A Reception to Remember — SIGNS Exhibit

A Reception to Remember!

The Tempe Artists Guild celebrated art and history at its opening reception of SIGNS at the Tempe History Museum on November 29.  The museum had already created an amazing array of signs from businesses in the city.  For decades, unbeknownst to most of us, Tempe staff had been collecting signs as businesses closed or changed location.  These collected signs mark the City’s history in a strong, visual way.  This Fall, the signs made their appearance in the museum – they were hanging everywhere when the Tempe Artists Guild prepared for its own show in the big community room.

Nearly thirty paintings of signs graced the community room for thereception on November 29.  They were colorful, and enormously varied.  Some artists got their inspiration from files that the museum’s senior curator of collections, Joshua Roffler, prepared for the group.  Media included oil, watercolor, acrylic, and collage.  The subjects spanned a huge gamut, from ASU-themed, to local businesses, and literally, a mass of signs themselves.

The museum’s new curator, Marco Albarran, made handsome labels and did a very professional job hanging TAG’s paintings.  Doralee Ewing and her committee, Ellie Chamberland, Ann Clarke, Sandi Lunsford, and Anese Spearman, decorated tables around the room and prepared a bountiful table of sandwiches and treats.  Laurel Hardin contributed beautiful table decorations.  Susan Norton-Scott made a delightful poster and flyers to let the visitors know more about who we are. The exhibition room looked spectacular, thanks to this crew and the museum’s very efficient Program Coordinator, Brianna King.

Over 70 people came to the reception. Visitors munched, socialized, and viewed the collection.  Many voted for the Peoples’ Choice Award that TAG offers to encourage participation.  Winners were Sandi Lunsford, with first place — her watercolors really wowed people; and runner up, Tom Minor, who shared three large, compelling acrylic and mixed media paintings.

The exhibit is available for viewing throughout December and January during the museum’s regular hours of operation (Tuesday – Saturday, 10 AM – 5 PM).  The best way to see this fun and beautiful exhibit is to take in both the paintings, and the signs on display that the museum has so painstakingly collected over the years.

The Tempe Artists Guild in brief…

TAG provides opportunities for visual art that energize and educate residents of Tempe and the surrounding areas by providing a Speaker Series, Exhibitions, Art Workshops, and Outreach Projects. We welcome adults interested in artistic growth to join us as we seek to inspire creativity and art appreciation. TAG is a 501c3 charitable organization.

We are:

•  working adults who create art for pleasure
  •retirees who finally have time to pursue our passion
  •students connecting with our local creative community
  •serious artists broadening our reach
  •creative adults who want to support artistic growth in ourselves and our community

TAG welcomes artists working in all mediums, at any level, to join our creative community. You don’t need to live in Tempe, AZ to benefit from the inspiration shared by the talented artists in our Speaker Series or Workshops. Joining our community is easy! The $50 fee entitles you to:

• Participate in the entire Speaker Series (10 live presentations by accomplished artists, with audience questions encouraged)
• Submit your own artwork to be critiqued by the guest artist during select Speaker Series events
• Upload images of your work on your personal page on the TAG website
• Exhibit your art in the TAG Exhibitions (virtual and in-person)
• Vote in TAG elections of officers for the Board of Directors
• Receive emails about all activities, with Zoom login links for Speaker Series
• Participate in virtual and in-person exhibitions sponsored by the Arizona Artist Alliance

Please join us.  Membership Link:

https://tempeartistsguild.org/registration-page/