From the Executive Director
Hats Off to the Arts!
It was an honor for Ron DeWitt and I to accept the Small Business Association’s Home-Based Business Champion Award at Tamarack earlier this summer. It’s nice to know that our work is recognized for its value to our state’s artists and artisans. At the same time, it was an important reminder that the Tamarack Foundation fills an ongoing role in serving the artisans of our state. We are proud of the programs that we have in place and we are dedicated to ensuring that they continue to meet the needs of the state’s artisans and artists.
One of the most visible ways we accomplish that goal is through our annual gala, which allows us to showcase our artists and artisans work, talk about their accomplishments and raise funds to support Foundation programs.
The gala is one of my favorite events because it truly shows how all of our Foundation partners come together to support our work.
Support for the gala from sponsorships by business champions, financial contributions of generous community members and the sale of tickets goes toward sustaining the efforts of the Foundation and our programs.
Artists and artisans donate hours of time and creative effort to working with us on the auction. Some share their time working on the gala itself. Others donate their work for the auctions. All of the money raised for the auctions goes into the Foundation’s artisan relief fund, which is now known as the Teresa Pauley Artisan Relief Fund in memory of our friend and fellow artisan who died earlier this year.
With the money that we raise, we operate the Artisan Resource Center and fund the Inspiration Fund that provides professional development grants, equipment acquisition grants and Fellowship Awards for deserving artists and artisans. We also use the funds to educate the public about the value of artists to West Virginia’s creative economy, the preservation of cultural heritage and the economic impact that artisans have in their communities in all 55 counties.
For this, our sixth annual event, the theme of the gala is “Hats Off to the Arts!” The gala will be on Sept. 19 at the Tamarack Conference Center in Beckley. We hope you’ll mark that date on your calendars and join us for the celebration. We’re aiming to raise $100,000 this year and to use the money to support our Artisan Resource Center, Inspiration Fund and overall mission.
Before the day arrives, there are three ways that you can help us to make this gala one of our best fundraisers ever.
As an artist, you can donate something for the silent auction. Choose a piece from your collection that represents the work for which you are best known or show off your versatility by donating a piece that’s new for you. Encourage other artists and artisans to be involved as well.
As a friend of the Tamarack Foundation, you can help by being a sponsor or business champion. By contributing funds, you enable us to help sustain our organization.
Finally, come to the gala! Buy tickets, sell tickets, promote our event. Every time we add a guest, we add one more person who will discover the wonderful diversity and exceptional quality of West Virginia arts.
You’ll be hearing more from us about the gala in coming weeks. We hope that you’ll support our efforts and allow us to continue to be the home-based business champion that we know we can be.
Tamarack Foundation Board on the Road
Warm Welcome From Artisans at the Artist Colony at Chestnut Ridge
When artisan Jeff Fetty invited the board to meet in Spencer, Roane County, and tour his Leaning Oak Forge, the board liked the idea. Here was a good opportunity to meet in a different setting and to take some time to visit with one of the artisans that the Tamarack Foundation supports.
The board members had no idea what their reception would be like.
Mayor Terry Williams greeted the board when it convened at the City of Spencer Municipal Building. Following the meeting, the board was joined by local business leaders at the new Artist Colony at Chestnut Ridge. After touring the facility, the board and other guests enjoyed a cookout. Artisans Phil and Teresa Holcomb and Jeff Fetty opened their studios for tours.
“Little did we realize the gracious hospitality that we would receive when we arrived for our meeting,” said Sally Barton, Tamarack Foundation Executive Director. “It was a wonderful reminder of how proud local communities are of their towns and their residents.”
“Taking our meeting to Spencer was great,” said Ann Bradley, Tamarack Foundation Board Chair. “It’s important for us to see how the work of the Foundation impacts the artists and artisans and to see what our support allows them to do.”
Bradley said the meeting in Spencer also gave the board members an opportunity to get feedback from the artists on what is working for them and what’s not.
“Taking the time to meet with Jeff Fetty and with Phil and Teresa Holcomb allowed us to get better acquainted with them and their work,” she said. “I believe they appreciated our support and our interest in what they are doing.
“I was most impressed with the cooperative environment between the city of Spencer and the artisans,” Bradley said. “They are creating a special development opportunity at the Artists Colony at Chestnut Ridge that will benefit both the city and the artisans. Now, they are taking an innovative approach to focusing on an artisan development that not many other places are doing. With a modest investment, the city is making available an enormous opportunity for artisans who may want to relocate in a beautiful site with infrastructure in place and wonderful community support."
Mayor Williams expressed the town’s appreciation for the board’s visit in a letter to Barton. He said:
“It was our honor and pleasure to host you and the Tamarack Foundation Board of Directors and to open our facility to your noteworthy cause . . . The Chestnut Ridge Artist Colony is indeed a wonderful benefit not only to Spencer but to the greater art community. It is our belief that we can use the inspiration and motivation currently present at the Artist Colony and combine that with municipal resources to create a dynamic, progressive and sustainable Artist Colony. In continually creating and developing the Chestnut Ridge Artist Colony, we would love to work hand-in-hand with the Tamarack Foundation.”
What is the Artist Colony at Chestnut Ridge?
The Artist Colony at Chestnut Ridge is a pristine parcel of land located on Chestnut Ridge, overlooking downtown Spencer, Roane County. In 2007, Spencer Mayor Terry A. Williams and the Spencer Development Authority began working with Jeff Fetty to bring a vision to life.
Today, the property is home to Jeff Fetty Designs Inc., Holcomb Woodworking and Sierra Studio Glass.
And there’s room for more.
The town of Spencer is offering to sell parcels of land at Chestnut Ridge at incentive pricing to artists and artisans who relocate their studios and workshops to the site. Those who move to the site are able to design and develop their own studios on property that has complete infrastructure and full city utility hook-ups, as well as three-phase power.
Foundation Receives Accolades
One of 55 Good Things About West Virginia and SBA Champion of the Year
Recognized as one of 55 good things about West Virginia is just about as good as it gets for the mission driven organization who partners with West Virginia's artists and artisans. "Being recognized for making a difference throughout West Virginia means so much to the hardworking staff of the Tamarack Foundation," said Sally Barton. "We're an extension of all the good things Tamarack represents." The Foundation's Artisan Resource Center received the 2009 Home-Based Business Champion Award in June at the 2009 Small Business Awards Celebration at the Tamarack Conference Center. SBA West Virginia Director Judy McCauley presented the award to Tamarack Foundation Executive Director Sally Barton and Artisan Services Director Ron DeWitt.
"When you work with as many home-based small business owners as we do, it’s an honor to be recognized for providing quality services that are needed and helpful," said Barton. "We have expanded our services in the last few years to include workshops across the state so that we can extend our services to as many artisans as possible, whether they can come to the center in Beckley or not."
Ron DeWitt added, "The Foundation structure allows us to go outside and seek additional funds in support of our artisans . . . to help them professionally, not only in business, but also in their product development and their marketing materials. Having the flexibility to do that gives the Foundation staff more opportunities to reach artists and artisans throughout the state."
Bridget Bean, SBA acting regional administrator, was the keynote speaker at the awards presentations. She acknowledged the world-class quality and diversity of West Virginia’s artisans in her comments. She said the small business community is a vital part of the state and national economies.
"It’s going to be small businesses that continue to make us competitive in the global market in the next 50 years," she said. "It’s been the creativeness, the ingenuity of small businesses that have advanced technology and science ... And that is what will take our country into the next 50 years, to make us more competitive."
The Artisan Resource Center was nominated by the Women’s Business & Training Center in Beckley. The center provides workshops, business coaching, networking and assistance to women-owned businesses in the state and is an active partner with the Tamarack Foundation in some of the workshops and seminars the Artisan Resource Center offers.
Click here to download the complete article from The State Journal.
Supporting Regional Artists
Opportunity for New Members and Artists to Join Buckhannon Co-Op
Within the next month, the door will open at the Main Street Arts Co-Op Art Gallery at 27 Main Street in Buckhannon. The art gallery will allow artists from throughout West Virginia and the Appalachian region to promote and sell their work.
“There may be some people who wonder why the co-op would venture into a gallery in economic times like these,” said Tom Lynch, president of the Main Street Arts Co-op and a Tamarack juried artisan. “Our board believes, as do our artist members, that this will help build local interest in Appalachian art and give the co-op the opportunity to become a viable partner in the community.”
Lynch said the co-op will provide space for artists to create and sell their work, provide educational opportunities for people in Buckhannon and surrounding communities and support tourism by offering another quality stop for visitors.
The gallery is located in the building that housed the historic Arlington Hotel. Bryson VanNostrand, a community patron of the arts, is donating the space, rent-free, to the co-op for the first year of operation. Artists, community members and West Virginia Wesleyan College volunteers are helping to give the building’s interior a face lift.
“The Main Street Arts Co-op is welcoming new members,” said Lynch. “Any artists who are interested in jurying into the co-op or community members interested in helping our organization are invited to contact us and we’ll answer their questions.”
Contact Tom Lynch at tglynch@gmail.com or Ron Hinkle at RonHinkle1000@aol.com.
Calendar of Events
Artisan Pre-Screening Sessions, Union
Artisan Pre-Screening Sessions, Charleston
Tamarack Foundation Gala, Tamarack Conference Center, Beckley
Artisan Pre-Screening Sessions, Huntington
Artisan Pre-Screening Sessions, Lewisburg
In the News!
On June 19, the Tamarack Foundation and Tamarack opened "The Best of West Virginia: A Juried Exhibit" in the David L. Dickirson Fine Arts Gallery at Tamarack. The exhibit will be open through August 8. At the opening, the following awards were presented:
Lynn Boggess of Canvas, Nicholas County, received the Best of Show award for a winter scene called "April 8, 2009". Zachary Orcutt of Parkersburg, Wood County, took second place for "Justin Case" a mechanical piece, and Barbara Marsh Wilson of Hurricane, Putnam County, placed third for her four panel layered piece, "I can Fly." Two merit awards were presented to David Merrill of Morgantown, Monongalia County, for his painting, "An Old Man in New Orleans", and to Lori Doolittle of Richwood, Nicholas County, for her ceramic sculpture, "Propeller Man".
A private gift from Linda and David Dickirson to the Tamarack Foundation along with support from Tamarack made the generous awards possible.
John DesMeules, owner of Glass Dimensions in Eleanor, Putnam County, enjoyed attention in cultural and sports circles this summer. Guests at the June 20 dedications of the West Virginia Independence Hall Civil War Flags Exhibit and the West Virginia State Museum received glass paperweights as gifts. The glassmaker’s trophy design was selected for the winner of the Nationwide Tour Players Cup presented at the tournament at the Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport on June 28.
Welcoming its six millionth visitor gave Tamarack: The Best of West Virginia another milestone in mid-July and a chance for a celebration. With live music and balloons at the front entrance, Tamarack staff greeted its special guest with fanfare and star treatment. Sharon Vickers, a native West Virginian who was returning home for a family reunion, received a $250 Tamarack gift certificate and free dining.
Words of Praise
Best of Show Winner Reflects on the Impact of The Tamarack Foundation on Career
The Tamarack Foundation thanks artist Lynn Boggess for this kind note:
I think I speak for all self-employed professional artists in West Virginia when I say that opportunities such as the “Best of West Virginia” competition are indispensable to our careers. The worth of a work of art is, in many ways, intrinsic; but there are realities that reassure collectors that when they are drawn to purchase is recognized by others as well.
I am elated to have been chosen for the award as Best of Show! It will be proudly displayed on my Website and in promotional materials for solo exhibitions for years to come.
Most importantly, it will encourage me to maintain the work ethic and discipline it takes to achieve excellence in this field of work.
Thanks for your vision and efforts and to all who were involved, in bringing this event into being.
Artisan Profile
Keith Lahti in his Own Words
I attended Albion College in Michigan from 1967 – 1971, and through a process of elimination, found it necessary to pursue my lifelong interest in art and be an art major. I was not much interested in clay and put off the one year Ceramics requirement until my senior year. When I got my hands in wet clay I said “AHA, so that is what this feels like!” I was hooked on the immediacy of my actual fingers and skin being the primary tools in this medium. I graduated with 2 semesters of clay under my belt and drove a truck for a few months to make the money to build a kiln and buy a potter’s wheel, whereupon I declared myself a potter.
It wasn’t so easy! Nothing worked and there were almost no books on the subject and of course no Internet as a resource. (How I wish there had been a Tamarack Foundation and mentoring or apprentice programs). I stuck it out and through trial and error (mostly error for some time), figured out enough to eke out a living at it, starting in 1972.
In 1974 I moved here to Clay County (of course) WV, having found my little chunk of heaven on earth. I have been in the same place, working out of the clay studio I built with the help of family and friends ever since. I discovered and started attending the wonderful annual Potter’s Gathering at Cedar Lakes, and was so happy to have well-known clay artists come in and share their expertise and answer questions each year. I continue to attend Potter’s Gathering and other workshops each year and have really gotten a remarkable education in clay that way. I still, after 40 years of clay work, learn and apply something from every single workshop I attend. I’m proud, as Vice-Chair of the Tamarack Foundation, that we have been able to lend some support to Potter’s Gathering in recent years.
Through the years I have chosen to keep my business very simple, running a one-man shop. I hire occasional help to mix glazes, pack pottery for fairs or big orders, and maintain my web site, but otherwise I do all the work on the actual pottery myself. I personally prefer the physical and mental “quiet” of working alone, and it is important to me to have my own touch on all the aspects of my work. I could easily sell more work than I can make, and people always say, “You need to expand and hire help and get bigger”. That is just not my “Path with heart”, though it suits others wonderfully. I regard each piece I make as a little bit of myself, rather than as “product”. I am satisfied and grateful for the scale of my business as it is.
I adopted a business model early on of approaching business as “What can I give my customers and my community?” as opposed to “What can I get, or take in?”. It may sound naïve and simple, but concentrating on doing my best work, and serving my customers in the best, most direct and personal way I can has always resulted in more than sufficient money and support coming back to me.
I have different lines of clay work. I make very functional stoneware pottery, more gallery-oriented stoneware pottery, and decorative earthenware vessels that look like they might be very ancient. Some years ago I started a specialty line of Cremation Urns, which I sell through my website: www.handmadecremationurns.com/ The urns have become an ever-increasing part of my business. With them I am able to fill a real need in people’s lives, and make more upscale one-of-a-kind pieces. I deal directly with the customers on the urns and do not presently wholesale them. I make them individually, not as a “line”. I intend to keep each of the urns unique.
For many years I marketed much of my work at Art or Craft Fairs. During the last several years I have moved away from that, and sell via a large invitational Studio Show in my own studio each year, walk-in by appointment sales at my studio, Tamarack, MountainMade and a few other galleries, and through my website. I have always sold enough work locally and regionally that I have not chosen to pursue a more “national” market.
I have been helped significantly in my career, both with equipment purchases and training, through financial assistance from the WV Department of Culture and History (Professional Development Grants), and the Tamarack Foundation (Fellowship). My quality and range of work have been helped immensely with the equipment and knowledge I have gained via this support.
It is hard to believe that I have been privileged to have been able to make a living with clay for nearly four decades now. It is a lot of hard work, but I would not pick a different path if I could. In so many ways I feel like I am just “getting going good”. There is still so much to learn and share. It sure is never boring!
Feel free to contact me at lahticlay@yahoo.com or call (304) 286-2635.
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Keith Lahti is the owner of Lahti Art Clay Studio in Chloe, Clay County. Best known for his handmade cremation urns, Keith has been working in clay for more than 30 years. He is a member of the Tamarack Foundation Board of Directors and was a 2007 recipient of a Tamarack Foundation Fellowship Award. That award allowed him to purchase a new, more efficient and ergonomically better kiln.
The Tamarack Foundation’s quest to provide artists resources for individual health insurance plans is moving forward. As most of you may already know the Foundation has partnered with New York Life agents Bob Ferguson and Amy Vincent to provide additional opportunities to our Artisans for health care coverage. You may have met Bob and Amy during the recent jurying when Ron DeWitt gave supporting organizations the opportunity to set up information tables presenting resources and opportunities for our state artisans. They have information about affordable health care plans and are happy to meet with you.
Recently, an Artisan they’ve been working with was able to lower her cost for health insurance, thus enabling her to afford an in home healthcare policy. Her family no longer needs to worry about her in the future. With life expectancy on the rise, it is becoming imperative to protect all that you have worked so hard to achieve. By having a plan in place to provide care should you become frail due to living a longer life, your way of life will be protected and your loved ones will not have the financial, physical and emotional stresses associated with caring for you. Unfortunately without a plan in place, your “plan” will be total loss of freedom of choice.
Another great benefit in addition to the health insurance plans is the financial guidance they can provide. Bob and Amy can design a plan of action to increase your income stream by leveraging any “lazy” money you may have. CD’s coming due? Put that money to work for you with a Guaranteed Lifetime Income Annuity that will give you a paycheck for life. Current rates range from 7 - 15.5% depending on your age. Please don’t hesitate to contact Bob or Amy at their contact information below. They are available to assist in anything you may need from heath care to your most important financial concerns.
Bob Ferguson Amy E. Vincent
(304) 340-4350 (304) 389-4707
Fergusonl@ft.newyorklife.com aevincent@ft.newyorklife.com
September 19, 2009
Tamarack Conference Center
6:00 p.m.
Tickets for the event are $125 and include an artisan reception and silent auction, a delicious dine-around, and musical and performance entertainment that highlights the Best of West Virginia.
Click here to download the 2009 Gala Sponsorship Form.