ArtLink: Young Friends of St. Louis Arts

More Exciting Events Added to the ArtLink Calendar!

Hello, ArtLinkers!

We have added several new events to the ArtLink calendar, and I wanted to let you know to be sure to save those dates. 

This Friday, May 9, ArtLink will be attending Art of the Vine at Laumeier Sculpture Park from 6-9 pm.

For those ArtLink members who can't make it to Laumeier, there is also an opening at the Contemporary Art Museum for their newest show, John Armleder and Oliver Mosset.  The public opening begins at 7 pm on Friday.

On Wednesday, May 28, the Contemporary and Alive Magazine bring you the 3rd installment of Flight, a fabulous cocktail party.  Tickets are normally $10, but your ArtLink membership gets you in free!

Coming in June we have two events sponsored by the Shakespeare Festival, Young Friends Volunteer Night on June 8, and Under the Stars on June 12.

And in July the Foundry Art Centre will be hosting an interactive art event, Project: Firefly.

Also in July, the Contemporary will host the 3rd annual St. Louis Open Studios.  ArtLink will be there for the opening Preview Party and the closing Starving Artist BBQ. 

Each of these events is posted on the online calendar, and we'll post a message on the blog for each one as we get closer to the event date.

Thanks for being a member of ArtLink.  And if your membership has expired, be sure to Renew your ArtLink Membership online in order to take advantage of the great opportunities and discounts only available through ArtLink.

See you Friday!
James Grove

ArtLink has a Facebook Page

Hello, ArtLinkers –

Did you know that ArtLink has a Facebook Page and a Facebook Group?  For those of you who are already on Facebook, you can click through to our profile and add ArtLink as your friend.  Then you will receive updates about our St. Louis art events in your Facebook newsfeed.

You can also join the ArtLink group on Facebook, where you can see the events we are hosting, and post messages for other ArtLink members.

It’s a great way to learn about upcoming events, without worrying that your invitation will be accidentally blocked by an email spam filter.  So click the Facebook image to visit our page and become a Friend!

Exciting News! Two New ArtLink Affiliates: COCA and the Foundry Art Centre

Hello, ArtLink Members -

We have some very exciting news to announce:

Starting today, we have officially brought two new arts organizations into ArtLink!  COCA (Center of Creative Arts) and the Foundry Art Centre have signed on as ArtLink Affiliates, joining the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis, Laumeier Sculpture Park, and the Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis.

ArtLink has been helping promote the arts in St. Louis for a little over a year now, and we felt is was time to try expanding our organization, so we can broaden the arts and culture events we help develop and promote. 

This is the first time we have added any new affiliates since the group was founded, so we are very excited to be entering this new phase of ArtLink's growth.

COCA, located in University City, is immediately getting this new partnership off to a big start.  As you can see in the related post, they will be holding an ArtLink Members Only event this week, with a preview of the latest production by the Orange Girls.

The Foundry Art Center, located in St. Charles, is planning an ArtLink member's night for a future date, when we can tour the artist studios that are in the Foundry, and talk to the artists about their work.

We are looking forward to many new events with these two new partners.

Please join us at the Orange Girls show on Thursday, and please join me in extending a welcome to our new affiliates.

Thank you for your support,
James Grove

New Season, New Board

Hello, ArtLink Members!

Fall is here, and with it the unofficial new Art year begins.  At ArtLink we’ve spent the end of summer getting ready for the new season, and planning how to bring the arts to even more young adults here in St. Louis.

To get the year started, we have put together a new schedule of events.  The first events have been  posted on the online calendar, and include a tour of the Maya Lin exhibit at the Contemporary led by Director Paul Ha, and a tasting event on Aphrodisiacs in Elizabethan England hosted by the Shakespeare Festival.

To guide ArtLink into the new year, we have recently elected a new Board of Directors.  We have some familiar faces serving on the board, as well as some new members:

President – James Grove
Vice President – Natalie Johnson
Secretary – Dan Sepion
Treasurer – Jennifer Sullivan
Jennifer Gaby
Erinn Gavaghan
Jessica LaBozzetta
Ryan Ray
Jennie Swanson
Mike Venso

I would also like to announce the creation of our new ArtLink Advisory Council, chaired by our outgoing Board President, Cabanne Schlafly.  The Advisory Council will help on an ongoing basis with ArtLink strategy and outreach.  Council members include:

Cabanne Schlafly
Jilanne Barnes
Zellie Dunn
Peter Mackeith
Caryn Nadenbush

We are all looking forward to a great new year in the Arts.  We hope you will join us for the excitement! 

And thank you for being a member of ArtLink.

Regards,
James Grove
President

See Grand Center Grow

Whether you live near Grand Center or not, surely you know it is a gem that has long been home to many arts organizations and neighbors Saint Louis University. 

In an effort to bring the area back to a place where the arts organizations can flourish and become a destination for vistors and locals-

McCormack Baron Salazar and Saint Louis University seek to develop University-owned property on the northeast corner of Grand and Lindell boulevards. The development is slated to include retail, entertainment, office space and residential condominiums on a 4.3-acre site.

Many details of the project are yet to be determined, and they are gathering input from a variety of thoughtful individuals (like you) in order to create a final plan.

They would love input from ArtLink members.  Even if you aren't interested in buying a condo at this location, answers to the survey will help them better understand how to develop the property.

All responses will remain anonymous.

Please click on the link below and take a few minutes to respond to the survey.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=5gQ66pOlP5M77uy6LmRC3g_3d_3d

Thank you for helping St. Louis become a better place for all of us (and the Arts) to live.

Happy Summer,

Cabanne

Shakespeare Festival Announces 2008 Season

Richard III, the Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis' eighth production, will usher in spring in Forest Park in 2008. The Festival continues its mission of producing free, professional Shakepeare plays for the people of St. Louis.

The Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis brought the community together in record numbers this season.  54,000 people from throughout our community attended the 2007 production of Much Ado About Nothing. An additional 25,000 students from the Metro St. Louis and Metro East areas and from as far as Sikeston, Sullivan and St. Charles enjoyed the Festival's education touring plays at a record 116 school and 6 community performances.

Thanks to all who continue to support the Festival!  Please plan to join us in Forest Park from Memorial Day weekend through Father's Day, May 23 through June 15, 2008 for Richard III!

Looking to Get Involved? Volunteer at Preview Night

Are you looking for an easy way to get more involved with ArtLink, while also meeting other people who enjoy visual art?

We're expecting a big turnout for the Open Studios preview party tomorrow (Tuesday July 17) so we are looking for a volunteer or three to help us run the ArtLink Membership Sign Up table.

If you would like to get involved, send an email to Jen Gaby (jen@artlinkstl.org) and let her know that you would like to volunteer for an hour or two.

Thanks for your help!

James Grove

Don't Forget to take the ArtLink Survey

ArtLink members - Please don't forget to answer our short survey, which we sent out on July 2!  Your feedback is extremely important to us.  Next week we'll send out a reminder note, including a link to the survey, to those who have not yet responded. 

Thank you for participating!

Call for Board Members!

ArtLink is still accepting board nominations (deadline is June 1) for the at-large members of our Board of Directors.  Don’t worry if you have a commitment phobia – the term is only one year, and it’s a great opportunity to be a part of the arts growth in St. Louis. 

If you want to fight the perception that St. Louis is challenged and lacking things to do and you love the arts organizations in St. Louis, you just might be the perfect person to join the leaders of ArtLink. And by joining the board, you get to rock it with other people that share your passion for the arts.

Nominating yourself is easy.  Just send an email to jen@artlinkstl.org with your persuasive statement of intent. The ArtLink Board of Directors will elect up to four at-large board members in June. Board members attend monthly ArtLink Board meetings while also attending as many ArtLink events that your schedule allows. Candidates must be current ArtLink members (and yes, you can join or renew today if you are not currently a member). We ask that you have a great attitude regarding the arts in St. Louis and share your mental, physical and emotional support. Get involved!

Yahoo! Mail Troubles

Some ArtLink members have reported having problems reading the ArtLink Email Update in Yahoo! mail.  When they open the email, it appears to be blank.

We've been working with Yahoo to determine the cause of the problem.  It appears to be some incompatibility between the Zookoda email system we use, Yahoo Mail, and Internet Explorer.

As a workaround, you can always read the full posts here on the ArtLink website.  We've also had reports that the new Yahoo Mail Beta works for reading the newsletters, or reading email using the FireFox browser instead of Internet Explorer.

Thank you for your patience.
James Grove