Volume X, Issue No. 2 September 2008

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 2490, Wilkes-Barre, Pa 18703 Meeting Place: Midtown Village, Wilkes-Barre, PA

WWW.WVAL.ORG

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT

This month, I am pleased to report that the planning for the fund raiser for November 7th at Mohegan Sun at Pocono Downs is moving rapidly. The Chair, Michele Millington and I met with Mohegan Sun officials, took photos, and discussed details. The Committee is meeting at least every two weeks, and many letters have been sent to potential sponsors. A letter will shortly go to other artists, and you should have received your notice in the last Newsletter. In fact, IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE CONNCTED TO A BUSINESS , PLEASE ENCOURAGE THAT FIRM TO BECOME A SPONSOR. THE CATEGORIES WERE LISTED IN THE LAST NEWSLETTER.

    John Maday, our new coordinator has taken hold of his responsibilities, and is working closely with the Fund Raising Committee as well as learning more about the role of the Art League in the community. it is an exciting time since many events are being planned, all workshop dates have been set, classes are organized, and the Board has been extremely active in setting policy about the future of the organization.

    One action taken by the Board recently was to authorize the establishment of an Art League Community Relations Advisory Council, and John Maday and I will be preparing a list of candidates for the new initiative for presentation to the Board at our September 17th Board meeting. Another exciting activity is the Third Friday Art Walk, and representatives of the Art League are attending that Committee's meetings, and bring new ideas to the event. Look for several new additions to the Art Walk for the Second Anniversary of this Wilkes-Barre happy and joyous occasion. The Art League will be participating in the City of Wilkes-Barre CollegeTown event on September 18th at Public Square.

   Another major set of functions revolves around exhibits under the leadership of Kim Hughes. Kim reported to the Board on upcoming activities including the Pierce Street Gallery and the innovative art exhibit at the F. M. Kirby center for Performing Arts.More on this in the next newsletter and through other publicity.

   We, also, communicated with Jim Brozena, County Engineer, who is coordinating the portal work on the River Commons, and the Art League will have representation on the Arts Committee for that great project.

    We continue to examine all potential locations for the Art league's future, and the Search Committee of Frank Mariano, Margie Bryant and myself will evaluate all sites, and report to the Board in the near future.

   It is my hope that our entire membership will communicate with me at any time and let the Art League know of your ideas, suggestions, thoughts, and opportunities for the future as we further the role that the Art League plays in downtown revitalization and all of Wyoming Valley. Please do not hesitate to contact me at any time.

Howard J. Grossman, AICP President

Our guest artist for Friday,September 12 at 7:00 pm is Charles Kovalick. Charles is an artist from Noxen, PA who specializes in wildlife and landscape painting in two mediums oil and acrylic. He paints wildlife like deer, elk, all types of birds, wolves, bear, fish, horses and other small animals. He also paints landscape which has included cars, chimneys standing alone in the woods, lakes, sunsets and many buildings (churches, houses, etc.). Chuck has also dabbled in portrait paintings and paintings of family pets (dogs, etc) but only when commissioned. Most if not all of his ideas have come from years of appreciation of the great outdoors. He has spent a great deal of his life doing things like hiking, camping, hunting, fishing and just being outdoors. Now a days most of Chuck’s time is spent painting and enjoying his family. Chuck is also known for making his own frames, doing his own matting and stretching his own canvas. Chuck feels a great deal of accomplishment with every painting he completes. Chuck likes to paint scenes that other people who don’t go or even those who do go into the woods might miss. Some of the scenes he has painted include two deer fighting, chimneys from houses that once stood tall and old broken down cars which happened to be in the Adirondacks, just to name a few. Chuck wants anyone looking at the painting to feel like they can reach out and touch the animal or have a feeling that they are there in that moment in time.

Charles has won best of show with a wolf painting at an art show sponsored by Endless Mountain Council of the Arts. He also had an art show at the Wyoming County Courthouse where he displayed several of his paintings. When there was an art gallery out to Harveys Lake Charles had an art show there as well. Charles is mainly a self taught artist but he has had a little schooling at LCCC which has helped him refine his technique. Charles donates his time and talent to the Noxen Historical Community’s Art Class where he enjoys sharing his talent with anyone of any age. Every year in August Charles has an art show at the Noxen Historical Community building (aka - Old Schoolhouse, Noxen). He displays his paintings and the paintings of his students and other artists for one day, it is open to the public. Charles’ paintings are displayed at Bitterroot National Forest in Montana; Sky Lake, NY; all the churches in the town of Noxen, Noxen library and many other various places throughout the USA. What he wants most for his students is to have a sense that they are there in that moment in time when they are painting!

The materials list for the Sat. Workshop is as follows....*Pre Sketched canvas or board

*Bring your own art supplies   whether it's acrylic, water or oil , *Picture of what you are painting...

NEWS YOU CAN USE:

• Congratulations to Arthur Miller for taking 1st. place ( Acrylic Painting "The Cabin" ) in the Endless Mountains Council of the Arts 12^th. Annual Regional Art Exhibit 2008. Sponsored by the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.The exhibit runs from August 1^st. to Sept. 28th.EMCA Center Gallery 302 W. Tioga St. Tunk. PA. Free & open to the public. Please Visit http://emca.emcs.net/ for information.or call 570-836-3622 for Gallery Hrs.

• Helen Evanchickhas had two paintings accepted into the juried Fifth Biennial NEPA Art Exhibit. Opening reception will take place October 11^th at 2:00 pm at the Hope Horn Gallery, University of Scranton. Participating venues with food and music are – AFA Galleries, Marywood University Galleries, Keystone College with awards ceremony at Keystone College at 6:00 pm. Exhibit ends November 21, 2008

• Frank Mariano has five pieces of Handbuilt Clay accepted in the NEPA Regional Art Exhibit, reception October 11, 2008 from 2:00 to 6:00 Pm. Frank’s pieces are at the Mahady Gallery at Marywood University

• Georgiana Cray Bart – Recent Works – August 1^st to September 21^st at the Laura Craig Gallery, Linden Street, Scranton, Reception First Friday, September 4^th.

• Sue Nardone will have several pieces of her artwork on display at the Forty Fort branch of Citizens Bank for the month of September.

• Gwen Harleman and her wonderful artists from the Day Development program will be exhibiting their Art at Marquis Art and Frame 2^nd Floor Gallery starting September 19^th. Some of the works were created from their recent trip to Maine. Reception on 3^rd Friday, September 19^th from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm.

Let’s get out there and support all of our fellow artists. So much hard work just begs to be seen.

Gallery News:

The Gallery at Pierce Street

“In The Pink”

Featuring artwork from WVAL artists Kim Hughes, Heather Radel, Frank Kluk, Kris Kleeman, Agnes Norosky, Lois Kerney and many others. The exhibit will run from September 6^th until October 18^th. 25% of sale proceeds will be donated to the Susan G. Komen foundation. Artists reception Octover 4^th from noon – 3 pm.

The Kirby Center

“Double Feature”

Showcasing two very different WVAL photographers. Arthur Miller and Curtis Salonick will have their work displayed at the Kirby from September 2008 thru October 2009. Reception to be held during September;s Third Friday art walk. Thank you to Marilyn Santorelli for giving us this fabulous opportunity!

Midtown Village Gallery

Third Friday

We are still hosting third Fridays at our Midtown Village location.

Each second Saturday from noon until 2pm will be the time to drop off new work and pick up old pieces. Feel ffree to bring your art to each monthly members meeting for drop off as well. We will be featuring an artist of the month. If anyone is interested please contact Kim Hughes, Gallery Director at kyra1027@msn.com or 970-7968.

Pizza Party!!!

September 12^th firs members meeting of the season. Kim and Frank are hosting a Pizza party!

We want to welcome back old friends and meet new ones. You don’t want to miss the introduction of new officers and catch up on all the latest exhibits, classes and news. So come out and enjoy the fun and refreshments. Hope to see you there!

October       10th & 11th    Jay Brooks  Oil/Pastel

November   14th & 15th    Sue Locavage  Tempera/Batik

January        10th                Liz Rivitz   Marketing

February      13th & 14th    Frank Wengen   Watercolor

March           13th & 14th    Angela Trotta Thomas Oil/Acrylic

April              17th & 18th    Ed Havas   Acylic/Oil

May               8th & 9th        Theresa Crowley Spitler   Pastel

We would like to welcome the following new members of the Wyoming Valley Art League:

Sebastian Gattuso, Pat Barnes, Harry and Dolores Grozio, Francine Buczynski, Bets Decosmo, Kathi Weiss, L. Eveland & D. Hinson. And a special thank you to Stanley Mleczynski for his very generous donation to the Wyoming Valley Art League.

And just as a reminder, please use the enclosed form to send in your membership dues.

A major fund raising event is planned to take place at Mohegan Sun on Friday, Nov. 7, 2008. We hope ALL members will support our efforts by volunteering their time, contacting sponsors, or donating silent auction items. Please call any board member or contact Michele Millington, fund raising chair, 570-868-5564 or piano88@epix.net

If you have names and addresses of people who we should be inviting to the auction, please forward them to Michelle Millington.

Any questions or comments about the Newsletter? Contact Sabine Thomas at 822-6979 or e-mail Sabine.Thomas@Synergis.com

If I think, everything is lost.

Paul Cezanne

We thank our sponsors:

Foundation Support Corporate Sponsors

The Luzerne Foundation Artist Matter

The Maslow Family Foundation Humford Equities

Reynolds Trust Marquis Art and Frame

Scranton Area Foundation Kazimi’s Restaurant

Johnston & Johnston Law Offices

WVAL Fall Classes

The following classes are being planned for the fall season.  Please contact Linda Keck at 331-2390, or lskeck@comcast.net for additional information or to register.  Please register for classes two weeks prior to start date.

Schuyler Ave Site

Colored Pencil, Instructor Mary Beth Lesko, 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm on Mondays, September 8^th – October 13^th

Cost: $96.00

Acrylic Painting,  Instructor Catherine Laskaris, Tuesdays Session I  Sept 2nd- Oct 7^th 6:00-8:00pm

Session  II will start November 4^th – December 9^th. Cost: $72.00 per session

Beginning Drawing for Adults, Instructor Catherine Laskaris, Thursdays 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, Session 1, September 18^th – October 23^rd, Session 2, October 30^th to December 11^th, $72.00 per session

Holiday Painting with a Decorative Flair, Instructor Susan Welsh, Tuesdays from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm, October 20^th – November 24^th. Cost: $75.00 + materials

Life Drawing Open Studio, Co-ordinator Sue Obaza, Thursdays 7:00-9:00pm, September 18^th to November 6^th. Average cost per night $10.00 - $15.00.

Midtown Village Site

Experimental Techniques with Artist Trading Cards, Instructor Liz Revit, Sundays

Sept 28th 1:00-3:00pm Creating Artist Trading Cards Using Traditional Painting and Drawing Techniques

Oct 5th 1:00-3:00pm  Creating Artist Trading Cards Using Decorative Papers, Fibers and Found Objects

Oct 12th  1:00-3:00pm  Creating Artist Trading Cards Using Material, Beads and Found Objects

Cost for each class is $28.00 & supplies.

Children's Art Classes, Instructor Liz Revit, Ages 6-16yr, each student will focus on projects for their specific age group Sept 15th- Oct 13th  4:00-5:00pm, Cost $75.00

Children's Beading & Jewelry, Instructor Kathleen Pajor, 2nd through 8th grade, Session One  Oct 13, 20, 27

Session Two  Nov  10, 17, 24, $38.00 + $12.00 for materials.

Beadweaving & Jewelry,  Instructor Kathleen Pajor, High School  and Adults, Level I  Oct  13, 20, 27

Level II  Nov 10, 17, 24, $45.00 + $30.00 for materials.

Watercolor,  Instructor Linda Keck, Tuesdays 6:00-7:30pm, Cost $60.00 for each 4 week session, September 9^th –November 25^th, 2008.

Oil Painting, Instructor Michael Hockenberry, Session 1 to be held Sept 20, 27, Oct 4, 18, 25 and Nov 1^st, 10:00am-1:00pm, Session 2 to be held Nov 15, 22,29 and Dec 6, 20, 27.Cost $110.00 per session.