is from 6/4 7/16/13 from 6-9 PM, and the second session is from 8/6 -9/17/13 from 9 AM 12 Noon. You may register at CCAS, or call 239-574-0802, or online www.capeparks.com. Be sure to check out all the classes at CCAS. Many Guild members are teachers!

Jim Sobel will have a solo exhibit at the CCAS Gallery in January of 2104!! Congratulations, Jim! The reception is Friday, January 10, 2014, and the exhibit will run from January 3-30, 2014. Its not too early to mark your calendars! Kathy Erickson is featured in Harbor Style Magazines April issue!! http://trendmag2.trendoffset.com/publication/?i=150171&p=38. It is a beautiful article! Congratulations, Kathy!! Jacqui Smith still has glass domes with walnut bases and removable brass hooks, 4H x 3 W for sale for $5 each. Contact Jacqui for more info. She also has a small Skutt Kiln 609 with Kiln Sitter and furniture for sale. 6 CU feet. Log of all firings and always covered when not in use. $475.00. dreamscopes@earthlink.net; 239-772-4154.

CCAS GUILD CASE: April 2013: May 2013: June 2013: July 2013: August 2013: September 2013: October 2013: November 2013: December 2013: January 2014: February 2014: Jeanne Kostrub Stan Dzedzy Nancy Giffin Available Available Judy Van Inwegen Pam Bradfield June Bennett Sherry Moesch Craft Bash Workshop Examples Available

Nancy Giffin is taking over the Webmaster position from Pam Bradfield. Thank you, Pam, for all the work you have done so far on the site! Nancy is stepping down from the position of Advertising Coordinator, so that position is again available. Nancy will be hard at work on the web site, and may need to take it offline from time to time in order to update it. Do not be alarmed if you are unable to access the site. It should only be offline infrequently and for short periods of time. Thank you, Nancy! Advertising Coordinator: This is the description of this position: The Advertising Coordinator could use the phone and/or email to solicit ads for our web site and newsletter. The membership could be instrumental in providing ideas for potential advertisers. We have a flyer that outlines the costs of our ads that could be utilized. Once we have advertisers, there will also be the need to keep track of their renewal dates. An assistant or assistants may be necessary. Also, please consider advertising your business with the Guild and helping to find advertisers until we fill this position. The rate schedule is as follows: Business card size ads: 4 newsletter issues + 6 months on web site: $50 9 newsletter issues + 12 months on web site: $75 Quarter page ads: 4 newsletter issues + 6 months on web site: $100 9 newsletter issues + 12 months on web site: $150 Art Council Delegate: This position is a liaison position between the Guild and the Art Council, and requires attendance at Art Council meetings and dissemination of information from the Art Council. The Delegate will give reports on the Art Council at Guild meetings, as well as forward emails from the Art Council to the Guild membership. Please contact Phyllis Rieser regarding volunteering at PRpsych@aol.com. SCHOLARSHIP UPDATE: The FGCU Reception for the senior art exhibit will be held on Wednesday, April 3, 2013 from 5:00 7:00 PM in the Art Center on the FGCU campus. Three Guild awards will be given! All Guild members are invited and urged to attend! The Cypress Lakes High School Senior Art Exhibit Awards Reception was held on Friday, March 22. The Guild awarded three Awards of Excellence of $100 each. The talent represented in this Exhibit was astounding, and judging it was both rewarding and extremely difficult. Thank you to our judges, Jacqui Smith, Angela Aradia, and Lorraine Capps for their hard work, to Al Liccardi for taking photos, and to Walt Smith and Sandi Krym for attending. Our awards went to: Alyssa Holmes for her charcoal and pencil piece, Man in the Woolen Hat; Sara Johnston for her charcoal piece, Portrait with Another; and Brittany Sibert for her pastel piece, Storm in Africa. Photos of the awards presentation, the winning artists and pieces can be found on the Guilds Facebook page and web site. All Guild members who attended were deeply impressed not only with the talent of these young artists, but also with how important the Guilds support for these students is. Many more awards could have easily been given to worthy students, and this knowledge reinforces our desire to do more in an area where the Guild can make a big difference! This Senior Exhibit will be on display at the Alliance for the Arts from April 17 27 as part of the Future of Art: Student Exhibit. The Reception is Wednesday, April 17 from 5 7 PM. You are urged to see this Exhibit, as no written description can do it justice. The Elementary & Middle School portion of the Alliances Exhibit will run from April 3 12. The Senior Exhibit will also be on display at the Ft. Myers Beach Art Association from April 13 18, with a Reception on Sunday, April 14 from 2:00 3:30 PM. J.N. DING DARLING NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE: The Guild is exploring opportunities to work with the J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge on future projects. One project in particular that we will become involved in is a festival that will coincide with Earth Week in April of 2014, which will emphasize conservation, education, art, and recycling. The weekend they are considering is April 26 & 27, 2014. The planning for this event is in the beginning stages, but you will be hearing more about it in the near future. Toni Ory and Lorraine Capps attended the first meeting, and Trudy Sampson and Joan Klutch have also expressed interest in working with Ding Darling. We will need a committee initially, and then we will need other Guild members to become involved as the event draws nearer. This project will provide many volunteer opportunities such as workshop teaching and assisting, and membership on the committee which will work closely with Ding Darling staff and volunteers on a myriad of jobs. There will also be opportunities for artists to sell their work made from recycled and/or reclaimed materials. Definitions and parameters will be publicized in the near future so that you will be able to plan

Contact Jeanne Kostrub to reserve your spot! 239-731-1302; jekglass@gmail.com. CALLS TO ARTISTS: The Mays Bouquets Exhibit is coming up soon at CCAS. The Exhibit runs from May 3 - 30, 2013 and all area artists are invited and all media are accepted! Work must depict the theme of flowers and is open to creative interpretation in all media, with traditional imagery or imaginative interpretation of the floral world. This is a juried Exhibit. Receiving is Monday, April 29, from 9 AM 12:00 Noon. The Reception is Friday, May 10, from 5 - 7 PM, and Removal is Friday May 31, from 9 AM 4 PM. You can find more information at the Studio or by calling 239-574-0802. The Alliance for the Arts 27th Annual All Florida Juried Exhibition is May 31August 2, 2013. Accepted media are sculpture, painting (oil, acrylic, collage, watercolor, mixed media), photography, prints and drawings. Digtal graphics, entry form, and fee must be received on or before Saturday, April 20, 2013, before 12:00 Noon. www.artinlee.org; 239-939-2787. The Sidney and Berne Davis Art Centers The Art of Playing Exhibit will run from June 7 28, 2013. Both 2D and 3D work will be accepted. The prospectus asks artists to explore all things games and playing, and the nostalgia these memories bring. You may see the prospectus online at www.sbdac.com. The deadline for entries is Monday, April 15; entries should be made electronically and images should be in JPEG format. The Reception for this Exhibit will be held on Friday, June 7 during the downtown Ft. Myers Art Walk. The Museum of Florida Art in Deland has issued a Call for Sculptors for their 2013-2015 Deland Sculpture Walk. More information can be found at www.museumoffloridaart.org. Work must be suitable for outdoor installation. Wednesday, May 1, 2013 is the deadline for submisions. If you would like a copy of their four page prospectus, contact Lorraine Capps at lorrainecapps@embarqmail.com. Florida Craftsmens Exhibit, Play: Toys & Games Made By Artists , will run from June 21-August 24, 2013. This is a popular theme! Entries must be original, executed within the last two years, and not previously shown in a Florida Craftsmen exhibition or in a gallery within 50 miles of Florida Craftsmen. Excellence of craftsmanship, concept, and design will be used as the criteria in the selection of work included in this exhibition. Humor plays well in this exhibit! The deadline for submission of images is Tuesday, May 28, 2013. www.floridacraftsmen.net. 727821-7391. VOLUNTEER UPDATE: We are still looking for two members for the VP Committee. The VPs are the ones who investigate exhibit venues, often involving road trips and lunches. They pick themes, choose judges, and organize all aspects of exhibits. Many people express interest in and have questions about themes and judges in particular. This is your chance to play an active role in these processes and be part of the decision making regarding future Guild exhibits. We need a Liaison between the Guild and the Alliance for the Arts to explore possibilities of working with them in the future to strengthen our relationship and help secure an exhibit in the future. One idea is to co-host a day of workshops at the Alliance similar to Craft Bash. We could call it Hands on Art or some other descriptive title. This job could develop into a committee in the future with several people sharing the responsibilities. Sherry Moesch has agreed to be the Guild Geek! We have a great need for someone with exceptional computer skills to upload photos and videos to the web site and Facebook, to create data bases and other documents and programs that require advanced computer abilities. Sherry has already created videos from Kathy Boyntons photographs of Craft Bash 2013 and the Reception of Simply The Best. Thank you Sherry!

ahead. They are hoping to attract at least 80-100 artists. Hopefully, this project will be just the beginning of a long partnership with the Refuge! Birgie Vertesch, who is Executive Director of the Refuge, will speak to us about this project at our September 21, 2013 meeting! When it was mentioned at the March business meeting, several people stated that they had never visited the Refuge. If you have not done so, please consider visiting this Spring so you will find out for yourselves what a treasure the Refuge is. The Refuge is closed on Fridays, and will be closed from May-September in order for the 4 mile Wildlife Drive to be repaved. The Vistors Center, which is interesting and educational, will remain open during that time. You can visit www.fws.gov/dingdarling/ or www.dingdarlingsociety. org for more information, and you can check out their Facebook page: J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. If you are interested in working on this project, please contact Lorraine Capps. ARTISTS STUDIO TOUR: The Alliance for the Arts is hosting its Second Annual Artists Studio Tour on Saturday, April 13, 2013 from 9 AM 4 PM. Three Guild members and CCAS are on the tour this year!! Petra Kaiser, Phil Krym, and Rose Young will be on the tour, and CCAS will be the last stop! Other featured artists are Paul Adamick, Paula Eckerty, Shirley Hales, and Alicia Schmidt. The day will begin in the Alliances Main Gallery with a complimentary continental breakfast from 9 - 11 AM. Maps and directions will be distributed, and the studios at the Alliance will be open all morning. The self-guided tour will take you to each artists studio, and you will end your day at CCAS where there will be an Art Hour hors doeuvres and wine tasting reception from 3-4 PM, with several other artists demonstrating silversmithing, stone, and clay. Tickets are $49 and include continental breakfast, self-guided tour & program, and the Arty Hour reception and demos. You may purchase tickets at www.artinlee.org. STANDARDS UPDATE: March 9th was the last Standards Review of this season. Congratulations to our three members who went through Standards: Alex Chung: Clay, Nancy Giffin: Fiber, and Trudy Sampson: Stone. Many thanks for bringing your work to the March meeting so the membership was able to see your fabulous pieces! Now is a good time to be thinking of our next Standards Review that will take place on October 12th. This date will be here before we know it but the good news is that you have the summer to prepare if you are considering this review to show your work. LONG TERM PLANNING: We are finished with Standards for this season, but you should be thinking of upcoming Guild Exhibits as you are planning your Standards Schedule. Standards Reviews are held on the second Saturday of the month during the months of October, January, and March of each year. We have the following Standards only Exhibits coming up in the future: CCAS, February, 2014 (no theme yet) Marco Island Center for the Arts, March, 2014 (Art on the Edge Of the Gulf) VAC in Punta Gorda, December, 2014 (no theme yet) CCAS, February, 2015 (no theme yet) SBDAC, July, 2015 (No theme yet) We will also have the Art Councils Spring Shows open to all Guild members in February, 2014 & February 2016. Our eligible winners from our exhibits will also be participating in the Councils Winners Circle Show in March of 2015. Check the Art Councils web site, newsletters, and brochure for other art leagues exhibits that are open to all Art Council members. APRIL FRIENDSHIP MEETING: The April Friendship Meeting will be hosted by Anne DeLaCroix on Friday, April 26. We will have an opportunity to take an Estero River and Bay cruise to Lovers Key! Check in is at 1:20 PM. The boat will load at 1:40 PM, so be early! RSVP no later than Wednesday, April 24 at 6 PM. We will be going to Pelican Sound Golf and River Club; 20820 Hammock Greens Lane, Estero, FL. From I-75 take Exit 123 Corkscrew Road and go West on Corkscrew Road. Get in the non-turning left lane and stay there. You will cross Rt. 41 and stay on Corkscrew Road, which will dead end at the Pelican Sound gate entrance. OR from 41, go West on Corkscrew Road. Go through the gate, and continue straight past the Clubhouse and tennis courts, and continue to River Club. The road dead-ends in the parking lot by the Estero River. The cruise can take 20 people in a covered boat, which is an open-sided pontoon boat. If it is a chilly day, dress appropriately. The bay waters are usually smooth. The cruise will stop at the beach for 20 minutes. You will have the option of staying on the boat when at the beach. You may bring drinks on the boat, but no red wine is allowed. They sell water and soft drinks on the boat.

When we return we will have a pool party. Feel free to use the pool if you wish. If you dont wish to take the boat cruise, you can come and enjoy the pool! Bring drinks and a dish to pass and coolers to keep everything cold! It is extremely important that you RSVP on time so Anne can make boat reservations and let the gatehouse know who is coming. You will not be able to get through the gate if you have not RSVPd! You can reach Anne at 239-247-2729 or email her at: a.delacroix@comcast.net. NEW MEMBERS: A warm welcome goes out to our newest members: Maryanne Olson: Glass, Jewelry, Fiber. 9551 Cedar Creek Dr.., Bonita Springs, FL 34135; 239-949-1249, Home; 239-292-4908 Cell. marquilts@aol.com. Al Liccardi: 14001 Stringfellow Road, Bokeelia, FL 33922; 239-282-2238, Home; 239-7702085, Cell; dreamk126@yahoo.com. Louis (its about time) Ford: Clay. 2654 1st Street, Matlacha, FL 33993; 239-789-8009; lford.art@gmail.com. Susan Pauley: Fiber. 1926 SE 21st St., Cape Coral, FL 33990, Cell 319-631-1110; spauley54 @gmail.com. www.spauley.etsy.com. Pamela Richardson: Fiber, Mixed Media. 505 SE 21st Street, Cape Coral, FL 33990; 360-739-3651; pjrichfiberart@comcast.net. SEA GRAPE GALLERY IN PUNTA GORDA: The Sea Grape Gallery, located in the heart of downtown Punta Gorda, has immediate openings for 3-D artists! They are expanding their exhibit space for 3D art, and are looking to add artists. They are a cooperative gallery, so their artists are member/owners. Their ideal candidates would have to be comfortable dealing with customers, processing sales, and being actively involved with Gallery operations and projects. Artists must reside in SW Florida for at least 8 months of the year. You may download an application and related information using the drop down tab under About Us on the menu bar on www. seagrapegallery.com. Interviews will be held in early April. Sea Grape Gallery, 113 W. Marion Avenue, Punta Gorda, FL 33950, 941.575.1718. They also have a Visiting Artist program, which you may contact them about as well. Their email address is: info@seagrapegallery.com. IMPORTANT REMINDERS: BIG Arts is hosting a FINE CRAFT EXHIBITION in April. Receiving is April 2, 2013 from 9 am 12 noon. Please enter this Exhibit! We want to show BIG Arts what wonderful art we create! There is a special award being given out in honor of Gail Jones, the Gail Jones Ceramic Award! You may download the prospectus on their web site: www.bigarts.org, click on Art Galleries and scroll down until you find the information on this show. Also remember that the VAC in Punta Gorda is hosting its MADE BY HAND Photo and Fine Crafts Show this Spring. This is another excellent opportunity for Guild members! Receiving for this exhibit will be Friday, May 31, 2013 from 9 AM 12 noon. The show will run through June 27, with removal on the 28th. More information on this exhibit will be published in future newsletters, and you can check their web site: www.visualartcenter.org. Both of these exhibits are perfect opportunities for ALL of our members!! APRIL ART COUNCIL MEETING: The Art Council meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 3, 2013 at 9:30 AM. It will be hosted by the Pine Island Art Association, and will be held at the Sandy Hook Restaurant in Matlacha. This is the Councils installation luncheon, and the restaurant is located at 4875 Pine Island Road in Matlatcha. Please plan to attend to show our support for the Art Council. CO-OP ART GALLERY UPDATE: Sales are strong again this month. Sales have been over $6500 so far for March as of 3/22! The SWFFCG and the Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs are consistently the top sellers each month! The commission for the Guild in February was $394. We are still considering staying open over the summer and are now recruiting for the various duties in the gallery that have to be performed on a monthly basis. Receiving, hanging, and displaying of the 3d work each month are some of the duties we need to fill, as well as someone to monitor the gallery sitting schedule. In addition, of course, we will have to have enough people to sit the Gallery. I recently issued a call for volunteers, so I hope you can help out. Thank you all for making the Gallery such a success this year and let's hope that we'll be there for the next season! Marsha Bisson, Gallery Director

ART COUNCIL NEWS: Sandra Mark will be continuing as President of the Art Council for the upcoming term, and Dee Cooper will become the new Treasurer. HARBOUR VIEW GALLERY VISITING ARTISTS PROGRAM: The Harbour View Gallery in Cape Coral is always looking for visiting artists, This provides a great opportunity for Guild members! Many Guild members have already taken advantage of this program. To download an application, go to www.harbourviewgallery.com, click on Contact Us, and scroll down to Visiting Artist Application. You may email the gallery at art@harbourview.com, or call them at 239-540-5789. Also on their Contact Us page is a call for a new Managing Member for the Gallery. They are looking for a photographer or other 2D artist working in a medium other than oil, acrylic, or watercolor. There is a link to download that application as well. GREETING CARDS: Please consider donating greeting cards to the Guild, whether you make them yourself or purchase them. Our Sunshine Chair, Francine Gerson, can always use cards and donations would greatly help our treasury! ALVA ART MART: The Alva Art Mart has been cancelled for the rest of this season due to lack of interest by the artists. No word on next season. A FACEBOOK TIP: Facebook changes your email address to a Facebook address that links it to the private message section of Facebook. If you do not pay close attention to FB, you will not see your messages. To change it, go to your profile page, click on the About section, then Contact Info, click on the Edit button, and Add/Remove Emails. You can then edit the highlighted section. FACEBOOK PAGES TO LIKE: Southwest Florida Fine Craft Guild Alliance for the Arts American Craft Endeavors Art Council of Southwest Florida Art Council of Southwest Florida Co-op Gallery ArtFest Fort Myers Art League of Fort Myers Art of the Olympians Arts of the Inland BIG Arts Music, Arts, and Entertainment Bob Rauschenberg Gallery Cape Coral Parks and Recreation Carol McArdle Paintings Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs CCMI Soup Kitchen Coconut Point Cypress Lake High School Edison & Ford Winter Estates Firemountain Gems & Beads Florida Craftsmen, Inc. FGCU Florida Repertory Theater Focus Magazine of SWFL Fuse-It With Petra Kaiser Happenings Magazine Harbour View Gallery Hirdie Girdie Gallery Island Paws Island Sun & River Weekly News J.N. Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge (Official) Kickstarter Lark Ceramics LoLos Paloozas Marco Island Center for the Arts Mosaics by Pam NCECA Recycled Art Foundation Over Easy Caf Sea Grape Gallery Sidney and Berne Davis Art Center Slumpys Southwest Florida Community Foundation

Visual Arts Center of Punta Gorda von Liebig Art Center Wendy Rosen, Arts Advocate WGCU Public Media WEB SITES OF INTEREST: SWFL Fine Craft Guild: www.swflcraftguild.org Alliance for the Arts: www.artinlee.org Anne Dalton, Esq.: www.daltonlegal.com Art Council of SWFL: www.ACSWF.org BIG Arts: www.bigarts.org Cape Coral Art League: www.capecoralartleague.org Cape Coral Parks and Recreation: www.capeparks.com Ding Darling: www.fws.gov/dingdarling/; www.dingdarlingsociety.org Florida Craftsmen: www.floridacraftsmen.net Harbourview Gallery: www.harbourviewgalery.com Kaiser Lee: www.kaiserlee.com; http://glassforum.blogspot.com/ Kickstarter: www.kickstarter.com Marco Island Center for the Arts: www.marcoislandart.org Rose Young: www.roselineweaving.webs.com Sea Grape Gallery: www.seagrapegallery.com VAC of Charlotte County: www.visualartcenter.org von Liebig Art Center: www.naplesart.org

The End