Welcome to the Chatham Artists Guild!
We are pleased to have you join us! Our jurying process is rigorous, and those invited to join the Guild have met high standards of artistry, creativity, and craftsmanship. You will find us to be a friendly and helpful group, and you are welcome to contact us at any time when you have questions or comments. When we refer to the Guild as “a group of professional artists,” it simply means that we create and market our artwork at a professional level. The Guild does include some full-time artists whose sole income is from their artwork, but also many working at separate careers, plus plenty who are retired.
Being admitted to a complex organization like the Guild can seem daunting. When you received your letter of acceptance, it would be natural to think, “Okay, what are my responsibilities? What do I do now?” There are many facets to the ongoing life of the Guild, many benefits to membership, and many things for you to consider as a new member. This webpage attempts to point you in the right direction. Stay connected with us through social media, frequently check the CAG website News and Events pages mentioned below, and familiarize yourself with the handouts and subpages on the Member Resources page of the website, as described below. You no doubt will still have questions about Guild operations and expectations. Anytime you need help or have trouble finding the information or answers you seek, please email us and we will do our best to assist you.
The January All-Members Meeting
There are three All-Members Meetings every year, and the January meeting, taking place late in the month, is the most important AMM of the year. We look forward to seeing you there and meeting you in person. This is an opportunity to get a real sense of the magnitude and operation of the Guild and be introduced to the officers and members of the Board. Please feel free to bring up questions or comments during the meeting. Advance information information about the January AMM is sent out in late December.
Responsibilities of Membership
- Make a meaningful contribution to the Guild’s purpose and mission.
- Attend Guild all-member meetings (three annually).
- Pay annual membership dues by the specified deadline early in the calendar year.
- Pay Studio Tour fee if participating. While most members participate in the Studio Tour, it is not required and in no way prevents participation in other exhibiting opportunities.
- Keep your artist’s profile page on the Guild website up to date.
- Actively participate in Guild activities. This is a great way to network and meet other Guild members.
- Fulfill volunteer hour commitment on committees or other Guild events.
- Promote the Guild on your own website and when communicating with friends and customers.
- At some point during your membership, serve a three-year term on the Guild Board.
Social Media
Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep track of Guild events and activities. Signing up to follow CAG also allows us to easily see and share your posts.
Individual Artist Interviews
Early in the coming year, representatives of the Membership Committee will contact you to schedule an interview in your studio or home. They will also take photos, and the interview with photos will be posted on the CAG website and will be linked to your profile page on the website. This will help Guild members and the public get to know you and your work.
CAG Google Groups Message Forum
Any Guild member can send a message to membership@chathamartistsguild.org and it will be delivered to all members of the Guild, and as soon as you were accepted into the Guild, your email address was added to this group. Use is restricted to Guild-related topics, so please review the PDF on the Member Resources page of the website (see the link and description below) that explains what kinds of messages are appropriate.
The Annual Studio Tour
You may already be familiar with the Studio Tour, and it might have provided primary motivation for applying to the Guild. The Studio Tour is the centerpiece of the Guild, and always occurs on Saturday and Sunday of the first two weekends in December. If you choose to do the studio tour, you’ll have the choice of doing both weekends, or just the first or second. Fees for the studio tour are not due until April 1st, so you have time to investigate further and decide. You will find information about the Studio Tour on the Member Resources Page, especially in the Policies and Procedures handout mentioned below.
Your CAG Web Account, Profile Page, and the Member Resources Page
Upon acceptance to the Guild, the website account created while paying your application fee became your permanent CAG web account, with the same login credentials. We create a profile page for you on the website, initially containing the artist’s statement and images submitted with your application. You are now able to edit the text and upload images and video links. You also have access to the Member Resources page in the drop-down menu under “Membership.” Note that “Membership” is only visible in the toolbar after you login to the website.
What’s on the Member Resources Page?
The Member Resources Page includes an extensive range of PDFs and subpages that will help you negotiate the Guild. The titles below are ones that will be especially useful to you initially. They are all clickable links so that you can quickly check out any of these PDFs or subpages, and any of the PDFs may be downloaded to your device and/or printed out.
- Instructions for Logging Into the CAG Website and Editing Your Profile Page – Every Guild member is responsible for editing and updating their profile page on the website, including uploading images to the gallery. We encourage you to shoot videos of your studio and art processes, and those can be linked to your profile page.
- Quick-Access Calendar – This is a constantly evolving calendar that lists upcoming meetings, image submission deadlines for Guild exhibitions, delivery or pickup for Guild exhibitions, exhibition reception times, and other events.
- CAG Google Groups Message Forum – Please familiarize yourself with this PDF. As mentioned above, any member can send a message to membership@chathamartistsguild.org and it will be delivered to all members of the Guild. The objective is to keep content pared down to appropriate Guild-related questions or announcements of interest to most members, or of significant interest or benefit to smaller numbers of members.
- Chatham Artists Guild Committees: Descriptions of Activities and Responsibilities – This PDF explains the function of each of the CAG committees. The Guild is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization with no paid employees. We could not exist without a large percentage of the membership serving on committees and doing other volunteer work. Most of us are working members, meaning that we agree to serve on committees, and in exchange, we pay greatly reduced annual dues and Studio Tour fees. This PDF will help you decide which committees you’d like to serve on.
- CAG Committees – This PDF provides a list of members on each of the committees. In conjunction with paying annual dues, working members are asked to identify three prioritized choices for committee service. Making committee assignments is always a difficult juggling act. We do our best to put you on the committees you request, but there’s no guarantee that we’ll always accomplish that. As you are making your committee choices, feel free to check this list to see who’s on any committee, consult the Membership List mentioned below to get the email addresses, and contact the chair or members to ask questions about particular committees.
- Membership List – Provides name, art media, and email address of all current Guild members.
- How to Photograph Your Work – This PDF was written specifically for submission of images for the Studio Tour brochure, but it is a good general guideline to help you produce high-quality photographs of your work.
- How to Crop and Resize Your Images – Like the previous handout, this PDF was written for submission of images for the Studio Tour Brochure, but it gives instructions for cropping and resizing your images to meet submission standards for different exhibitions or events.
- Shooting Video, Uploading to YouTube, and Adding to Your Profile Page – As mentioned above, we encourage you to shoot one or more videos showing your studio and some of the main processes used in creating your work. These can be uploaded to YouTube and linked to your profile page on the website.
- Interactive PDF Tour Brochure – We always keep the past year’s tour brochure accessible on the website as a reference tool until the next year’s brochure is uploaded.
- CAG Policies and Procedures – This PDF explains all current policies and procedures of the Chatham Artists Guild. Please be sure to review this document, because it provides important details about how the Guild functions.
- Bylaws of the Chatham Artists Guild – You do not need to familiarize yourself with this PDF, but you need to know it is there. This is the in-depth legal document that spells out elements of the structure and operation of the Guild that are “written in stone” and can only be changed by vote at all-members meetings. The Policies and Procedures document is more fluid, changing with the evolving nature of the Guild while always remaining true to the Bylaws.
Other Important Pages on the Website
- About – This page includes our mission statement and provides basic information about who we are and what we do. In the drop-down menu, you can access a subpage that lists Guild Board members and officers.
- News – As a member, you will receive the Guild email newsletter that presents news items and announces upcoming opportunities and events, but at any time you can find the same information on the News page.
- Events – This page is mainly devoted to listing upcoming Guild exhibitions, providing more information than the News page. Other Guild events may also be listed on this page.
- Sponsors – As a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, Chatham Artists Guild cannot raise funds by selling advertising in our brochure, website, or other publications. Instead, we recruit sponsors to help support our mission. Sponsors are listed prominently in our tour brochure, on our website, and in social media. If you know of any businesses or individuals who might be interested in supporting the arts in Chatham County by becoming a sponsor, please let us know.
- Education – Education is a major part of the Guild’s mission. This page is devoted to the programs and activities of the Education Committee.
This is a lot to digest, so come back to this page frequently and review the information provided, and please do contact us whenever you have questions, concerns, or comments. We also welcome your suggestions for ways to improve the New Member Orientation page.
And once again,
Welcome to the Guild