For the third consecutive year, the College of Southern Nevada is hosting the Vegas Artists Guild's 2009 Spring Members' Show. Located at the Artspace within the the Cheyenne campus of the Las Vegas community college, the exhibition opened May 1st and runs through June 30th. The Artspace itself is readily available to visitors and students alike on the second floor overlooking the main entrance, opposite the food court. Featuring work from thirty individual artists, the exhibit consists of a wide array of subject matter and styles to satisfy the tastes of art enthusiasts. Pieces range from the traditional oil and water-based media to less common materials, such as bead covered canvas, fabric collage, and metallic art. In much the same way, artistic styles vary from very faithfully rendered realist paintings all the way to the completely abstract.

 

On May 9th the Guild held a formal opening reception featuring food, drinks,and an awards ceremony, which was based on a popular vote held prior to the reception. Lily Adamczyk won first place with a picture perfect mixed media night overview of the Las Vegas Strip entitled “Vegas Remembered.” Karen Wheeler, a past president of the Guild and the longest continuous member, placed second with a watercolored titled, “Stop and Smell.” In keeping with Wheeler's usual theme of humorous puns or visual plays on common sayings, this piece depicted a skunk walking through a rose garden. Taking third place was “Aquarium” by Drina Fried, which appropriately consisted of a fabric collage of  colorful fish swimming in an aquarium. In general, the artwork was very professionally done and the exhibit was attractively curated by CSN Art Director Christopher Tsouras.

 

Despite its 13+ year history, the Vegas Artists Guild has always been one of the smaller art groups in the Las Vegas area. However, within the last several years there has been marked growth in memberships. When Roberto Rico, the current president, first joined the Guild in 2006, there were only about 30 active members. Three years later, the membership numbers close to one hundred and most of them are pretty active within the organization. On average, attendance at monthly meetings and show openings ranges around sixty. A large reason for the Guild's recent upsurge can be attributed to the sense of camaraderie within the group. Unlike many art groups in which most members join just to find opportunities to show their work, the Guild is a true community of artists. Part of the secret to the close knit nature of the group lies in the bylaws that prohibit jurying of artwork for group shows and the charging of entry fees for official events. These policies work to attract artists of all experience levels from those just starting to emerge upon the scene to those who are already experts at their craft. In addition it, eliminates any favoritism or judging by subjective criteria that can sometimes create tension and encourages those who might otherwise be too intimidated. As a result, it's a very active group and members participate beyond just submitting work for shows.

 

One might think that a policy allowing anyone who wants to the ability to display their work at group shows would lead to a diminished level of quality at those shows. However, that is far from the reality in regards to the Vegas Artists Guild. The numerous shows the Guild puts on throughout the Las Vegas area are consistently on par with any juried shows or competitions hosted by other groups or galleries. In fact, much of the Guild's success can actually be attributed to these less restrictive requirements. The resulting mix of novice and veteran artists creates a dynamic that can be very beneficial to both. Younger artists have the opportunity to learn invaluable skills and gain a sense of confidence, while more experienced artists gain exposure to current art techniques and trends as well as the infectious sense of enthusiasm that youth inspires. The Guilds longstanding motto is “Artists Helping Artists” and they very much live up to it.

 

The Vegas Artists Guild meets on the 2nd Monday of each month from 6:30 pm - 8:45 pm at the Clark County Library, 1401 E. Flamingo Road. Additional information can be found at  www.vegasartistsguild.com.