Showing posts with label PWAS Meeting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PWAS Meeting. Show all posts

Thursday, July 31, 2025

Post 561: After the Meeting, Guest Speaker Delwyn Elizabeth

After the Meeting, Guest Speaker Delwyn Elizabeth

The Prince William Art Society (PWAS) has had some really great programs over the years at our monthly meetings. Monday, July 28, 2025 - on all kinds of art topics. We have had a artists demonstrating watercolor, acrylics, pastels, using Golden Art Products, art journaling, plein air painting, learned about photo art and digital art, packing for traveling, art business tips, made art with our friends. learned about art committees and commissions, learned more about each other, made "art reveal videos", had various art challenges, viewed monoprints being made, and awarded scholarships to name a few different topics. This past program was about hanging our art work in a local library.

Ever Hang Art in a Library?

PWAS, as a group, has hung art in several of our local libraries that have the space to do so. Namely, the Montclair Library and the Bull Run Library. But solo artists - if they have enough art to show in the space and it is approved, also can submit a form for processing. The wait varies per library as well as the available dates and space. Delwyn Elizabeth walked the PWAS members through the "how-tos" of applying.

If you would like to see a recap of past guest programs, do a search on the keyword "PWAS Meetings" and have a happy walk back in time! 

Emily Hawes introducing Delwyn Elizabeth 

Delwyn discussing how to apply and showing the space available at the Montclair Library.  







Montclair Library  5049 Waterway Drive, Dumfries, VA

Perhaps it is time you applied for a library show....(note to self too)

PWAS Meetings

PWAS holds our monthly meetings on the 4th Monday of the month, every month except in December. The meetings are typically held at the Tall Oaks Community Center at 12298 Cotton Mill Drive, Woodbridge, VA which is on the corner of Hedges Run and Cotton Mill in the Lakeridge area. Hedges Run is right off of Old Bridge Road, where the Giant is. 

In December, we hold a member + one adult Christmas party with the date to be determined - and of course with so many very talented artists...we almost always have our own musicians as well. Talented people I tell ya! They paint, they draw, they sketch, they teach art. They make digital art, they photograph beauty. And on top of that, some of them make music too.

The artists cheer each others successes, and help when another artist has a question about art dilemmas they run into. We work together as a team at our art events and have fun in every way we can!

As you can see, miss a meeting and you miss a lot. Join PWAS today if you haven't already! 


Author: Donna Liguria is the Blogmaster for the PWAS Artistry Spin Blog and Donna's Cave Paintings Blog, and an artist member of the Prince William Art Society (PWAS) in Woodbridge, Virginia. And she takes on the PWAS social media duties as well (help me!) Donna specializes in acrylic painting of landscapes, seascapes, historic locations, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com and her Donna's Esty site to shop her art. 

Photos by Donna Liguria 

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 (typically, but check the website in case of any changes).

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment (below)! ...Remember, comments are monitored so they will not show up immediately.

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Sunday, July 27, 2025

Post 590: Prince William Art Society Monthly Meeting July 28 7:30pm

Prince William Art Society Monthly Meeting July 28 7:30pm

The Prince William Art Society (PWAS) has a monthly meeting held on the 4th Monday of the month and the public is welcome to attend to see what Prince William County's oldest art group has going on. Meetings can vary, but typically we have a guest speaker, possibly doing a demo, offering art tips on multiple art topics, and/or discussing their own art processes for their artwork.

Tall Oaks Community Building on the corner of Cotton Mill Drive and Hedges Run (just past where Giant is off Old Bridge Road) 

Senior Librarian Delwyn Elizabeth

On July 28th the Prince William Art Society will meet at the Tall Oaks Community Center (12298 Cotton Mill Dr., Woodbridge VA, 22192) at 7:30 PM for a general membership meeting. Meetings are free and open to the public who are invited to attend, and will begin with a program by a guest speaker. This month, Senior Librarian at the Montclair library, Delwyn Elizabeth, will share current information on the expanded exhibit space, plans for using this space to showcase local artists, and how to get your work exhibited. Come for this opportunity to hear updated information and ask questions.

Montclair Library 5049 Waterway Dr, Montclair, VA 22025

Come Join Us!

My fellow artists in Prince William County, come join us at our meeting, we have a lot of very interesting artist members and folks that just plain love art. You could be a part of us and our group!


Author: Emily Hawes

Author: Donna Liguria is the Blogmaster for the PWAS Artistry Spin Blog and Donna's Cave Paintings Blog, and an artist member of the Prince William Art Society (PWAS) in Woodbridge, Virginia. And she takes on the PWAS social media duties as well (help me!) Donna specializes in acrylic painting of landscapes, seascapes, historic locations, animals and many subjects. Visit her Website at DonnaLiguriaArt.com and her Donna's Esty site to shop her art. 

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 (typically, but check the website in case of any changes).

Want to join PWAS? Go to https://www.princewilliamartsociety.com/membership

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment (below)! ...Remember, comments are monitored so they will not show up immediately.

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Thursday, June 26, 2025

Post 584: A PWAS Meeting to Meet Your Friends

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:

  1. Guest Speaker Program
  2. Refreshments with a few minutes of conversation with fellow members.
  3. 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. 

Eric Ndofor, Sandra McClelland Lewin, and Scott Elliot 



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

Richard Tyler and Mark Murphy  
Sheri Herrick and Evelyn Chatters 
Eric Ndofor, Sandra McClelland Lewin and not pictured was Scott Elliott - he's to the right of Sandra in the picture below on the edge of the photo
Patty Gulledge, David Dillon, Robert Dew and Maureen Guillot 
Penny Shaw and Ana Quispe 
Maria Briganti and Donna Liguria 

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.


Author: Donna Liguria
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.

Photography/Video Credits: Tom Payne - Thank you Tom and Becky!!!

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

Have an idea for a blog post? Are you a writer and want to help with the blog? Let me know! Thank you for visiting, and remember to Share, Follow, and Comment (below)! ...Remember, comments are monitored so they will not show up immediately.

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