Wednesday, May 18, 2016

Art Clubs in the USA

I am passionate about research among other pursuits.  If you’ve read some of my blog entries you may note that once I choose to learn about a subject, because I’m obsessive, I learn all there is to learn about that subject.  Case in point my color studies published earlier.

One day at an open studio session with a figure model, no instructor just a nude model and a group of artists, during the breaks the artists began talking about just how many organizations are run for the benefit of fine artists.  If you’ve ever had the opportunity to learn a musical instrument or ride a bicycle, you’ve learned that in order to get better, you need to practice.  Painting and drawing are no different.  The most difficult and instantly evaluated  painting and drawing are portraits and figure paintings.  

Certainly there are extremely difficult painting subjects other than humans.  Glass, reflective metal, dew on flower petals are all difficult, but the human figure and face (portrait) are instantly recognizable by every human on the planet.  The ability to recognize one’s own species is imprinted at birth and never leaves you.  Add to that that you do this practice during specific time intervals and often times shoulder to shoulder with other artists makes completion of an alla prima painting more of a test of your capabilities.  While I was writing this I googled “the earliest incidence of a figure study” and received two bits of wisdom.  Gu Kaizhi ca 344-406 has a scroll of figure studies and the various Art encyclopedias hint at the stone age cave paintings, but all agree the Renaissance developed this training technique.  

With this new millennium there are other opportunities to study the figure.  Photography is accessible to everyone with a portable phone leaving many pictures freely accessible on the Internet.  Developments in electronics allow the artist to project an image onto the canvas, bypassing drawing; a modern camera obscura.  While this works to a degree, my experience suggests that it lacks expression both in the human being depicted and the lighting.  

My point being, open studio sessions are a cornerstone practice of a professional artist.  Are there others?  

Certainly, a class with a master would be high on the list.  When all of the artists have similar capabilities or interests, talking is essential.  That way we can learn from each other.  Questions from “how’d you get that skin tone?” to “what does it cost to make a giclee of a painting?” are answered face-to-face.  Naturally, for oil painters studio rental is essential, their materials stink.  Finally, it would be wonderful if the location offered a gallery space so the artist could display their work and make a little money.

This list gave me a lot to consider.  In another open session at a different Art Club the conversation turned to the topic, but this time the group of artists considered the administration of the club.  Universities and private training schools were ruled out because of their cost.  Equally, museums and galleries were disqualified because their administration is directed to the mission of preserving the museum or gallery and training artists is not essential to that mission.  It would be practical and legally affirming if the organization was classified as a 501(c)3 non-profit with the USA government.  

Finally, there is the notion of permanent space, a building or not.  Many of the oldest Art Clubs are tied to historic landmark buildings.  Some clubs, because of the nature of their study, are Internet based only.  One group, the plein air painters of Chicago, uses a building solely for exhibition of their work.  Other sketch group organize for flash art drawings and return back to their homes.  What is essential is the ability to communicate.  An Internet presence is essential.

I began simply enough, I Googled “Art Clubs USA” and I received terrible results.  If you are a researcher you may have noticed that searching on your browser has changed over the past 10 years.  No longer are search conducted using Boolean terms, now that voice searching is on the rise every term is searched and presented in order of descending order.  All bracketed by advertising.  Ick.

Art Club is the generic search, I learned to substitute, League, Association, Society, Guild and Coalition for club.  At this point, I stumbled into a bit of luck, Art-Support.com.  This organization has a freely accessible list they compiled of all of the Art 501(c)3 by State nationally.

My procedure is to scan the list, visit the candidate’s website, find the history and mission statement.  If the history and mission fit, I scan the membership requirements and services.  If all of the candidate’s information fits my criteria, I email the candidate and ask them to verify my finding by responding to my email with their inception date.  I also ask them to name any other organizations that they may know that meet the criteria.

I figure that I’ve viewed 300 or so websites, and from Art-Support’s list, I have another 300 or more to go.  After I compile this list, I plan do two clean up features, review certain entries (you can see some in different colors) these are a concern for me and rescan the non respondents.  All things considered, I hope to finish by September 2016.

My preliminary list is below



FINE ART CLUBS USA




YEAR
NAME
LOCATION
1825
National Academy of Design
NYC
1860
Philadelphia Sketch Club
PA
1871
Salmagundi Art Club
NYC
1875
Art Students League
NYC
1879
Copley Soc of Art
Boston
1880
Providence Arts Club
RI
1890
Cincinnati Art Club
OH
1895
Palette & Chisel
Chicago
1897
The Plastic Club
Philadelphia
1897
Society of Arts and Crafts
Boston, MA
1898
National Arts Club
NYC
1901
Seven Oaks Art League
Columbia, SC
1906
California Art Club
CA
2000
Louisville Art Association
Louisville, CO
1911
Fargo Arts Club
ND
1913
FA Club of Pasadena
CA
1914
Guild of Boston Artists
Boston
1915
Louisville Visual Art
Louisville, KY
1919
Santa Cruz Art Center
Santa Cruz, CA
1921
Oak Park Art League
Oak Park, IL
1922
Silvermine Guild of Artists
NewCanaan, CT
1928
Arizona Artist Guild
Phoenix, AZ
1926
Art Center Sarasota
Sarasota, Fla
1928
Ogunquit Art Association
Ogunquit, ME
1931
DaVinci Art Alliance
Philadelphia
1934
Hui No'eau Visual Arts Center
Makawao, HI
1936
Mesa Art League
Mesa, AZ
1936
Vero Beach AC (Sketch club)
Florida
1936
Richmond AC
Richmond, CA
1942?
Washington Art Association
Washington Depot, CT
1951
Peoria Art Guild
Peoria, IL
1954
Eastern Shore Art Center
Fairhope, AL
1954
The Art League
Alexandria, VA
1955
Atlanta Artists Center
Atlanta, GA
1956
Chico Art Center
Chico, CA
1956
Venice Art Center
Venice,FL
1956
Deer Isle Artists Association
Deer Isle, Maine
1956
Naples Art Center
Naples, FL
1956
Art League of Ft. Myers
Ft. Myers, FL
1957
Fine Arts Assoc
Willoughby, OH
1957
Huntsville Art League
AL
1958
Sedona Arts Center
AZ
1958
Kittery Art Association
Kittery Point, Maine
1961
SCVAA, Tubac Center of the Arts
Santa Cruz, AZ
1961
Kentucky Guild of Artists and Craftsmen
Berea, KY
1965
DCCAH
Fairhope, AL
1967
Arizona Clay Association
Phoenix, AZ
1958
Art Guild of Pacifica
Pacifica, CA
1961
Coeur d'Alene Art Association
Coeur d'Alene, ID
1962
Arkansas Craft Guild
Mountain View, Ark
1963
Vacaville Art League
Vacaville, CA
1963
Aet League of Ocean City
Ocean City, MD
1965
Intersection for the Arts
San Francisco
1967
Berkeley Art Center
Berkeley, CA
1966
Anderson Ranch Art Center
Aspen, CO
1969
O'Hanlon Center for the Arts
Mill Valley, CA
1970
Galeria de la Raza
San Francisco
1970
Mountainside Art Guild
Lakewood, CO
1971
Stanford Arts Association
Stamford, CT
1971
Roswell Fine Arts Alliance
Roswell, GA
1973
Atlanta Contempory
Atlanta, GA
1974
Ridgefield Guild of Artists
Ridgefield, CT
1974
The Torpedo Factory
Alexandria, VA
1974
SF Camerawork
San Francisco
1975
Spruill Center for the Arts
Atlanta, GA
1977
Works San Jose
San Jose, CA
1977
Maine Women in the Arts
Kennebunkport, ME
1978
Havasu Art Guild
Havasu, AZ
1979
SOMarts
San Francisco
1981
Jacqueline Casey Hudgens Center for the Arts
Duluth, GA
1982
Headlands Center for the Arts
Marin, CA
1983
Kaua'i Society of Artists
Kaua'i, HI
1984
Washington Sculptors Group
DC
1985
Sonoran Arts League
Cave Creek, AZ
1986
Sacramento Fine Arts Center
Sacramento, CA
1986
Bakehouse Art Complez
Maimi, FL
1988
Center for Photographic Art
Carmel, CA
1989
MACLA/Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana
SAn Jose, CA
1990
Delaware Foundation for the Visual Arts
Claymont, SE
1990
Wellington Art Society
Royal Palm Beach, FL
1992
The Drawing Studio
Tucson, AZ
1991
Lana'i Art Center
Lana'i, HI
1993
Artel
Pensacola, Fla
1993
Newark Arts Alliance
Newark, DE
1994
Arizona Pastel Artist Association
Sedona, AZ
1996
Sedona Visual Artist Coalition
Sedona, AZ
1995
Center for Contempory Printmaking
Norwalk, CT
1996
Fountain Street Studios
Framington, MA
1997
Carbondale Clay Center
Carbondale, CO
1999
CFAAM
Maine
2000
Rehoboth Art League
Rehoboth, DE
2000
Dover Art League
Dover, DE
2000
Kentuck Art Center
Northport AL
2000
Space OneEleven
Birmingham AL
2000
Scottsdale Artists League
Scottsdale, AZ
2000
Tucson Artist Colony
Tucson, AZ
2000
Art Students Legue of Denver
Denver
2000
Cottonwood Center for the Arts
Colorado Springs, CO
2000
RedLine
Denver/Milwaukee
2000
Thompson Valley Art League
Loveland, CO
2000
Society for Arts
Chicago
2000
Hoosier Salon
Indianapolis
2000
Lexington Art League
Lexington, KY
2002
DamienB Contempory Art
Maimi. FL
2004
Center for Fine Arts Photography
Ft Collins, CO
2003
Gilbert Visual Arts League
Gilbert AZ
2007
Arizona Plein Air Painters
web, AZ
2008
The Compound Gallery
Berkeley, CA
2011
Central Illinois Art Organization
Peoria, IL

If you’re a student of history, particularly Art movements and government funding, you can see the influence in the creation of these clubs.  For instance, the earliest clubs were preserving Realism.  Later on in the 20’s you may see the results of the Armory Show.  In the 60’s the clubs developed with USA Block Grant money with the thought of providing an emotional outlet for the poor.  

Some of the responding organizations have had difficulty with my criteria, pointing out that their organizations hold multiple incorporations where the founding organization is a 501(c)3, the gallery is not or the building was Federally funded and houses other programs which include the Art Club.  OK, please remember, I did ask if the organization met the criteria in their opinion.  Only one said NO.  Surprisingly, some asked, “What’s in it for us?”  My response, “nothing”.

Dear Reader, Yes I know my typing sucks, I am a two fingered typist.  My list is preliminary and in the raw unedited state (see above).  When I have the final, this is it list, I’ll try to publish it beyond my blog, at the very least with Wikipedia.

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