Greetings! Our spring season has begun with the wonderful success of the Workshop Retreat at Whidbey Island. A special thanks to Lloyd Whannell, Pam Winstanley, and Vic Picou for their planning and leadership. Nicky Oberholtzer and Simone Weber-Luckham were excellent instructors. We must especially thank Bernie Camlin for his good effort and the Island Arts Council for providing scholarships for two attending high school students.
Next, the Silverfalls Symposium promises to be a creative fountain with superb instruction, camaraderie, sharing of ideas, and an inspirational natural setting.
The lOth Annual International Stone Sculptors Symposium will be a celebration of who we are as a community. Don't miss this extraordinary event.
I would like to devote a few comments to an individual, who with clarity of vision, relentless drive, and a dedicated heart provided a contribution to the NWSSA that is immeasurable. Nancy Jordan, as editor and producer of the newsletter, has provided us an inspiring mirror reflecting who we are, what we do, how we do it, and where we are headed. She has set a high standard and enabled a wonderful sense of pride for each of us to reflect on. Nancy, we will miss your inspired leadership. However, thankfully you have shown us how to follow. Thank you so much.
Just when replacement of an awesome task seemed an impossibility, an experienced writer came forward and agreed to take responsibility for the newsletter. Barbara Lynch is the new editor of Sculpture Northwest. I look forward to her tenure. I am sure each of you who have contributed will continue to do so. Any support each of you can provide to the newsletter will be most appreciated.
We have been approached by the Bellingham Festival of Music to provide a display of sculpture during this two week event early in August. The pieces will be presented in an outside plaza in front of the Performance Hall on the Western Washington State University campus. Please send appropriate photos for selection, including size and material description to Tracy Powell, 1272 Reservation Rd., Anacortes, WA 98221. We are especially grateful to Kay Moquin for opening up this opportunity.
Sadly, we all lament the death of our friend, an excellent sculptor, and inspirational teacher, Bruce Hoheb. We will miss him.
See you soon!
Rich Hestekind
Happy New Year! I wish for each of you prosperity in all your efforts.
Our year looks especially abundant with symposia, workshops, and meetings rich in content and shared opportunity. I would encourage you to attend and experience the benefits.
To those of you in our various committees, I would like to thank you for your dedicated time, insight and hard work that bring us so much. Each of you who tirelessly gives of your resources to provide our events and services throughout the year deserves so much and builds a debt of gratitude we can never fully repay. However, our growing community is clearly a tribute to the value each of you has given.
The February membership meeting is primarily dedicated to building support for our existing committees and establishing new ones that better serve our growing needs and interests. Please come and participate.
Come see the Northwest Stone Sculptors display garden and exhibition booth at the 1997 Flower and Garden Show at the Seattle Convention Center.
See you soon!
Rich Hestekind
I'm still trying to adjust to the demands of the "real" world after two weeks at the Symposium at Camp Brotherhood. Amid the frenetic demands of the marketplace, my mind wanders nostalgically to the warm interaction between new and old friends and the creative momentum we shared. I'm still digesting all the stimulation of new art, lectures, workshops, new tools, new procedures, and shared insights.
I would like to thank each of you who attended for making the ninth annual symposium a great success. Also, a special accolade to the administrative and support staff: Brian, Gwen, Hank, Lavina and Steve, who insured a smooth and effective event. Vic, we are all eternally in your debt for a job well done.
Tracy, Meredith, Ward, Dorby, Uchida San, Thomas, Vasily, Terry, Carol, Ron, Bill, Tendayi, Boris, Everett and Hong Lee: we all grew because of what you so generously provided through instruction and lecturing.
In view of so many benefits we experience, I feel it is appropriate to focus on those individuals who provided the foundation and spirit for what we now know as the Symposium experience. Meg Pettibone for recognizing the need and start of the Association, Richard Bayer for hosting the fIrst two Symposiums on his property, and George Pratt who so generously shared his knowledge, his tools, and his spirit year after year, and Vic Picou, our guiding light and director of Symposia, who has led us to our current success. We thank you!
Next stop, Lake Cowichon and the Second Annual Vancouver Island Stone Sculpture Symposium. I can hardly wait!
Rich Hestekind
I hope this edition of the newsletter finds each of you in an exuberance of creative energy! As I think of the symposia coming up so soon I fmd myself swept up in a growing level of excitement. I think of old friends I'll be able to see and new friends I'll meet. I think of the exposure to new ideas, new technologies, new tools, and new materials, the beautiful setting and the creative and enabling environment...
I would like to explore a few thoughts on the direction of the Northwest Stone Sculptors Association. In addition to what we as a community have realized and continue to thrive in, we must look towards our future and new opportunities. Most of you know that the NWSSA is a non-profit and now a tax deductible organization. With the exception of how we display our art for sale, who we are and what we do remains the same. To enable the sales of our sculpture, a business for profit, the Sculpture Cooperative Northwest has been established.
With our new ability to solicit both public and private funding, we now will be able to realize projects, establish a facility, and program events, otherwise inaccessible due to a lack of fmancial support. Clarity of vision and purpose, along with well articulated goals, are critical to this phase of our development. We, as the board of directors, are working on those issues. We will soon present a report for your examination.
See you soon!
Rich Hestekind
