2019 Chaffee Arts Open Awards Show

by Kathy Keidel

May 17, 2019

“We were astounded by the number of people that attended both the reception and open awards show,” says Terry Stevens, president of Chaffee Arts. “The Heritage Museum was generous enough to open two weeks early so we could host the show in this beautiful historic building.” More than 200 people attended the reception and over 700 people attended the art show held May 3-17.  Stevens says they changed the venue from the community center to the museum “to accommodate a larger crowd and to collaborate with the Heritage Museum, another non-profit organization.

Secretary-Treasurer Denise Mullen added, “And that attendance is remarkable, especially since we had to close for a full day during the snowstorm and outages. Throughout the show our visitors often remarked on the amazing talent of our local artists. We also received many positive comments on the KidzArt and Boys and Girls corner display.”

“Chaffee Arts continues to revitalize,” Stevens says, “This organization is 35 years old. A decline in membership for a few years was concerning. Just a year ago we had 30 active members so in the past year we have re-vamped our efforts to revitalize and have our focus really be about community connections. We now have over 100 members, with 70 artists participating in the show. And sales were up. This year 14 pieces of art work were sold during the show. We are also thrilled that some former members, whose art work has been long respected, have returned to the organization and displayed their beautiful art.”

Mullen says, “The art show is totally self-funded. We had $3300 in prizes from donations and our fund-raising campaign.”

This year’s judge was Sharon Kennedy, a curator with extensive experience currently serving as the Director of Education at the Sheldon Museum of Art, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Stevens says, “Ms. Kennedy told us it was a difficult show to judge because of the amount of talent. She had access to our show catalog where the artists could describe their art work and techniques in more detail. She also provided those artists who desired it with critique.”

Artists that offered lived demonstrations on May 4 included: Alice Sawyer/Jewelry Making;

Barry Stevens/Glass Blowing; Karen Heise/Fusing Glass; and Dee Sapper/Oil Painting.