In this time of quarantine and uncertainty, I wanted to keep in touch with all of you and tell you about our plans for next season. We have some exciting changes and wonderful programs to look forward to when life gets back to some semblance of normal.

We have a new venue for our meetings starting in October! St. David’s Episcopal Church in Wayne will be our base for our meetings and workshops. We will meet on the third Wednesday of the month, same as this season, from 1 – 3 pm in St. David’s Hall, where we have our art sale. The jury process will take place in the adjacent corridor. Workshops will be held on the following Tuesday in the Harrison Room, which is behind the gift shop. I think this will be a wonderful venue for us. (And Loretta, they will be providing the coffee and tea so you don’t have to worry about that).

Paoli Presbyterian Church has been our base for several years and we are grateful to them for hosting us. However, they are raising funds to renovate and to build a new fellowship hall. They could not guarantee our meeting times for next season, so I contacted some sites that I had previously contacted back in 2018. I was thrilled when St. David’s agreed to host us.

Our handbook is going digital. There are several reasons for this. One, we no longer have a handbook chairperson. Two, we no longer have volunteers to mail the handbooks. Three, we have lost several sponsors who helped to pay for the handbook. All of this information and more is already on our website and will continue to be updated in a timely manner. We will be mailing out “rack” cards to DVAL members sometime in the summer, so that you can update your calendars and plan for fall. Our rack card is similar to the PWCS rack card, a laminated 4” x 9” card that will have the dates of our meetings and workshops and the presenter and the topic of that demonstration and workshop. For those of you attached to your physical handbook and without printing capability, we will have some hard copies available at our first meeting in October.

I would encourage our full members (183 of you) to take advantage of the Member Gallery on our website. You may link your professional website to the Member Gallery. Email one image and your website link to Daria at info@delawarevalleyartleague.com. Please include “DVAL Member Gallery Submission” in the subject line. This is an easy and free way to enhance your online presence.

We are still in need of volunteers for our Board of Directors – for juror procurement and treasurer. If you are interested in juror procurement, please contact Donald Leong; if you are interested in treasurer, please contact Cathy Glick.

After two years as your President, effective May 15, I am stepping down and handing the reins to my VP extraordinaire, George Gallatig. George was unanimously approved as President by our Board of Directors. He has been an invaluable help to me in my two years as President, and I know he will continue to be a great asset to DVAL. Besides thanking George, I would also like to thank our wonderful Board of Directors and our dedicated volunteers for all their help during my time as your President. I will continue to be an active volunteer for DVAL, an organization that I treasure.

So, in closing, I hope you all stay healthy during this coronavirus pandemic and I look forward to seeing you in the near future. Keep painting!

Sincerely,
Bev Kratzel