The Art League of Montgomery County conducted its general all-member meeting at 7 p.m. March 3 at the Crawfordsville District Public Library.
Present: Kathy Steele, President, Linda Weaver, Treasurer, Terri Fyffe, Secretary, along with 22 members of the Art League.
Call to Order: Kathy Steele called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
Welcome to members, and we have had some new members join since our last meeting. Trudy Cunningham (A & C II), Marilyn Staley (A & C II), Rebekah Mason (General), and Brian McCafferty (GM). Please continue to invite and encourage all members to attend your department meetings and the all-member meetings.
Kathy then called upon Karen Patton to introduce our speaker this evening, a well-known local artist, and honorary member of the Art League, Jerry Smith. His program this evening is titled: Common Ground, from the Basement Up. Karen was excited to learn that Jerry would present the program this evening, as Cindy, Jerry and Karen have been friends for many years.
Indiana artist Jerry Smith has had a life-long interest in art, although he opted for a business degree in college. He began oil painting as a hobby in the early 1970s, switching to watercolor shortly thereafter. Primarily through self-training and workshop study in art, he left his business career behind and has been a full-time artist since the mid-seventies. Included among his workshop teachers were Indiana painters Louise Hansen and Floyd Hopper, both of whom had a significant influence on his work. Jerry was introduced to plein-air painting in a 1976 workshop taught by Don Stone in Rockport, MA. This trip also inspired a fascination with the painting opportunities offered by the coastline of New England and has had a major impact on his work. Annual painting trips to the Maine coast complement his Indiana landscape painting. He continues to work in watercolor along with oils and acrylics.
Jerry maintains signature memberships in over 18 artist societies- some of which are the America Watercolor Society (Dolphin Fellow), the American Impressionist Society, the Hudson Valley Art Association, the International Society of Acrylic (Signature Master), the Rocky Mountain National Watermedia, the National Oil and Acrylic Painters Society (Master), and the Whiskey Painters of America. He is a member of several Indiana art associations such as the Brown County Art Guild, Indiana Artists, and the Indiana Plein-air Painters Association. He is also a member of the Hoosier Salon and has been included in over 40 Hoosier Salon exhibitions since the mid-seventies. He has exhibited in many well-known shows. He is the author of a book published by International Artist, Expressive Landscape in Acrylic. He has been featured in the pages of International Artist Magazine and Watercolor Artist to name a couple. He has published a retrospective of his work entitled Common Ground and a book of plein-air paintings entitled Gems of Montgomery County. Jerry lives in Crawfordsville with his wife. Cindy, and maintains a restored, century old stone-front building in downtown Crawfordsville as his studio/gallery.
Jerry and Cindy moved to Crawfordsville in 1967 — he came here to work at RR Donnelleys. He had a degree in business. Donnelleys employed about 2,500 people at the time and Jerry met lots of people and friends over 10 years there. During this time, he began thinking of his long-time desire to paint. Cindy gave him his first paint set. He felt he knew little about painting and bought many books and attended workshops. He is basically self-taught. His first studio was in the kitchen on the first floor of their home on Grant Avenue, then he moved to the basement for more space and this was the start of his ‘studio’ He took local classes and kept painting and studying — gathered information and took pictures. He then ‘retired’ from Donnelleys and began entering art shows and art fairs. They traveled to three to four spring workshops, and three to four fall workshops. He opened a frame shop that he called “The Frame Shop” and they moved out to State Road 32 so that he could have studio space and a shop. They lived there for about 20 years. He and Cindy decided to move back into town so that he could have more space — both studio and retail. He looked for an available building and bought the property at 119 S. Green St. He began renovating the space to his needs and rented out the top of the building.
Jerry and Cindy began traveling to places to paint — Maine and the east coast. He also loved Sugar Creek and other places here in Montgomery County. He began attending/hosting plein-air events - New Harmony attracted around 200 participants.
He has received too many awards to list them all, but after entering the American Watercolor Society and winning different awards he became a ‘signature member’. At the National Watercolor Society 100th International Open Exhibition he received ‘Best of Show’ for Solid Foundation and his work was placed in the Permanent Collection of NWS.
Jerry and Cindy traveled to China the summer of 2023 with other international artists to paint with Chinese watercolor artists and to participate in the Quindao International Watercolor Show and other exhibitions, plein-air painting, watercolor demonstrations, and interactions with the art community. There is a big emphasis on art in China. They worked morning to night and gave talks that had to be through an “official” interpreter. While painting surrounded by fans speaking Chinese, which was a bit distracting, Chinese kids would use their phones to translate.
They were reimbursed for their trip. He had been asked to bring ‘lots’ of paintings to sell-the price to be negotiated. He took 20 mid-size, two to three large, and several small. Their first night the “director” of the program came to buy first choice. He bought 18 after negotiating price and paid in U.S. currency. After that, a Chinese lady collected payment for other art sales and paid the Smith’s very late that evening just before they headed back to the States. Unfortunately, she paid him in Yuans. It turned out the Moldavian artist in the group knew someone in Beijing who would exchange the Yuans (Chinese currency) for U.S currency.
The Plein-Air Magazine sponsored a show in Cherokee, North Carolina, in the Smokies. Around 1,000 attendees. Eighty faculty members of which Jerry was one. He said there was almost too many choices of things to do in free time. While there, Jerry painted a barn, and Cindy joked that they traveled from Indiana to Cherokee, North Carolina, so Jerry could paint a barn. Rob O’Dell had been a friend who influenced Jerry’s painting and served as an inspiration.
Jerry does not maintain a set schedule. He likes to paint every day, but sometimes time does not allow for that. Hours at the studio are by chance or appointment.
We are lucky to have such talent in Crawfordsville.
Minutes: The minutes of October 7, 2024, All-Member meeting had been sent out for review by members.
Kathy asked for any corrections or additions. Finding none, Dorothy Fogel moved, and Annie Sipahimalani seconded to approve the minutes as presented. Motion passed.
Treasurer’s Report: Linda Weaver presented the current Treasurer’s Report. Ruby Burkhart moved, and Sandy Henthorn seconded to accept the Treasurer’s Report as presented. Motion passed. Copy attached.
Budget Committee: Linda Weaver
Last meeting we passed out a questionnaire asking about what members priorities would be to spend the $1,800 dollars that we no longer need to allocate to Athens Art Gallery. The top three votes were for:
New Brochure 18
Increase High School Awards 17
Purchase permanent labels for library 15
We are planning to have a new brochure professionally printed with more up to date graphics, more information shared such as how to join, how to access our Facebook page, and how to pay through Venmo. We will need to see how much the brochure costs first, before we can allocate funds to the next 2. We would like to install more permanent labels that would be resistant to tampering for our art collection and possibly raise the high school art awards.
Newsletter: Betsy Strain
Betsy continues to do an excellent job of creating a very informative newsletter. Articles and photos for the next Newsletter are due March 22. Please send her all the good news about your department’s activities.
Betsy reminds us that the more information we place in our newsletter or post to our Facebook page AND to our personal Facebook pages, the more these actions will expand our impact for the Art League and hopefully attract more members.
Facebook & Social Media: Betsy Strain and Jennifer Hoar (Assistant)
In the Executive Committee we discussed the need to increase our use of social media to inform our members as well as the community. We are in the process of updating our brochure, which should include ways to find our information digitally as well as apply and pay for membership. It would be nice if we could coordinate our projects with pictures for the brochure. Kathy asked if anyone has pictures from the Art Walk?
Communication Chair: Marilyn Smith
Even with a broken wrist, Marilyn got the information about our March meeting to all participants. She continues to share vital information with our members. Getting the minutes of the October meeting to everyone took a team effort. Thank you to Marilyn Smith, Terri Fyffe, Betsy Strain, and Linda Weaver.
Nominations: Sue Fain was not able to attend tonight. Patty Sommer (Dept H) presented the slate of officers for the 2025-26 year.
Slate of officers:
Co-Presidents – Carol Baird (AC) and Kathy Steele (K)
Vice President – Nancy Bennett (M)
Treasurer- Linda Weaver (L)
Secretary – Terri Fyffe (L)
Are there any nominations from the floor?
With no nominations from the floor, do I have a motion to accept the slate presented? Sherry Harris made a motion to accept the slate as presented. Kate Lindsay seconded. Vote unanimous.
I would like to thank Sue Fain and the members of the Nominating Committee: Patty Sommer, Andria Grady, Terri Fyffe, Nancy Bennett, and Carol Baird for finalizing this slate of officers.
Membership: Kathy Steele
Dept. H has notified the league that they are switching to ‘general’ members, but they do plan to stay active.
If you know of anyone who would like to become a member, please contact Peggy Herzog. Please write down the names of community members that you think would like to join Art League and share these names with appropriate board members. It may be time to create another group. The names of new members should also be sent to Linda Weaver, Eileen Bowen and Kathy Steele.
Property: Kathy Steele
Toni Ridgway-Woodall created a visual log of the artwork that belongs to the Art League, that also lists a description of each piece. Kathy Steele met with Toni on February 6, 2025, to assess our artwork and to discuss adding new pieces to the collection and creating new labels for our pieces. This is an ongoing discussion. Toni had suggested moving our art to the basement, but the majority of members present did not agree.
A final vote will be taken on the location of art work at the library at the May meeting.
Reorganizing Historical Boxes of Art League: Kathy Steele
A team of very organized members went through all our boxes in the library and sorted, pitched, and rearranged documents. Thank you to Sherry Harris, Karen Patton, Betty Culley, Carol Baird, Mary Lou Dawald, Nancy Bennett, Sandy Henthorn, Terri Fyffe and Dellie Craig. This needed to be completed for a long time and this team made the task enjoyable and rewarding.
Directory: Eileen Bowen
Please let Eileen Bowen or Linda Weaver know if you have made any changes to your contact information or if the information in the Art League Booklet is not correct. We want to make sure the Art League Booklet is up to date and correct. Eileen would like to publish the document so you can receive the new copy at the May meeting.
High School Awards: Mary Lou Dawald
Toni Ridgway-Woodall has suggested that the Art Award winners could put their artwork at the library in May. She would like to know if this is possible so she can schedule the space for the students.
Honorary Member Nominations: Kathy Steele
Information about nominating an Honorary Member is located on page 23 of the Art League Booklet. Nominees for this honor should either be distinguished for artistic talent or provide outstanding service in promoting the Art League. Nominees must receive a unanimous vote by all members of the Executive Committee and then the name will be sent to each department for approval.
Note Cards: Kathy Steele
They are on sale for $15. They make nice Mother’s Day and Graduation gifts.
Art at Tri-County Bank: Kathy Steele
In the past, artists from Athens Arts placed artwork at the Tri County Bank on Main Street. This artwork could be for sale or not for sale. Since we no longer have Athens Arts, an artist (Kathy Houghton) has reached out to Art League members to see if Art League would take on the responsibility of inviting Art League members or other artists in the community to display at the bank. The display could be changed four times a year. Art League would create a schedule and contact artists to display. This would provide a place in the community to share the talents of Art League members and other artists. Each department could oversee one art show during the year. You would contact artists, communicate with Steve Mclaughlin, Vice President of Tri-County, about the day to install and take down the exhibit, and send an article to the newspaper, and share pictures with Betsy Strain to put on Facebook. You could possibly have a simple Open House (11:30-1:00) when the bank is open for business.
Since we have five departments, it was suggested that we have one Pop-Up art gallery a year where local artists could sell art at a local venue. Several members thought this would be a good idea, so there will be more to come on details.
Thank You: Kathy Steele
Thank you to Departments J and AC for refreshments and for Jerry Smith for presenting his personal, lifetime art journey and his incredible artwork.
Our next all-member meeting will be at 6 p.m. May 5 at the Crawfordsville District Library. This will be our dinner meeting. Departments L and M will be in charge of registrations, nametags and table decorations. Mary Lou Dawald will be presenting a program about Greece and Albania.
Gavel: Closed meeting at 8:25 p.m.
