Season's Greetings

Merry Christmas — Season's Greetings

Sunshine in your mind. Renewal, part of seasonal celebrations, time to think, a time for change, or not. Maybe it's just the cake and the bonbons, the crackers, the lights, and the ribbons, or not. Perhaps that very inner soul, quiet, needs none of those, but sunshine in your mind. "Getting our pots in a row"

Our Recent Exhibition Is Still On!

I hope you all had a chance to attend the opening of "Celebration of Joy". The show will remain a remarkable 'first' in terms of its extensive coverage of our Scarborough painter and strong cultural figure, Joy MacFadyen. It was a comparable exhibition to the one for Scarborough photographer Phil Bergerson which was equally professionally rendered for posterity.

Opening Night Video

The video of the opening night of "Celebration of Joy" is waiting but not completed in its editing. For sure, some people who couldn't attend, will want to see it for themselves. Once volunteers have finished the job, it will be up on the website for all to refer to forever.

Good Guidance

Along with our other exhibitions Gallery X certainly has something to say for itself in the cultural milieu and will continue to impress with the good guidance of the board. We have no staff and no funding, so I think our progress is excellent.

What to Do Next?

We need to put thought into where we are going next. During the production of this recent exhibition, I have had discussions with some board members about the future. To that end I contacted our MP Jean Yip and had a meeting with her at my residence. Ms. Yip was certainly impressed with our involvement in The Arts, and will put photos of our meeting, and recognition of our name and goals, in her newsletter and Facebook page.

Blogs

I have been writing one blog a month for our website. Having a vision and creating consensus about that vision will likely be the subject of my next blog. As a start we need more subscribers to our newsletter — 240 subscribers to date. We need a minimum of 5000 in my estimation. You are personally "a multiplier effect" — ask your friends, neighbours and relatives to join us.

Connecting with the Business Community

If we could find an advocate who would be willing to attend meetings of the Scarborough Business Association, it would be advantageous for them and for us. If you are inclined to fill that role, we would be glad to hear from you at petermarshartist@gmail.com

Grant Applications?

If you have valuable experience in applying for grants the board would be impressed with your credentials — we desperately need someone who enjoys fulfilling that role. Let me know at petermarshartist@gmail.com.

Buckingham Palace

Three members of the board, Rayne Tunley, Neville Clarke, and Peter Marsh, had their paintings hanging in The Redgrave Room of The King's Gallery at Buckingham Palace from January to June of 2024. There were seven artists in total who sent their paintings as gifts in celebration of the King's Coronation, and curators decided to hang them in the gallery before they went to the Royal Trust Collection at Windsor Castle.

Charitable Status

We are still working on obtaining "Charitable Status". Various attempts of pro bono legal work have not worked out so far, but they will in the end. If you can provide assistance in this regard, please send a note to petermarshartist@gmail.com.

Honourary Board Director

D. Paul Schafer has accepted an invitation to be an honourary board member which indicates strongly his support for our goal. Paul has written a goodly number of books on the development of the arts locally and globally.

A Major Sponsor?

We definitely need a major sponsor, so if you know somebody or some company who could fill that role the Board would be mightily interested. We also need small sponsors — people or companies who would be willing to throw in small amounts of money for putting their names to exhibitions, newsletters, prizes, venues, and so on. Give me a shout at petermarshartist@gmail.com.

Thinking of These

We have been thinking about our youth in terms of an exhibition, and about links on our website that would be useful and interesting to visitors. We are also thinking of a listing of all Scarborough artists, and have already started a listing of all famous Scarborough people involved in The Arts over the years, like "The Bare Naked Ladies" and so on.

Our Next Exhibition?

Some Directors think that we should have a bricks and mortar exhibition, organizing an exhibition in some kind of gallery space in Scarborough. Maybe 2025 will be the year for that. If you are interested in helping out with such a venture, get in touch with me at petermarshartist@gmail.com

Donations

Asking for donations when we don't have "Charitable Status" is difficult because we cannot write tax receipts for donations without that particular qualification, but all donations, which you can make at galleryxscarborough.com, would be more than gratefully received.

Thank you for being a member of our organization and supporting our efforts with your name and good wishes. The board wishes you the very best with your daily endeavours and thanks you for your participation.

Peter Marsh — The Existential Art Gallery of Scarborough — November/December 2024

Raku pottery pieces by Peter Marsh.