President’s Letter January 2024

Happy New Year! I hope this year brings forth inspiration, creativity, and abundant opportunities!

It was so lovely to see so many of you at the Ornament Exchange a few weeks ago! I got to connect with some old friends, and see some new faces! It was fun to swap ornaments (thanks to Barbara and Jane for helping us get started as always). And thanks to Micki for hosting, once again!

Welcome Mary Stafford as our new Secretary, taking over for Cynthia Smutney. And welcome Christen Coomer as our new interim Newsletter Editor, taking over for Tammi Sloane. We really appreciate all of you! The guild would not be able to exist without our volunteers, and we are so grateful that Mary and Christen stepped up and have already done some great work. For those of you concerned with bureaucracy, we will have a formal vote in June at our annual general meeting. Our board terms got a bit messed up with Covid, but we’re going to get back on track in June.

For many years, Pratt Fine Arts Center and the Seattle Metals Guild have collaborated on a necklace to be offered at the annual Pratt auction. Our organizations share many talented artists who are part of the rich arts fabric of our Puget Sound Region. Collectively, we embody a reverence for the value of the arts in our community. We invite you to contribute to this wonderful piece of art! With your contribution of a hand made bead in the materials and style of your choice, we would like to create a necklace for the 2024 auction. This year’s theme is “Pratt Aglow”. Click here to learn more and submit a bead! https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ys0O1CC4R0agDtMI-dDujkZRBltbVbYZ/edit

Thanks to all of you who filled out our survey. That means a lot to us. We got a lot of valuable and honest feedback, and we’re in the process of analyzing it (thanks to Lynn Vandeberg) and talking about some new strategies! Congrats to the winner of a free year of membership - ✨Lisa Geertsen!✨We’ve updated your account!

We’re in the process of planning our next metals mixers and lecture series. Nothing for January yet, but keep your eyes open for events coming soon! Wishing you a month filled with creativity, inspiration, and the joy of crafting metals! Here's to a brilliant year ahead.

Warmly,

Nina