We start each of our monthly member meetings by reading our mission statement. We read it because it’s more than some prose eloquently strung together by some talented writers—it’s who we are and what we do.
On September 1st, we opened “Awakening,” our biennial member exhibition, and I was beyond proud. Gladys and Marie, our visual co-chairs, did a fabulous job preparing for the exhibition, which included preparing the prospectus, selecting a juror, curating the exhibition, creating a catalog, and securing sponsors for awards. I was also impressed with our juror, Rosa Ana Orlando, and she was equally impressed by the work of our talented artists.
Our ECO grant provides a financial resource for our members to explore and advance their creative development. During our September meeting, Glady Jones and Sabina Gartler described how they used their $1,000 grants. Like always, I come away from these presentations learning something myself.
Patty Pagan, one of our literary members, recently approached us with a proposal to partner with Field Elementary School. Like many schools, their resources for art instruction or appreciation are severely limited. After listening to Patty’s proposals, the board unanimously accepted one of her proposed options. Patty and June Russell will serve as liaisons between the school and WiVLA. Stay tuned for updates from Patty and June, and keep your eyes peeled for a prospectus of hope. WiVLA’s mission is to provide an inspiring forum for women to explore and advance their creative development, to promote their work in the marketplace, and to infuse the community with their spirit of cooperation and invention.
Our member exhibitions, virtual gallery, collaborations, and readings provide our members with platforms for promoting their work.
Since the founding of WiVLA, we’ve awarded more than $40,000 in ECO grants to members, enabling them to acquire or hone their skills or improve working environments, enabling them to grow in their art.
We’re very excited about our opportunity to collaborate with Field Elementary School and hope that it can serve as a model for more partnerships that enable us to infuse the community with our spirit of cooperation and invention.
If you have an idea that you think supports our mission, be like Patty. Text, email, or call any of the board members to float your idea. Your idea could be our next great activity.
- Melody -
*Click the image above to watch a short video of the outing.
Dixie Friend Gay graciously opened her house/studio to a group of WIVLA women on Saturday 16th October. The artist is well-known for her luscious, detailed mosaics, which can be seen at the Bush Airport and around Houston and throughout the country. See her website for Houston locations of her work, www.dixiefriendgay.com.
She described her working methods and the procedures involved in submitting work for public art installations. It was so great to actually see each other in person and to meet new members.
Self-Discovery Workshop
Have you been boomeranged? The STEP (Starting To Experience Progress) workshop will lead you to discover YOUR best self. Fear, rejection, anger, and loneliness can lead you to places you may not want to go. This workshop uses thought-provoking empowerment posters to inspire critical thinking and self-reflection. These resources lead participants to self-discovery with the ultimate goal to identify negative emotions and then progress to positive behavioral change.
Gladys Mae Bullock is a poet, educator, and motivational speaker. She has been writing and reading poetry derived from her own experiences for over 20 years. In 1995, she developed the innovative workshop STEP (Starting To Experience Progress), which utilizes her poetry skills and keen ability to engage emotionally with a wide array of audiences.
Saturday, January 22, 2022
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Mendenhall Community Center
Cost to attend: $30.00 for WiVLA and $35.00 for non-members.
A workbook and light refreshments will be provided.
Virtual - Spooky Christmas
Event Date: Tuesday, December 7th
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Our literary co-chairs have been busy weaving webs with Houston Writers Guild and Brazos Bookstore to bring us a hair-raising holiday event. You will need to register with Brazos Bookstore to receive the Zoom link to attend this virtual meeting.
For questions regarding this event please contact Ellen Seaton at, eeseaton@comcast.net.
Calling all WiVLA members! If you are interested in participating in a virtual exhibition the 2022 season you may apply on the WiVLA website. This is an excellent opportunity to add to your CV and is a great marketing tool for your artistic endeavors. This is a free benefit to all WiVLA members. If you are interested in learning more please reach out to our Visual Co-Chair, Marie Casamayor-Harvey at visual@wivla.org. If you would like to reserve a spot for the 2022 season you may do so by clicking the button below.
As 2022 approaches it is once again time for WiVLA's biennial collaboration As 2022 approaches, it is once again time for WiVLA's biennial collaborative exhibition. The board would like to announce the theme ahead of the publication of the prospectus. In doing so, we felt this would allow members time to generate ideas. In addition, one would have considerable time to interview potential partners to work alongside. Finally, we encourage our members to try out our new member directory, located on the WiVLA website. So, without further ado, the 2022 theme is Reflection.
The inaugural Del Shores Foundation Writers Search aims to elevate and expose the unknown voices of LGBTQ+ writers in the Southern United States. Our goal is to celebrate specifically queer voices telling whatever stories they have to tell. This Writers Search is open to writers of stage plays, screenplays, short films, and web series who are Southern and who identify as LGBTQ+. Currently accepting plays, feature films, short films, and web series scripts for cash awards, grants toward production, and opportunities to meet with producers in Los Angeles. To learn more please visit their website,Del Shores Foundation Writers Search - FilmFreeway.
Annual Literary Reading: Masks
Tuesday, November 16
6:00pm - 7:30pm
Join us for the annual November Literary Member reading hosted by our literary co-chair, Ellen Seaton. During this event WiVLA members will read their original works created around the theme of Masks.
Ellen Seaton has written extensively on the subject to inspire our members. If you would like to read more please visit our past newsletters on our website.
If you would like to sign up to participate there are three slots still available. You will have three to five minutes for your reading. Deadline to enter is November 12, 2021. Email Ellen Seaton for further information, eeseaton@comcast.net.
2022 Board Nominations:
In addition to our November literary reading we will also be receiving nominations for the 2022 WiVLA Board. If you are interested in serving on a creative and vibrant team please email Lee Steiner at, domesticpapers@gmail.com.
Meeting Schedule
6:00 - 6:13 pm Social Time and Board Announcements.
6:20 - 7:50 pm Presentation with Q & A.
7:50 - 8:00 pm Time permitting, Member announcements.
*Some meetings may run slightly off schedule due to the nature of the conversation.
Zoom Meeting Information
Due to Zoom's security suggestions, we will send out another email with the Zoom meeting information one day before the meeting. Be certain to look for it. If you need the meeting code, please send an email to newsletter@wivla.org to get the meeting code no later than 5:00 pm the day of the meeting.
If you need information on how to use Zoom before the meeting date, please use the links below:
Margo Stutts Toombs enjoys writing, performing and filmmaking. She performs her monologues at Fringe Festivals, art galleries and anywhere food and beverages are served. Her poetry is in Untameable City - Mutabilis Press, the 2011 Texas Poetry Calendar, Love over 60: An Anthology of Women’s Poems, the 2021 Friendswood Library Ekphrastic Poetry Reading and Archway Gallery chap books. Her flash nonfiction piece, Tommy, is in the inaugural issue of Equinox. Margo’s videos screen at local and national film/video festivals. Check out her shenanigans on her website: https://www.margostuttstoombs.com/
Margo wrote, Comic Bear, after viewing fellow WiVLA member, Donna Perkins piece, Magical Beast. This piece was included in the 2021 Friendswood Public Library Ekphrastic Reading. If you would like to try out the Ekphrastic writing technique you can view the WiVLA Awakening catalog designed by Gladys Jones.To read Margo's piece click the button below.
Margo wrote in to tell us about herlatest work: This fall has been busy: My flash nonfiction piece (Tommy) was published in the inaugural issue of Equinox, Gold and Comic Bear were included in the Friendswood Public Library Ekphrastic Reading, and the video poem Beat Heat screened at the Houston Fringe Festival. My future plans are to keep writing, making videos and performing. -Margo Stutts Toombs-
Click the above image to watch Margo's latest video project, Beat Heart.
Members Jo Zider, A.M. Shaer, and Gail Plunkett are the featured artists in the next WiVLA Virtual Gallery exhibition. The show will run from November 1 through December 31, 2021. You can view it through WiVLA's website.
Jo Zider's Artist Statement:
Retired from teaching art after 35 enjoyable years, being able to seclude myself in my studio full time and pursue a long list of projects, I plunged in and have been rewarded with work that speaks to man’s humanity, but also man’s inhumanity to man. Greatly influenced by current events, works in painting, clay sculpture, assemblage, and installations have been created and exhibited mostly in local venues. Being an active member of the Texas Sculpture Group has afforded the opportunity to exhibit my work also in Fort Worth, Dallas, Austin, and San Angelo,Texas. One unique form for installation is the clay bone facsimile. I have designed and installed a Labyrinth for meditative walking in Russ Pitman Park in Bellaire and also on the plaza at Rothko Chapel. Many ephemeral installations are photographed and then instantly removed. An exhibition with Photo Fest included archival prints of over twenty installations. Most recently I was invited to create an installation for the 20th Commemoration of 9/11 at the Dallas Museum of Biblical Arts. Every bone contained the names of victims of 9/11.
For the past 5 years the artist has been concentrating on digital art and acrylic paintings on shaped wooden panels. Her primary interest has always been the human condition and the human figure interpreted in a surreal or expressionistic way. All the works she chose for the WIVLA show deal with time, memory, change, and loss. She has had 2 one woman shows in Houston and has participated in numerous juried shows in various parts of the US, most recently the 2021 Big Show at Lawndale Art Center. Education: Diploma in Painting from the Glassell School of Art; BS from UHD Instagram: @schaerarts Website: https:\\www.artgeekgal.com Email: schaer@artgeekgal.com.
Gail Plunkett is both a visual artist and a writer. She works straight-from-the-heart in whatever media catches her eye, utilizing experimentation and discovery. Much of Gail’s work serves well as a meditative focus, in mandala fashion. Her creative process is a chaotic one, as is her sense of the kind of place the world is. So it is fitting that this, her first public showing of multiple works, is all about her journey to learn to live, and live tranquilly, with chaos.
October Meeting Highlight: Carolyn Dahl: Covers! Covers! Covers!
During our October monthly meeting, we heard from Carolyn Dahl. Dahl spoke at length about her personal experience managing the publication of her books. In addition, she advised on how to select a cover that best represents both you and your work. You may view the meeting on the WiVLA YouTube channel.
Carolyn wrote a message to our membership after her presentation:
Thank you, WIVLA, and especially Sally Worthington, for inviting me to be your October presenter on tips for book covers. WIVLA participants are so interesting, attentive, and professional that I totally enjoyed sharing what I've learned from editors, designers, and publishers.
If you would like to study the book covers in more depth than on zoom, I invite you to visit my website (www.carolyndahlstudio.com) and click on the book menu. And don't forget the 10% WIVLA member discount if you'd like to purchase a book. In case any of you are in the middle of writing, formatting, submitting, or contracting a book and would like more help with any part of the process, I also offer one-on-one consultations (usually 3 hours for a set fee). Email: Dahlstudio@aol.com
It was a pleasure to speak with all of you, see some familiar and new faces, and hear about your projects. I look forward to participating this year as a member. -Carolyn Dahl-
Sally Worthington wrote last month to let us know that she was participating in the Print Matters biennial event, Rockin' Rollin' Prints, held at The Printing Museum of Houston. The presses rolled on Sunday, October 3, with over fifty artists having prepared 3' x 5' wood carved blocks ready to be steamrolled. Sally graciously sent in photographs of her image during production. Selected prints will be on view at the Printing Museum from January 13 - March 5, 2022.
Whether you’re a professional craftsperson who needs to restock your studio supplies or a student looking to perfect new techniques, Jerry’s Artarama has all the tools, supplies, and expertise you need to make your project shine.
Art Supply is 7,500 square feet of fun, inspiration, and unlimited creative possibilities for artists, students, parents, and anyone who simply has the urge to create. It is family-owned and operated, and the proprietors can be found in the store ready to assist all customers.
Texas Art Supply has been a staple in the Houston community since it opened in the 1950’s. With the largest arts and crafts store in the nation, students, hobbyists, and professional creatives have access to over 60,000 products in their three locations. So, head on down, get inspired and see firsthand what Texas hospitality is all about.
Blick Art Materials is a family-owned retail and catalog art supply business. Established as a mail order business by Dick Blick in 1911 and purchased by Robert Metzenberg in 1947, it is one of the oldest and largest art materials suppliers in the United States, as well as a primary supplier of mail order art supplies.
We'd love to celebrate your good news. If you are interested in sharing, please send your items to newsletter@wivla.org. The deadline for inclusion in the next month's newsletter is the 20th. Thank you.
We start each of our monthly member meetings by reading our mission statement. We read it because it’s more than some prose eloquently strung together by some talented writers—it’s who we are and what we do. 
Virtual - Spooky Christmas
Calling all WiVLA members! If you are interested in participating in a virtual exhibition the 2022 season you may apply on the WiVLA website. This is an excellent opportunity to add to your CV and is a great marketing tool for your artistic endeavors. This is a free benefit to all WiVLA members. If you are interested in learning more please reach out to our Visual Co-Chair, Marie Casamayor-Harvey at visual@wivla.org. If you would like to reserve a spot for the 2022 season you may do so by clicking the button below.
As 2022 approaches it is once again time for WiVLA's biennial collaboration As 2022 approaches, it is once again time for WiVLA's biennial collaborative exhibition. The board would like to announce the theme ahead of the publication of the prospectus. In doing so, we felt this would allow members time to generate ideas. In addition, one would have considerable time to interview potential partners to work alongside. Finally, we encourage our members to try out our new member directory, located on the WiVLA website. So, without further ado, the 2022 theme is Reflection.
