2011 was a good year for Seacoast Artist Guild as we grew to a total of 247 members (at last count).  We offered numerous opportunities for our artists to display their work as well as opportunities to sell work.  The venues available to our artists were as follows:

• We opened the Seacoast Artist Guild Mall Gallery at Inlet Square Mall, Murrells Inlet, SC

• We continued with the gallery at Applewoods in Litchfield Beach, SC

• We had a Spring Show at Inlet Square Mall which was a big success.

• There was a Fall Show at Inlet Square Mall that was also a success.

• We had special sales at the Inlet Square Mall Gallery for the Christmas season including the addition of a kiosk for the display of jewelry, 3D and 2D art.

2011 was also a good year for our involvement with the community.  We did several fundraisers to raise money for worthy causes.  Some of the fundraisers were for local charity, while others pertained to our art education program.   Our most recent efforts included the following:

• Spaghetti Supper at Applewoods –

• Raised money for our Art Education Program where we hope to inspire young people and help them develop their talents.  Our artists go into a school and teach talented youngsters how to draw and paint.  We provide the instructor and the supplies.

• Souper Bowl for Habitat – We assist Habitat for Humanity by hand painting soup bowls and mugs for the event.   For a $25 donation individuals get one of the bowls or a mug and their fill of gourmet soups, stews, chowders, bisques and breads from over 40 different restaurants from Georgetown to Murrells Inlet, SC.

• The Christmas mini-canvass sale where money is raised by selling small canvasses painted and donated by the artists in the guild.

• We made donations to a number of local charities and our artists donated some of their works for charities to sell at auction as another way to raise money. 

• We had monthly meetings for our members the first Sunday of every month at 2:00 PM in the Community Room at the Inlet Square Mall. 

• We kept our members advised of developments and provided a program at each of those meetings. 

• We also put out a monthly newsletter to keep our members aware of ongoing projects. 

• We maintained seacoastartistguild.com with information about the guild and an on-line gallery.  

• There were also numerous opportunities for members to participate in various workshops. 

• Every effort was made to promote the arts and our artists. 

I want to thank all of our members who contributed their time, skills and finances to further the interests of the Seacoast Artist Guild.  This organization succeeds because of the involvement of our members working as volunteers to support the day to day operations of the guild.  We welcome all volunteers to our committees because as we grow, our needs do as well.

We enter the 2012 with optimism based upon the successes of the past year.  As many of you are aware we had some issues to deal with over the past year within the guild and the poor economy didn’t do much for art sales.  We still managed to have some success, and we are looking for improvement on all fronts in 2012. 

Respectfully submitted,

T. R. “Tom” Britton, President