Committees – Huron River Art Collective Blog

Artists! Our new Huron River Art Collective website is at this very moment under construction! But, without you, it’s nothing (sheds tear).

But seriously, we do need pictures of you all doing all the cool stuff you do, so please send us some. Had a laugh at a Fall mixer or Holiday party in the past two or three years? Snapped a fellow artist working on a plein air? Did you take a pic of visitors at your Open Studio? Did a student immortalize you teaching an art class? Has a spouse or offspring captured you in a moment of creation? How about at a show Opening, or your Art Fair booth? Screenshot of Zoom Book Group (cheers!)? Don’t let those pixels just loiter aimlessly in the Cloud!

One reason for the new website is to attract new members, and to make our organization more open and diverse in every way. So if you feel like there aren’t yet very many members like you – then all the more reason to send us your photos.

Bearing in mind that not every photographic record is bright, color-balanced and beautifully cropped – do we have a photographer out there who will step up and do a few basic edits to make them website-ready? Reward is huge appreciation and air kisses from the Board member of your choice (disclaimer blah, blah).

Studio Visitors during Westside Art Hop – They were asked if it was ok to share this photo.

Click HERE to view photo upload form, and upload your pictures. Please note, you will need to give permission for the use of the photos, including checking with anyone in them that they’re ok with Huron River Art Collective using their image.

Thank you!

— Sophie Grillet, Communications Chair

You know how it is when you try to move a large rug while you’re still standing on it? You know it would work much better rearranged, but doing it is really awkward! That’s kind of how it is moving to Huron River Art Collective from Ann Arbor Women Artists.

Everything has to change, and everything has to have some continuity. We don’t want to lose any of the practical things which serve our membership, and we don’t want to ditch historical records or scrap our artists’ past achievements, but we do want the new website to function as perfectly as possible as soon as possible, and we do want to be poised to grow into the new character of the Collective.

We are delighted to have found a small but experienced professional company to help us with the changeover. And, we are extremely grateful to Dee Overly and Mary Murphy for the Herculean amount of work they have both put in to keep our website running up until now. We’re finally allowing them to retire from the volunteer job!

We always welcome thoughts and ideas from our artists – if you’d like to write some notes about what it’s been like being an artist in 2020, or share what your hopes are for the future, let us know! What has inspired you? What are you determined to change? We’d like to build blog posts around your interests, concerns, plans and dreams.

And as ever, don’t forget to keep in touch through our social events as well as sharing your work on Facebook and Instagram, and having conversations in our members’ only Facebook Group. If you meet any artists who haven’t joined or who don’t know about our new name and more overtly inclusive mission, we want to grow and develop – please invite them to join!

— Got an hour or two? Volunteer opportunities available in many sizes! —

To offer to help, message us through our Facebook page or Group, or email SophieGrillet at gmail.

“Our mission is to provide an inclusive and supportive environment for a diverse community of artists to share knowledge and opportunities that promote individual excellence, collaboration, inspire new creative perspectives, and offer engagement with the public to foster participation, appreciation, and support of the arts.“