From the Executive Director
Looking Forward to the New Year
The Tamarack Foundation can’t find enough. We can’t find enough time to put into reality all of the ideas that our small staff imagines. We can’t find enough money to pay for all of those ideas. And we can’t imagine what life would be like if we weren’t working for you – our West Virginia artists and artisans.
Every day our plates are full as we balance the schedules of meetings and programs. We look for ways to serve your needs at the artisan resource center in Beckley and to help those of you in need through the artisan emergency relief fund. We work on grants to keep our programs running and we meet with people who can help us achieve our goals. We want to be out in the community more so that those of you who can’t come to us can get our help when we come to you.
We love every minute of it.
At this time of the year, we are like everyone else. We look back to what we accomplished and look ahead to how we can make more happen.
We appreciate the wonderful support we receive from the people who believe in what we are doing. People like the artists and artisans who donate work and volunteer time for the Tamarack Foundation Gala and the other opportunities that come up through the year. . People like the staff at Phillips Technology for updating our information technology. People like the administration at Mountain State University who generously share space with us at their Beckley facility so we can operate the Artisan Resource Center. People like the team at Stonewall Marketing Group who provide creative in-kind and support services to help us effectively meet our needs when budgets are tight. And Caryn Gresham who supports our communications efforts.
We are grateful for the generous contributions of our Tamarack Foundation Board and the Artisan Advisory Board. We appreciate the creative support we receive from the staff at Tamarack. We can’t begin to say thank you enough times to everyone who supports us with annual contributions of both money and time, vital in-kind donations and thoughtful planned gifts.
As we look ahead, our biggest challenge comes from our realization that the needs of our artists and artisans are greater than the work that we’ve done. We know that we’ve made some inroads and provide necessary services to an important constituent in West Virginia’s economy (who happens to be an artisan entrepreneur!). But we also know that we need to do more.
One thing we can’t do is rest on our successes. In the coming year, we are going to be looking for more opportunities to partner with businesses, universities, colleges and funding organizations. We’ll be looking for opportunities wherever we can find them. Some will be traditional such as grant programs and cooperative activities. Some will come from out-of-the-box thinking and nontraditional partnerships.
Come along with us as we move ahead. If you have ideas to share or friends that you’d like for us to meet, please let me know. If we are going to be true to our mission to strengthen West Virginia’s creative economy, then there’s one more thing we can’t find: We can’t find ourselves sticking with what we know, we have to venture out and discover new paths and new partners.
Come along with us. We can’t do it without you!
Giving Thanks
Lauren Adams Artword Chosen for Thanksgiving Card
The Tamarack Foundation this year selected Lauren Adams landscape "Mon River in November" for its annual Thanksgiving card to friends and supporters. Lauren is a Fairmont painter who captures West Virginia's terrain in her work which is created "en plein aire", which means she paints rapidly, on location, with a palette knife.
The Tamarack Foundation is proud to have opportunities like this to showcase the fine arts of our West Virginia artists. As Sally Barton, executive director, said, "We're excited about the many young talented artists who have juried into the David L. Dickirson Gallery at Tamarack and who have been discovered in the annual Foundation-supported Best of West Virginia juried exhibition."
Artisan Profile
Belinda Anderson in her Own Words
Editor’s Note: Belinda Anderson writes from her log home that sits atop a knoll in a meadow in Greenbrier County. More accurately, she writes when she’s not busy chasing away the deer that want to snack on her rhododendron bushes.
She is the author of three short story collections, published by Mountain State Press: The Well Ain’t Dry Yet, The Bingo Cheaters and Buckle Up, Buttercup. All three titles are available at Tamarack.
Her literary work was selected for inclusion on the first official literary map of West Virginia, published by Fairmont State University. Belinda’s fiction also has received national recognition. Read the chapter that introduced character Twilight Dawn at the author’s web site: www.BelindaAnderson.com.
Belinda leads creative writing workshops and presents readings to children and adults in classrooms and at retreats and conferences.)
Writing is for me a means of seeking. I write nonfiction to document life; I write fiction in order to understand it.
My land and my people define me as a writer. Even when I lived elsewhere, most of my fiction was set in West Virginia. The mountains nurture my soul, their weathered shoulders offering a sheltering embrace. When I write, I seek a tangible connection to nature, often hiking in a state forest with a notebook and pen tucked in my pants pocket.
Nature talks to me all the time, encouraging me to create. In the spring, birds trill the promise of new growth. In the summer, crickets chirp their encouragement. In the fall, the crows call, reminding me that another cycle is drawing a close, that I'd better get ready for the barren season. Yet even in the still of winter, nature continues to compel me to conceive stories, whispering to me through the burble of a forest stream.
My writing voice is that of my people, clear and direct. The dialogue and viewpoints come from my imagination, but the language is the rich and stark treasure of the mountains.
In my stories, characters struggle against their circumstances, and often each other, sometimes with humor, sometimes with poignancy. Yet, ultimately, hope is the theme that drives my fiction, delivered by the resiliency that is such a predominant West Virginia trait.
How wonderful to have the venue of Tamarack to share these stories with travelers from across the nation and the world, as well as my fellow West Virginians.
I enjoy hearing from readers and knowing how my work affects them. From a reader in Virginia: "I laughed, I cried! And it made me think." From another reader in Florida: "We need good things like that."
We do indeed need good things, and I believe the entertaining, challenging and healing art of literature can be one of them.
Photo credit: Josh Baldwin
Are You an Advocate?
Become a Member of the Arts Advocacy of West Virginia
This month, at the Kennedy Center Honors Awards, President Barack Obama said, “. . . I’m going to steal a line from Michelle here – the arts are not somehow apart from our national life, the arts are the heart of our national life.”
Now there’s a message for arts advocacy for the national picture! Here in West Virginia, we have our own opportunity to advocate for the arts by becoming members of Arts Advocacy of West Virginia. This grass roots, non-profit organization invites individuals to join for as little as $10 per year and organizations for $25 to $250 per year, depending on organization budget.
“Arts Advocacy of West Virginia gives a voice to the needs of individual artists and arts organizations in the state,” said Sally Barton, Tamarack Foundation executive director.
Lou Karas, president of Arts Advocacy of West Virginia and executive director of the Appalachian Education Initiative, said, “Our goal is to provide an effective, unified voice for the arts community in West Virginia and to educate state legislators and policy makers on the need for continued and expanding support of arts in our state.”
Arts Advocacy represents museums, theatre companies, orchestras, dance companies, county arts councils and individual craftspeople, filmmakers, painters, musicians, potters, teachers and arts volunteers. Established almost 25 years ago, the organization places its emphasis on promoting the arts as a valuable and necessary investment in West Virginia’s future.
“Our advocacy work goes beyond calls and letters,” Karas said. “We offer networking opportunities like the Arts Assembly, support partnerships with tourism, economic development and business organizations, and promote arts in all forms by working with civic organizations.”
Some of Arts Advocacy’s successes include:
- helping to attract millions of dollars in grants projects to arts organizations and individual artists over the past two decades,
- establishing the Cultural Facilities and Capitol Resource grant program which directs more than $1 million annually to major capitol projects around the state,
- coordinating four Arts Assembly conferences in the last ten years
- establishing Arts Action, a statewide initiative to provide resources for arts education programs in every country throughout West Virginia, and
- preserving arts programming funding from the state at a stable level.
To find out more about Arts Advocacy of West Virginia, visit the Web site at www.wvarts.org or call Karas at 304-225-0101.
Your Donation Can Make a Difference
Tamarack Foundation's Artisan Emergency Fund Came as a Great Help
Every month, Carol Ross and Roger Besselievre of Bonnett Run Basketry in Glenville make a contribution to the Tamarack Foundation. It’s their way of giving back to the Foundation for support they received a couple of years ago. According to Carol, “The entire concept is kind, generous and honest. It’s a wonderful way for friends to support friends.”
Two years ago, Carol was hospitalized for colon cancer. While the basket maker had Medicare, she did not have insurance and had some medical expenses that concerned her and Roger. An emergency medical grant from the Tamarack Foundation’s artisan emergency fund came as a great help.
“We knew about the fund, but didn’t think about using it for my situation until Teresa Pauley called to encouraged me to apply,” Carol said. “The application was simple and the funds came through to help us out.”
The couple decided that as soon as they had their bills squared away, they would find a way to give back to the fund.
They did that in two ways. First, Carol and Roger, who had always made a contribution to the Tamarack Foundation’s annual gala and silent auction, upped their donation. The year Carol recovered, they completed ten baskets for the silent auction. Second, she and Roger made a commitment to make a monthly contribution to the Foundation.
“I love to be able to give to the emergency fund because it is truly an opportunity to help people that I know,” she said. “There’s something special about a program that allows friends to get together and raise money to help each other.”
“Our gift is not large,” Carol said, “It’s an amount that we can afford to give each month. We like knowing that we can contribute and encourage everyone to try to give something back to the Foundation for the help that they receive from it.”
Sally Barton, Tamarack Foundation executive director, applauds their contribution. “Many times, people think that if they can’t give a grand gift or make a large contribution, then their donation isn’t appreciated,” she said. “I can assure everyone that any donation – money, time or product – that helps us build the artisan emergency fund or any of our other programs is welcomed and put to good use for our state’s artists and artisans.”
Barton said that charitable gifts such as these support the Foundation’s work and allow the staff to continue its programs that are aimed at helping art-based small businesses remain viable in this tough economy.
“We are grateful for all of the contributions that are made and have set up a direct donation plan that makes it easy for anyone to contribute,” Barton said. “People can have donations automatically drafted from their checking or savings accounts.”
The benefits of the direct donation program are that it helps donors meet their commitments in a convenient and timely way and it saves time and postage when a person doesn’t have to write checks or use postage.
The directions and form for the authorization for direct donations is available online at the Tamarack Foundation web site, www.tamarackwv.com/foundation .
From a National Perspective
Keeping the Arts Alive During Economic Downturn
Michael H. Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts discussed the struggle that arts organizations face in this current economic climate as part of his national Arts in Crisis initiative.
Here are excerpts from a presentation he made earlier this year in Houston, Texas:
- Organizations that keep their art vital will be in a better position to compete for contributed funds [when the economic downturn is over]. “Falling back on safe programming, repeating programming, will make organizations seem less vital to their communities. Arts groups will need to trim their budgets at this time — but it's important that they cut the art last. I see a separation between organizations that remain vital and those that shrink, becoming less relevant and important to their communities.
- The downturn has shown the cracks in some organizations that perhaps weren't run as well as they could be. It's been estimated that up to 10,000 arts organizations would have to close their doors this year. I don't think it will be that severe.
- Kaiser does not believe the current hard times will last forever. But he also doesn't expect contributions to arts groups to revert to their previous levels anytime soon. “The economy is already picking up,” he says. “But there is traditionally a lag in the recovery for arts organizations. When someone finds they have an extra dollar in their pocket, their first inclination is not to give it away.”
In the News
Congratulations to the Tamarack artists whose work was selected for the 2009 West Virginia Juried Exhibition. The biennial exhibition, organized by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, will be at the Huntington Museum of Art through January 17, 2010.
The Tamarack artists featured in the exhibition are Dick Allowatt, Eddie Austin, Lee Badger, Steve Balcourt, Mary-Jo Bennett, Jerry Birdsong, Danny Brumfield, Justin Burd, Sheila Caim, Frank Ceravalo, Patricia Chapman, Mark Cline, Betsy Cox, Jeff Diehl, Bret Doolittle, Lori Doolittle, Chris Dutch & Robin Hammer, Linda Elmer, Mayssan Farra, Robert Galbraith, Kathy Gallagher, Mary Grassell, Jan Griffin, Bruce Haley Jr., Charles Jupiter Hamilton, Paul Hartman, Ron Hinkle, Vernon Howell, Gail Hutchinson, Thorney Lieberman, Joan Menard, Nancy-Louise Mottesheard, Mark Muse, Betty Neely, Matt Nesius, Steve Opet, Zachary Orcutt, J.P. Owens, Daniele Piasecki, Diana Pittis, Debra Richardson, Betty Rivard, Christine Rowe, Carter Seaton, Jack Sheffler, Linda Turner, Robert Villamagna and Barbara Marsh Wilson.
Villamagna received a Governor’s Award. Griffin, Hamilton, Mottesheard and Orcutt received Awards of Excellence. Allowatt, Howell and Turner received Merit Awards. Bennett, B. Doolittle, Dutch, Hammer and Muse received Honorable Mention Awards.Chapman received a D. Gene Jordan Memorial Award
Calendar of Events
Jan. 15 Arts Day at the Capitol
Charleston, WV
Jan. 30 Berkeley Arts Council - Professional Development & Marketing Workshop
Martinsburg, WV
Feb./March TAMARACK Foundation Artisan Resource Center "On the Road"
Check the www.tamarackwv.com for Locations/Dates
Feb. 1 FestivALL Application Deadline
Charleston, WV
Feb. 12-14 Potters Gathering
Cedar Lakes Craft Center, Ripley, WV
Feb. 12-15 Buyers Market
Pennsylvania Convention Center, Philadelphia, PA
Feb. 23-28 ACC - Baltimore
Convention Center, Baltimore, MD
March 4-7 Kentucky Crafted: The market 2010
Kentucky Exposition Center, Louisville, KY
March 5-6 TAMARACK Dinner Theatre - Death Trap
TAMARACK Conference Center, Beckley, WV
April 9-10 TAMARACK Dinner Theatre - Crimes of the Heart
TAMARCK Conference Center, Beckley, WV
April 11 TAMARACK Foundation Benefit - National Symphony Orchestra
TAMARACK Conference Center, Beckley, WV
Think About It!
"If you are looking for something to be brave about consider fine arts."
-Robert Frost