A PWAS Meeting to Meet Your Friends
Monday, June 23, 2025. The Prince William Art Society (PWAS) is an art group in Prince William County, VA that is comprised of many artists with plenty of diversity in art styles, subject matter, art experiences, and art goals. We meet monthly to review what we do, what we have planned, and going into the future. Our meetings often have a guest speaker showing their art and how they do what they do.
PWAS Meeting Moments
The PWAS Members meet on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Road, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm. A typical meetings with a program begins with:
- Guest Speaker Program
- Refreshments with a few minutes of conversation with fellow members.
- PWAS Board - updates on finances, art shows, to-dos, concerns and Q&A.
This meeting was a new experience for the membership. Designed by PWAS Member Tom Payne and his wife Becky, the members began with grabbing their refreshments and a seat at a table around the room. We were given envelopes with a word printed on it. We were instructed to find the person with the opposite of our word - making that person our "partner". Like Positive found Negative, Yellow found Purple, etc.
PWAS Interviews in progress
We opened our envelopes and inside was a paper with a list of great interview questions and a pencil and we spent some time LISTENING to our partner as we asked and took notes about their answers. After a period of time, we then switched and were interviewed by our partner who did the same.
Sheri Herrick and Evelyn Chatters 
Bettie Sperty and Staci Blanchard 
Kathy Ross and Rebekah Keener
Staci Blanchard and Bettie Sperty 
Mark Murphy and Richard Tyler 
Kathy Ross and Rebekah Keener 
Katharine Owens and Anna Gatling 
Robert Dew, David Dillon, Sheri Herrick 
Members mingling 
Bettie Sperty, Evelyn Chatters, and Becky Payne 
Sheri Herrick and Evelyn Chatters
As I get this blog post ready, I can't help but hear (again...see the notes below too) the lyrics "Getting to know you, getting to know all about you. Getting to like you, getting to hope you like me..." (From the movie The King and I - Deborah Kerr, uncredited voice double Marni Nixon - although you could swear that was Julie Andrews voice.)
Finally, each team of partners stood in front of the room and told the group about our partner, what they had learned about them - where they were from - some of us are from very far away! Others are from the same city and share those memories although our time frames put us there at different times. We learned how long they have been doing art with their earliest memories and some have been members of PWAS a LONG TIME!
Robert Dew and Maureen Guillot 
Ana Quispe and Penny Shaw 
Donna Liguria, Maria Briganti, Katharine Owens 
Katharine Owens and Anna Gatling 
Bettie Sperty and Staci Blanchard and Mark Murphy looking on
Not only were there so many great laughs, but there were so many very interesting life experiences and backgrounds from everyone. We learned we have so many different life journeys yet we all share a love of art that some began early in life, never having put a pencil down and while some of us began somewhat later in life.
Our jobs and skills sets were quite varied - from IT job skills and experience, to military, to submarines and Navy, to a butler. To restaurant work with food and beverage, a mean cheesecake maker, to music, to accounting, to a few of the Washington DC acronyms and graphic design. Teachers and some art teachers, to raising families and children, and globe trottting - we all cover a lot of ground. Some of us are retired and some of us are still in the midst of our careers while still putting in our art time.
We learned about our goals, our future with art and something the art group didn't know about that person.
People always work better in a team especially when they communicate. Everything is always about that, right? Now where does all this take us next?
As the Prince William Art Society moves into its fifty-fourth year as a community non-profit art group, and with our elections for a new Board coming at the end of this year, knowing more about each other helps us grow as a group. We have goals, desires, wish lists and challenges to make the visual arts in Prince William County bigger and better for all of us whether artist or art lover. The arts culture is something fantastic and extremely valuable for all residents of the county.
A Few Notes from Our Team
"I really enjoyed getting to know everyone better. Who knew Staci was so dangerous!! I especially want to thank Tom and Becky for putting this together and running the program. I heard numerous comments on how the members enjoyed the meeting and I believe we should do this kind of thing more often." - Sandra McClelland Lewin, PWAS Interim President
"I thought the meeting activity was a fantastic success. And what a great night to have several new people show up. Our meetings have slowly but continuously grown more interactive, which is great, but this one really got people talking to each other. It wasn’t just the Board speaking from the front of the room and a few people making comments. We enjoyed a lot of laughs and learned “secrets” about each other. Our members are wonderfully diverse. And now we know that many of them can cook!" - Bettie Sperty, PWAS Secretary
"I had fun as well. I really liked learning a little bit about everyone. It was fun hearing the diversity of the group." - Staci Blanchard, PWAS PWC Arts Council Representative
"I think the "Getting To Know You” activity provided a unique opportunity for PWAS members (and visitors) to interact and engage in meaningful conversations for the purpose of building stronger relationships and learning more about each other. While Bing Crosby sang “Getting To Know You” in the background, the group broke into pairs. Each pair asked and answered a few interview questions, and reported out the answers with the whole group. The heartwarming stories, anecdotes, and artistic revelations that were shared about every person in the group were enjoyed by all! PWAS is an inclusive and extremely diverse group of very talented artists. For proof, we needed to look no further than the members meeting on Monday evening.
The activity was a tremendous success and those in attendance indicated that they would like to learn even more about their PWAS colleagues." - Tom Payne, PWAS Member-at-Large
"Great meeting. Got to meet and get to know Katharine Owens. I believe we both enjoyed our time of laughter together." - Anna Gatling, PWAS Member
"I was thinking recently that I missed those days of volunteering where you would be at one of our galleries or a show with a fellow PWAS member and between visitors you could just talk. Those days were grand getting to know the other person - great sessions and sharing thoughts on PWAS, art in PWC, art tips, and good golly, so much more. This meeting brought the group closer and let everyone learn something new about each attendee as well as so many things so many of us have in common. A great meeting." - Donna Liguria, Social Media and Artistry Spin Blogmaster
"I enjoyed Monday's PWAS meeting! I learned a lot about our members' backgrounds, families, careers, and unique talents. There were many commonalities among us. Kudos to Tom and Becky for organizing the activity!" - Evelyn Chatters, PWAS Member
Were you at the meeting? What did you think? Drop a comment below please.
Artistry Spin Blogmaster and an artist member of PWAS in Woodbridge, VA, specializing in acrylic painting. She paints landscapes, seascapes, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com, her Donna's Esty site and her Blog at Donna’s Cave Paintings.
Local Art: The Prince William Art Society is a 50+-year-old non-profit art group in PWC for the appreciation of fine art throughout the county and Northern Virginia. Visit us at any of our local art shows or join us for our monthly meetings - held on the 4th Monday of the month at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Dr, Woodbridge, VA at 7:30pm
Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership
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