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Dear Friends,
Tim Finn, owner of Finn Gallery in St. Petersburg, Florida, has so many friends! Together, we entertained three different groups over the weekend. We were blessed to have the League to Aid Retarded Children (LARC); members of Delta Kappa Gamma, which is a professional honor society of women educators and one I am so pleased to have an honorary membership in; and the Moss Pelicans Chapter of the P. Buckley Moss Society.
Thursday night we hosted LARC, the League to Aid Retarded Children. LARC is a group of professional women who are a fundraising arm for PARC, Pinellas Association for Retarded Citizens. The ladies visited Tim’s gallery and then went over to my house to hold their meeting and have dinner. I have a large meeting space in my house, which The Moss Portfolio uses to hold its annual winter Dealers’ Meeting. I so enjoyed meeting the members of LARC that I listened in on their meeting. I very much admire the work and the energy they put into helping those in the community with retardation.
Here I am, in the pale blue jacket, with the wonderful members of LARC.
In 2007 I was invited by UPARC, the Upper Pinellas Association for Retarded Citizens, to provide the feature artwork for that year’s annual Festival of Trees, which is its annual five-day celebration and fundraiser to benefit its programs and services. UPARC’s services include residential services and employment training as well as an art studio where artists with developmental disabilities can explore their talents and receive payment for the works they create and sell. PARC has similar services. I released a print edition last year based on the artwork I created for the Festival of Trees titled Purrfectly Trimmed. Ten percent of the proceeds from the sale of this print edition benefits UPARC.
Saturday morning, we were visited by members of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society. As I said before, I am so proud to have an honorary membership in this society of women teachers. For someone who struggled in school, it is indeed an honor. The ladies were such a joy to be with that I kept them longer than their intended visit! I would like to give a special thanks to Rose Verheyen, a retired school teacher and a collector of my work, who was instrumental in organizing the visit. I’m so glad she did!
The members of Delta Kappa Gamma are a joy to be with.
I have been asked by IOTA State Organization-The Delta Kappa Gamma Society International to create a print edition for them to be released next year. It will be a classroom setting, including a teacher, children, and subtle IOTA-Delta Kappa Gamma symbols. I plan on working on it this winter in Florida.
Sunday, the Moss Pelicans Chapter visited the gallery and held its meeting at my house. I’m a proud member of this chapter—what a fun, caring group of people! This year the Chapter sponsored a teacher to attend the P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children’s Education’s Annual Creative Mind Conference. Dara Vance is an art teacher for Pinellas County, Florida, and we were delighted to have her with us. We got her to draw the winning raffle ticket for a remarqued, framed Sanibel Lighthouse. The proceeds of the raffle helped to fund her scholarship and travel expense to the Foundation’s conference. The lucky winner was Pat Mallett of Weekie Watchie, Florida, one of the Delta Kappa Gamma members who visited the gallery the day before.
Moss Pelicans Chapter President Bonnie-Lou Binnig, wearing the apron and holding the basket of raffle tickets, and teacher Dara Vance, pulling the winning ticket.
Also during Tim’s show this past weekend, I was delighted to see Peter Coppola again. Peter is a friend of Moss Pelicans Chapter President Bonnie-Lou Binnig and her husband Dick. What a friend we have in Peter! He created a wonderful Santa’s sleigh, complete with Santa, gifts, and lighted Christmas tree, in his garage and presented it to me as a gift. All the people who came to the show commented on it and enjoyed it so much, that I decided to let it stay in the gallery through Christmas so everyone can enjoy it. I’m going back up to Virginia this week for Thanksgiving and won’t be back down until right after Christmas. I’ll take it home then.
A special thanks to Peter Coppola, pictured with me above, for making this wonderful Santa and sleigh and giving it to me as a gift.
Speaking of Christmas decorations, I understand that my Museum in Waynesboro, Virginia, is beginning to put on its holiday finery. I’ll be in Waynesboro for Thanksgiving, and I can hardly wait to see what the staff has done at the Museum. I do have one picture that was sent to me to share with you below. We’ll start decorating the Barn this weekend and finish up just before the Barn Show and Museum Open House, which will be held December 5-7. We’ll release a special print edition that weekend that I’m really excited about.
Museum staff members Pat Carter, Penny Field, and Sandy Swartz sure do look like they’re having fun putting up the Christmas tree in the Museum’s bay window.
Winter Together will be released during the Barn Show and Museum Open House, December 5-7, 2008. This print will be available at your local Moss gallery or from The Moss Portfolio after December 7.
On Friday, November 28, my daughter Patty and I will drive up to Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, for a show with Jeff Van Boskirk at 2nd Floor Gallery and Gallerie 13 in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Jeff and I will debut a new giclée on canvas edition of historic Carlisle Barracks, which is located in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. I visited Carlisle Barracks years ago and gave a talk to the Army Officers’ Club, and I’m very pleased to have been asked to do a painting of it. Mechanicsburg will have its annual tree lighting ceremony right across from Gallerie 13 during Friday night’s show, and last year it was glorious. It’s such fun to be in a small, historic town for its tree lighting!
The Carlisle Barracks giclée on canvas will be released November 28-29, 2008, during my show with 2nd Floor Gallery in Mechanicsburg, PA, but I will actually be signing at Gallerie 13 in Mechanicsburg. For more information, please contact gallery owner Jeff Van Boskirk at 717-697-0502.
On Monday, November 17, my daughter Patty and Dr. Linda Wilson, Secretary of the P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children’s Education’s Board of Directors and a fellow Mathews, Virginia, resident, participated in the Mathews County Public Schools’ Mark of Excellence Program, which was held at Thomas Hunter Middle School. The Mark of Excellence Program included musical selections from all three of the county’s schools and a number of student presentations. It also provided booth space for organizations in the county that support children’s education, such as the YMCA and 4-H among others. Patty and Dr. Wilson set up a display on the Foundation and were on hand to answer questions from faculty and parents.
Dr. Linda Wilson, left, and my daughter Patty Moss, right, represented the P. Buckley Moss Foundation for Children’s Education at the Mathews County Public Schools’ Mark of Excellence Program, which was held at Thomas Hunter Middle School. The Moss Portfolio and the Moss on the Chesapeake Chapter of the P. Buckley Moss Society sponsored two teachers from Thomas Hunter to attend the Foundation’s Creative Mind Conference November 1-3. Dr. Wilson is President of Moss on the Chesapeake Chapter, and both she and my daughter Patty serve on the Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Before I head off to Waynesboro and Thanksgiving with my family, I wish all of you and your families a wonderful holiday full of love, tradition, and happy memories.
With love,
Pat
One more picture…
What a pleasure it was to meet Bohdan Durkacz at the ACLD reception that was held on November 13 at the Phipps Conservatory in Pittsburgh, PA. Mr. Durkacz is a member of ACLD’s Board of Directors and presented the Opening Doors Award that ACLD gave me that evening. For more information on the ACLD event, please see last week’s newsletter.
The Moss
Portfolio
74 Poplar Grove Lane
Mathews, VA 23109
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©P. Buckley Moss 2008