CMMAG at Art of the Carolinas 2009

Last month, thirty members of CMMAG assisted the Jerry's Artarama staff in presenting the 9th annual Art of the Carolinas.  For the second year in a row, we had a fun, exhausting, exhilarating, creative, friend-filled and hectic weekend!  Here are excerpts from our President Penny's wrap up post describing it, plus fabulous photos taken by our Official Guild Photographer, Lucy:
"...Thursday morning, bright and early, (whew! 7:30) we hit the floor!  Two classrooms had been added this year, and we had an hour and half to prep 15 classrooms for jam-packed workshops beginning at 9:00!

Without worry, we deftly completed this first 'challenge' with roughly 10 minutes to spare *we ROCK!*  The game was afoot... We then turned our collective attention to our other duties:  setting up the
Make & Take area (which allowed us to seat up to 16 guests at a time!) and the World of Art Challenge Gallery.  BOTH areas were hot attractions throughout the show!

The Make & Take area was enjoyed by all ages and several couples!  At one point, Saturday afternoon, all seats were filled and we had a LINE waiting to come in and give it a try!  Our member artists presented 10 demonstrations in 3 days --each well-populated by interested folks -- many taking notes, and asking great questions.  A veritable boatload of information was freely exchanged; and scads of folks who had never even heard of ATC were thrilled to enjoy our offerings!  Thank you:  Jodi, Amy, Lynn, Debbie, Lucy, Laurel, Ashant'i, Mayshanna and Dawn for sharing your time, energy and incredible ideas with our guests. Everyone raved about the demos that were presented throughout the weekend.  Several folks lamented having to go home, and miss the next day's offerings.

The World of Art Challenge display was another marvel to behold!  The final count was 23; and the diversity in creative vision was incredible!  Late Thursday afternoon, the 'celebrity judges' were brought in to make their deliberations.  Bob Burridge and  David and Ira Goldstein (Jerry's sons) viewed and discussed the entries behind closed doors in the beautifully renovated Boardroom.  Hale and hearty congratulations to the Jerry's World of Art Challenge Winners!
  
 
     1st Place:  Carolyn Coyle
     2nd Place:  Jodi Ohl
     3rd Place:  Dawn Meisch
     Judges Award:  Jeanne Rhea

     CMMAG Leadership Award:  Vivianne Voyles

Friday morning, voting opened for Viewer's Choice; and the ooh-ing and ahh-ing was a melodious sound as visitors made the rounds and marveled over the creativity and vast differences in the lovely array of work on display.  At the end of voting on Saturday night, the winner was determined -- additional congratulations to Vivianne Voyles on the decision of the people!

The Guild information booth was once again a stand-out -- thanks, Vivianne, for the great idea about the digital photo frame!  We had plenty of information, TWO photo frames in operation illustrating Member work, Guild activities, and previous events along with ATC samples!  We had loads of visitors very interested in our group and all that we have done as well as the exciting events coming up in the new year!

Saturday, the creative talents of five Guild members were on display from 11 to 5 on the Trade Show floor.  Don Bradley of Strathmore provided the opportunity to highlight some of our number by hosting Artist Demonstrations in his booth at the show.  Melissa Walker, Dawn Meisch, Jodi Ohl, Ophelia Staton, and Mayshanna Pandora wowed the crowds (AND their host) with their fabulous creations and knowledge of their topics.  Join Strathmore's Face Book fan page for photos of
each of these Member Artists and their creations from the show!'

To say that our return to Art of the Carolinas was a success would be a gross understatement.  We are particularly thankful for the ongoing, incredibly generous support of our local Jerry's Artarama!  Our efforts were further aided by the gracious donations of Strathmore Artists Papers, Ampersand, Golden, Liquitex, Winsor & Newton, and Chroma. 


Here are the 2nd annual CMMAG Art of the Carolinas NUMBERS:
15 classrooms (22 MORE classes than last year in the 4 days of Workshops)
   (2 of these were on the Trade Show side - talk about running the gauntlet!)
115 classes at the North Raleigh Hilton
7 (?) boxes of rolled plastic for table coverings
    (cut to size and placed in plastic bags for ease of work on Thursday afternoon)
24-36 rolls of masking tape (to secure table coverings)
+/- 118 buckets of clean H2O (+/- 590 gallons of water)
+/- 118 buckets of murky water, during/after classes (+/- 590 gallons of water)
4 - new buckets obtained by 'dumpster diving' during a dump and fill mission
   (no, i didn't get IN the dumpster - i used a shovel, thank you very much

TOTAL Water hauled in four days:  1180 gallons (minimum)

My only regret is in not wearing my pedometer during the course of this event -
ha! *that would be a nice number to have*...  I also wish there were a means by

which to tally the laughter heard, the friendships made, the deep and fond
respect that was fostered by wonderful people having the opportunity to work together for the benefit of a mutual love...  But alas, there is not.  I am fortunate to have the precious memories of yet another fabulous success brought about by the willingness of each of you to share what you love about the special gift that is being an artist!"