California Watercolor Association

The California Watercolor Association (CWA) would like to thank our community of artists for its wonderful support. Thanks to the families, individuals, and sponsors, who took the time to attend, volunteer and donate, we just completed our 37^th National Exhibition. The national show is made possible by the generous partnership with the Academy of Art University Gallery in San Francisco.

As a member of the Board of Directors, I would like to share the vision for what's ahead in 2005. CWA has hired a grant writer to research state monies and write grant proposals for CWA. Working with the Board of Directors and an Advisory Committee, a capital campaign is being launched to raise funds to purchase a building for a CWA Art Center within Contra Costa County. This center will include a gallery, workshop space for adults and children, an office, kitchen, storage and a possible studio space and sculpture garden. Monthly meetings are taking place to establish a vision, mission and strategic plan for this to take place. The next meeting is scheduled Wednesday, June 1, 2005 at 5:00 pm at the Gallery Concord. As a part of our community, you are invited to attend these meetings to learn about the current capital campaign plans.

In the role of Workshop Co-Director, I would personally like to thank the Blackhawk Shopping Plaza for generously donating space to us for our CWA workshops. Without their kindness, we would have no adequate place to conduct these educational programs for our community of artists. Having just completed the Stephen Quiller workshop, the space the management provided was a beautiful setting for our artists to sketch, paint, and have lunch. It is sponsors like the Academy of Art and the Blackhawk Shopping Plaza that make our organization a success.

CWA is currently looking to the community, businesses and foundations in 2005 to raise the funds needed to purchase this building. We are in the process of raising funds for a down payment for the required facility. We will be launching our campaign soon and we need the community's support to make this happen. As always, we welcome volunteers and donations–this is a community-wide effort that positively affects all of our children and families. Please consider donating today. You can use our Donation Form or call any Board Member for ways you can make a difference. We are looking forward to an exciting 2005! - Pam Howett, May, 2005