Annual Meeting Review

Judith Carducci, Chair of the Cecilia Beaux Forum, opened the Third Annual Meeting with a welcome to all supporters of the Forum's mission, emphasizing the importance of the Forum's mission and activities to the future of figurative art as a whole. She continued by sharing the Forum's official mission, reaffirming the purpose of the committee for all in attendance. Continuing, Judith introduced each of the three Committee Heads and invited them to discuss their committee's recent activity and plans for the coming year.

Luana Luconi Winner, Head of the Literature Committee, began by thanking each of the Literature Committee members for their contributions over the past year. She recognized Pat Aube Gray for Patricia Watwood and Elizabeth Vigee-LeBrun, Angelo Fernandez for Lavinia Fontana, and Terry Stanley for Dawn Whitelaw. Luana, herself interviewed Mary Minifie for the issue released at the conference. Luana continued by thanking her committee for additional contributions of book reviews and announced plans for upcoming articles to include Dame Laura Knight and German sculptor, Clara Westhoff.

Next Teresa Spinner, the Head of the Exhibition Committee, shared appreciation for her committee members' dedication and hours of hard work over the past year on the development of a new exhibition highlighting the impact and influences of women artists in the realist tradition. To an eager audience, Teresa announced exciting news that the initial planning had been completed and a venue secured for the exhibition. The Cecilia Beaux Forum's landmark exhibition will be held at the Butler Institute of American Art in the fall of 2010.

Last, Kay Polk, Head of the Mentoring Committee announced the culmination of her committee's work, the inaugural year of a formal Mentoring Program to pair women artists with experienced working professionals for continuing guidance. The first participants in this program were announced and welcomed: Elahe Crockett paired with Gordon Wetmore, Julia Bythewood Hodges with Margaret Carter Baumgaertner, Sandra Templeton Potter with Everett Raymond Kinstler, and Marina Dieul with Juan Martinez. All applicants to the Mentoring Program received feedback and positive return for their efforts in applying. Five professional artists spent several weeks reviewing and formally critiquing applicants portfolios, so that, once returned, not only did applicants have a portfolio which would meet the specifications of a portrait broker or agent, they also received several pages of constructive feedback from seasoned professionals to assist them in continuing to grow through their work.

Concluding the meeting program, Michele Rushworth discussed the meteoric success of her portrait business, giving tips on growing a client base, refining your technique and developing successful business practices. Michelle shared the story of how, through hard work, professional advice and business acumen, she was able to grow her business from having almost no commissions to a two-year waiting list in only a couple years. Michele detailed her methods in a handout which is available on the Forum's Archive page.

View the digital presentation which accompanied the 2008 Annual Meeting:

Mentoring Program

The Mentoring Program is a project of the Cecilia Beaux Forum developed to advance the aesthetic and technical growth of figurative artists in America. This is achieved by fostering relationships between individual established artists and advanced emerging artists. From self and external critique of portfolios, to refinement of work habits and guidance on individual works, the Mentoring Program seeks to build a synergy of methods cultivating a healthy artistic practice in every level of growth and development.

The Mentoring Program is designed to promote:

o Focused artistic development
o Time management
o Personal archiving
o Self-critiquing skills
o Gathering creative and technical resources
o Self-reliance

The 2009 Mentoring Program Prospectus and Application will be available after the first of the year. For more information, the 2008 Prospectus and Application materials are available on the Archive page.

Exhibition Celebrates Women Artists

The Exhibition Committee is pleased to announce the location and dates of the Cecilia Beaux Forum's first exhibition of women artists' work. The Butler Institute of American Art, in Youngstown, Ohio, is hosting WOMEN'S WORK, A Comprehensive Look at the Influence and Inspiration of America's Foremost, Female, Figurative Artists in conjunction with the Cecilia Beaux Forum, in the Fall of 2010.

WOMEN'S WORK explores the distinctive influence of female artists and their continued importance in the development of American figurative art and portraiture. Selected works from a juried competition juxtapose a collection of figures by historic and invited artists, bringing together a spectrum of artwork which chronicles the development and groundbreaking impact of American women artists.

In total, WOMEN'S WORK includes 35 figurative artworks by American women artists, including sculptures, prints, ink and charcoal drawings and paintings. The exhibit is presented in three parts:

o Juried artworks by noteworthy contemporary, American women artists selected by a panel of three jurors from all received entries.

o Invitational works by outstanding contemporary, women figurative artists

o Figurative works by historic women artists who significantly influenced figurative art drawn from the Butler Institute and other area museum collections.

You are invited to join us at this landmark exhibit, expanding the public's understanding of women artists' contributions to the world of figurative art and portraiture at:

The Butler Institute of American Art
October 1 - November 28, 2010

Upcoming Articles

The Literature Committee is hard at work on articles for the 2009 editorial year. In the next year, Portrait Society members can look forward to biographical articles on Invitational artists from the Forum's 2010 exhibition, Women's Work, Betsy Graves Reyneau, Rosalba Carriera, and others.

Miss an article? Now read biographic articles on Patricia Watwood, Mary Minifie, Cecilia Beaux, Dawn Whitelaw, Elizabeth Vigee-LeBrun, Malvina Hoffman and others on the Forum's Archive page.