We are pleased to welcome you to the Chatham Artists Guild!
Our jurying process is rigorous, and those who are 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 who work 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 first All-Members Meeting takes place in late January, and is an opportunity to meet other Guild members, get a real sense of the magnitude of the Guild, and be introduced to the officers and members of the Board. This is the most important AMM of the year, and it is very important that you attend. Please feel free to bring up questions or comments during the meeting.
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.
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. Signing up to follow CAG allows us to easily see and share your posts as well.
The Annual Studio Tour
You may already be familiar with the Studio Tour, and it might have provided your primary motivation in 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 weekend. Fees for the studio tour are not due until April 1st, so you have time to decide and to investigate further. 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 you created while paying your application fee becomes your permanent CAG web account, with the same login credentials. A profile page on the website is created for you, initially containing the artist’s statement and images you submitted with your application. You are now able to edit the text and upload additional 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 have logged into the website.
What’s on the Member Resources Page?
The Member Resources Page includes an extensive range of handouts and subpages that will help you negotiate the Guild. The titles below are the ones that will be most useful to you initially. They are all clickable links so that you can quickly check out any of these handouts or subpages.
- Instructions for Logging Into the CAG Website and Editing Your Profile Page – This is a very important handout, because every 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.
- Chatham Artists Guild Committees: Descriptions of Activities and Responsibilities – This handout 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 a committee, and in exchange pay greatly reduced annual dues and Studio Tour fees. This handout will help you decide which committees you’d like to serve on.
- CAG Committees – This is the list of committee members. In conjunction with paying annual dues, working members are asked to identify three prioritized choices for committee service. Assigning committee service 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 can always accomplish that. As you are making your committee choices, feel free to check this list to see who is on any committee, check the Membership List mentioned below to get the email addresses, and contact the chair or members via email 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 handout 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 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.
- 2023 Interactive PDF Tour Brochure – We always keep the previous year’s tour brochure accessible on the website as a reference tool.
- CAG Policies and Procedures – This document 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 – 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 mentioned above is more flexible, 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 newsletters that present Guild 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 a lot 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 again,
Welcome to the Guild!
