As you’ve guessed, due to the pandemic, the 2021 Gathering of the Guilds (GotG) will be a VIRTUAL SHOW this year, opening APRIL 30th – MAY 2nd.

45 Pacific NW Glass Guild artists and over 200 artists from five other Portland area guilds have joined forces to exhibit and sell their fine art and crafts. All items are handmade, unique and of exceptional quality!

Go to: nwguildsshowcase.com to see and purchase these beautiful pieces of artwork from:

• The Pacific NW Glass Guild (PNWglassguild.org)
• The Oregon Potters Guild (Ceramic Showcase)
• The Portland Handweavers Guild
• The Guild of Oregon Woodworkers
• The Creative Metal Arts Guild (CMAG)
• The Portland Bead Society

While many of us will miss having an in person show….this also gives us a unique chance to show off our artwork to SO many people who might not otherwise live close enough to come to the show here in Portland. The GotG site will have several photos of art for each artist plus links and info on where to see more of their artwork. Contact info will also be provided and each artist will handle their own sales.

Whether or not you decided to be in the show, we hope that everyone in the glass guild will help spread the word. By helping to promote this year’s show you will help keep the annual spring Gathering of the Guild’s Show in people’s minds and also help promote our PNW Glass Guild! PLEASE use your social media to share this info to your family and friends! The virtual nature of the show is both wonderful exposure for our glass guild and aterrific opportunity for us all to expand our customer base!

**This would also be a wonderful time for ALL Guild members to make sure you have your PNW Glass Guild website GALLERY photos posted! Also: PLEASE read the instructions about how big to make your photos because those that are too large will either not load correctly or will take far too much time to open (See the article in this issue).

The following PNW Glass Guild members are participating in this virtual show:

Do you want to meet new people, learn new skills, share the skills you have with others?

The Pacific NW Glass Guild commissioned our new website to help the glass community in the Pacific NW region stay informed and in touch. BUT… to do that we invite volunteers from all over the region to help carry the load. In return for your time we’ll help you learn new computer skills, introduce you to new friends, and learn all sorts of new things about glass.

• If you’re selling your work or have an event, we can help you (see the Communications and Gallery articles in this issue).
• If you’re just thinking about selling your work, come to one of our meetings where experienced artists share their tips on pricing, photography, studio setup etc. (or watch the video of the meeting later).
• For individualized answers, you can ask the member-only Facebook group almost anything.

Can we count you as part of the team?

We depend on folks like you to volunteer to answer a question, schedule a meeting, send an email, write a newsletter article, lead a discussion, host a Play Day, record a meeting, post a video, help keep our website running… The Guild is only as strong as the members’ commitment to keeping it going.

If you have a few hours a month or a couple of hours a week to share with your fellow glass enthusiasts, please glance through the list. Find something that interests you and contact that team. In almost all cases, if you have a computer, we can train you to do any of the tasks you dare to try (webmaster needs some WordPress background but if you have that, you’ll get an experienced coach to help expand your skills there too). If you don’t have a computer, you can help with in-person events, just contact the coordinator of the event you want to assist with. Everyone is welcome.

New friends and new skills are just a click away:
https://www.pnwglassguild.org/about-the-guild/committees/

Looking for a special piece of glass or an artist who teaches a special technique? Want to find that glass artist you met last summer? Our Members’ Gallery is meant to be an active and evolving collection that reflects the accomplishments, skills and glass experiences of all our members. Browse our Members’ Gallery located under the “Glass” menu. (Please be patient with some pages as they take longer to load but it’s worth the wait).

Members: Saturday May 1st will be the first of several member-only Play Days to assist you in creating, editing and uploading images for display in your gallery portfolio. Even if you don’t sell your work, we all look forward to seeing what you do and making more connections.

The Guild has assembled a step-by-step guide to assist you in setting up this showcase for your work. You can read it as a webpage or download the easy to follow Gallery Guide in either PDF or Word format. Look under the menu item For Members> Website help> Members’ Gallery: Adding Your Work OR you can use the search feature on the “Home” page by entering “Gallery Guide”. Here’s where you can find things like the recommended size for your art images (600px max, cover is 1000px), how to make your profile show up in the Gallery (edit My Account> Privacy “show My Profile…”) and all sorts of other tips.

Tooting your own horn: the new website has two forms to communicate your info to the Pacific NW Guild’s readership. They are under About>Contacts https://www.pnwglassguild.org/contact-us/

Anyone can use the Classifieds form (the top button) to send an ad to the membership about glass-related things for sale or to find an artist to make a window, repair something broken, teach a technique etc.

Members: log in to use the second button. Fill in the form and a volunteer will post your glass-related event onto the Events Calendar. You might also want to go to the PNWGlassGuild Members Group on Facebook and post your info yourself.

Further down the Contacts page are forms anyone can use to reach different Guild officers and teams. Of special note is the “send the Zoom link” form. Our Zoom procedures are in transition to a more secure method. Until this is finalized we may have hiccups, please be patient with us. In the meantime use this form if things don’t seem to be working and we’ll send you the link.

On the receiving end: As former OGG members may have noticed, the new PNWGlassGuild.org has 5 types of email you can subscribe to rather than just the one (see the Email help file for more info). This allows you to fine tune what you get and not lose an important event reminder at the bottom of a long Classified. Even those who are not yet members and just subscribing to the newsletter have the option to also receive the weekly Public News, usually reminders of events happening within the next week to 10 days.