Yadkin Valley Craft Guild's Newsletter

Keep up-to-date with Guild news by reading our online newsletter. Please send Guild Member news and accomplishments to crafts@yvcg.org. so that we can share them!

YVCG - Summer Update ‘08


The Summer season has been very full for the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild with enough news to write a book!  We’ll spare you, however, and just touch on the highlights.

One of the most fun events of the summer was our Craft Guild Member’s Gathering hosted by Rosy Beverley on July 15 in a beautiful garden setting.  This gave us the opportunity to get to know each other better and to learn about each other’s media and areas of interest.  Members brought examples of their work and we all shared wonderful food and drink and conversation.  Be sure to not miss the next Gathering!

We are growing and meeting many new faces with interest in joining the Guild.  Our Standards Committee is meeting monthly to consider new members with an emphasis on maintaining the highest standards of quality in our Gallery.  Membership now consists of over 100 awesome fine and heritage craftspeople.

Yadkin Valley Clayworks is OPEN is already graduating students!  Please be sure to stop by the former Waterworks building on Front Street in Elkin and visit the first of several planned YVCG craft education studios.  This beautiful, newly renovated space for ceramics and clay boasts approximately 2,500 sq ft of space and new equipment including 10 wheels, a new heavy duty slab roller, two size clay extruders, two kilns (a 10 cu ft and a 19 cu ft) and numerous other items to make a fun and rewarding clay experience for any one attending classes. Clayworks is the result of the hard work and dedication of many of your fellow Guild Members and the generous donations of local government and charitable organizations.  More information about Clayworks and class schedules are listed on the YVCG website at www.yadkinvalleycraftguild.org.

Our monthly exhibition openings have been a real hit in the community and are a vital part of Downtown Elkin’s  “4th Friday” events.  The Guild Gallery is a high energy meeting place for artists and the community during these openings with buzz about our Guild events and the potential that the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild represents.  If you have not yet attended one of our openings, you’re really missing out!  These exhibitions run for an entire month with a new one opening every 4th Friday.  July hosted a “New Potters Exhibition” featuring the works of the students in the inaugural classes of the Guild’s Clayworks ceramics and clay education studio; June’s exhibition was “Gems, Jewels and Goblets, Oh My!” and featured our Members who work in jewelry and glass; May hosted “Shades of Blue” and included works in all media incorporating the color blue; and our first 4th Friday Gallery show featured the works of our apprentices in the Mentor/Apprentice program.  Please let us know your ideas for upcoming exhibitions and please come to the next Opening!

Our Gallery is looking great thanks to the talents of our Members and to our new Gallery manager, Sharon Whitman.  Sharon is responsible for Gallery displays and sales, organizing 4th Friday exhibitions, and keeping inventory current.  Sharon is also working as our Member Liaison, learning and sharing information about our Members and their work, making  sure that our Members are well represented in our Gallery and our marketing efforts, and making sure that our Members know how  important they are to the Guild!

The Guild has added some new faces to the Board of Directors.  We are happy to welcome Tom Holder and Helen Ruth Almond to the Board.  Tom has long been associated with working with non-profit organizations and Helen Ruth has a strong background in economic development.  We are very fortunate to have them working with the Craft Guild and are very grateful to our entire Board.  Tom Gwyn has graciously agreed to become our new Board Chairperson.  Please visit our website for more information on our Board and Staff.

Thanks to the Town of Elkin for allocating $10,000 to the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild as part of their push to support the Arts in our area (headline in the Elkin Tribune on July 7!).

We are always proud to hear of the accomplishments of our Guild Members.  Please let us know about your awards and your participation in area arts events…

Robin and Daniel Cater and Doris Petersham – featured in “Hot & Sweet”, a pottery exhibit at the Teapot Museum in Sparta, NC

Doris Petersham – fine craftsmanship award at the Cary, NC Spring Show

Erik Dahlager – award of excellence at the Harbor Arts Festival, Elizabeth City, NC

The Guild participated with a booth in the Yadkin Valley Wine Festival in July in Elkin.  Thanks to the Members who volunteered.  We also now have a permanent display at the beautiful new Visitor’s Center in Jonesville.

We made the book!  On Friday, July 18, the Guild was represented at Barnes and Noble in Winston-Salem at the promotion of the publication of “Homegrown/Handmade:  Art Roads and Farm Trails”.  We were there to help promote the Guild and the new book which mentions the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild.

Thank you to the Members who participated in the website workshop in June in which they learned to update their Bios and Gallery pages on the Guild website.  Several Members who have worked with their Gallery pages have seen results, including inquiries about purchasing their art.  We encourage all Members to elevate the quality of the Member Gallery pages of our website by participating.  There are still too many “empty leaves” where there should be beautiful pictures of your work.  Please let the office staff know if you need help updating your Gallery pages.

We are continuing our marketing efforts of the Guild and are searching out funding sources that will boost our marketing budget and allow us to be more visible as a regional organization.  Our website has been online since March and is one of our best marketing tools.  Save www.yadkinvalleycraftguild.org to your “favorites” and stay current on Guild events, classes and Members.  Be sure to check out our Guild advertising in area publications…On the Vine, Yadkin Valley Living Magazine, The Tribune, Community Arts Café, and area Hotel Directories in the four large hotels near Elkin.  Yadkin Valley Living Magazine will include a feature on Clayworks and our President, Doris Petersham in their Fall issue.  Our new Guild brochure and rack card are here and are being distributed to area venues and visitor centers!  Please stop by the Guild office to pick up some of our new marketing materials if you have found a great place to distribute them!

We always need volunteers for the Gallery!  This is a great way to get to know fellow Members and your craft-buying public!  Please contact the Guild office if you are interested in volunteering or getting involved in the Guild in any way!

Thanks for a wonderful Summer.  And keep letting us hear from you!

YVCG – Spring Update ‘08

The change of seasons is bringing new energy to the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild with lots of exciting changes happening.

The opening of Yadkin Valley Clay Works will be in early April with a Grand Opening reception in mid April at the new location in the former waterworks building on Front Street in Elkin. Please plan to attend and see the Guild’s latest effort to bring craft education to our region.The Town of Elkin has supported this venture in both cash and in-kind input to the tune of about $28,000. Anyone who knew the old facility will not recognize it...new windows, bright paint, a restroom, clean walls etc. are only part of the renovation. Surry County Commissioners are purchasing $10,000 worth of new equipment to make the facility a fine and fun place to work and learn. Some of the Mentor /Apprentice equipment owned by the Guild will be placed in the facility, courtesy of the Golden LEAF Foundation of North Carolina. Programs and classes will include something for everyone of every age!!!... from professional potter's classes to classes for moms and very small children working together.A calendar of pottery classes will be available on our website @ www.yadkinvalleycraftguild.org and in the gallery at 122 West Main Street in Elkin. This is the first of the YVCG studios that will eventually be a certified school of crafts production to provide both economic development for the Yadkin Valley as well as local products that are symbiotic with the YV wine country and its ever increasing tourist market.

A photo workshop for artists will be held on April 5 and 6 -Photograph your artwork in a Cube; see article written by Mary Mascenik in the Tribune- Wednesday March 5, 2008 for further explanations or call the Guild office.The workshop is a collaboration of YVCG and Surry Community College ceramic department. Thanks to the major sponsor, Yadkin Valley Bank and Trust.

Our new website is being designed and will be on-line by the end of March! We think you will be very pleased, so be sure to take a look at the new www.yadkinvalleycraftguild.org in a couple of weeks.We are also designing new print marketing materials for the Guild including brochures and rack cards which will be distributed at Welcome Centers along interstates in our region and at other strategic places in order to reach both locals and visitors to our area.We want to greatly increase awareness of the Guild and of you, its members, and to get more people into our Gallery Shop.Our logo is also being freshened up in this marketing push, and you can look for new signage for the downtown Gallery Shop coming soon.We are becoming more visible in regional newspapers, print magazines and on-line arts guides such as “Community Arts Café” and are linking to area Chambers of Commerce and tourism websites.All of our efforts have the goal of letting more people know about the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild and its many talented members.

We need your help with our website!Our new site will prominently feature our members.Each one of you will be able to have up to three informational pages that will allow you to let the world know about you and your work.Here you will be able to post your bio, pictures of your work, a link to your website, your exhibition schedule and other pertinent information that will help you promote yourself and your work.These member pages will be maintained by YOU!We will have a short clinic for YVCG members to learn how to update your pages on the Guild website in the near future.In the meantime, we need members’ bios and digital photographs of your work so that we can get them on the website when we go live at the end of March.Please email your bio BY MARCH 20 to the Guild at yvcg@rivercto.net or mail them to YVCG at PO Box 556 Elkin NC28621.And please feel free to call if you have questions about how to submit these materials.

Please let us know about your accomplishments!We would love to share news of your awards, press, gallery shows, etc. on our website and in our quarterly updates.

We plan to showcase our Guild members in monthly exhibits at the Gallery shop in Elkin starting this spring.We will coordinate the openings of these rotating exhibits with Downtown Elkin’s “Music & Merchants on Main – 4^th Fridays” celebrations when there will be lots of folks on the street!Our first exhibit will open the 4^th Friday in April, will highlight the work of our Apprentices and will celebrate the first year of the Guild’s Mentor/Apprentice Program.Subsequent exhibits will highlight the Guild’s varied categories of work in different media.So get your best work ready!We will announce these monthly exhibits in area arts calendars and gallery listings and will emphasize them on our website.

The Craft Guild plans to have a booth at this year’s Yadkin Valley Wine Festival.Please call the Guild office for more info.

Please renew Your Membership! This year promises to be an active, exciting year for the Yadkin Valley Craft Guild.We value your membership and your input.Let us know your ideas!