President’s Report April
Congratulations to members who are currently exhibiting artworks, whether they be solo, group or competition exhibitions.
Our society members keep active in their personal endeavours, and it is always a pleasure to hear of their many achievements.
The best way to inform fellow members of your activities is to upload your activities onto our website Event page. This is a simple process of logging into your MSWPS profile and uploading an image and the details of your event.
Our new website manager, committee member, Katya Cosgrove checks all listings before they appear on the website. Make sure that you get your listing uploaded and approved before the 13th of any month for our Bulletin editor, Leigh Rees, to publish it in our monthly Bulletin.
This month we welcome full member Lee Trewartha. You can access her profile in the Meet the Artists section of our website. We encourage members to introduce themselves to new members when at MSWPS events.
Our next event is a paint out at a stunning garden in Alphington. Past member Kate Herd has offered her garden for paint outs over many years. After designing and building a purpose-built house and studio in another location, Kate is selling her Alphington house. We have a final opportunity to paint at her house before it passes onto new owners. Bookmark May 7th in your diary for this event and check the Event page for more details.
Speaking of beautiful gardens, I was invited to visit a Heritage house and garden in Caulfield recently. Fairfield Hall was built in 1892 and purchased by the current owners in 2020. They have revamped and converted an old tennis court into a Paul Bangay designed garden. After discussion with Sandra, the owner, our society will coordinate a paint out day at her property in the future.
The 2026 committee are a group of eager members committed to fulfilling the roles and coordinating a diverse schedule of activities throughout this year.
We were disappointed that the International Flower & Garden Show changed their format and deadline for societies to exhibit, which restricted our participation. We have asked to be kept on the mailing list for 2027 should the opportunity arise to exhibit with them, with a realistic lead in time.
As the Research Library collection expands, consideration of an Open Morning for research once a month was put forward to committee. What do you think? We would appreciate your feedback on this idea.
Would you be interested in researching our membership and associated female artists? Research books are to be kept on site at Ola Cohn House. Currently, our aim is to restrict the research library to MSWPS artists and Ola Cohn associates. Should we expand to include other Australian female artists? Robyn Pridham and the committee will consider donations of books in this form. Please email info@mswps.com.au with books you would like us to consider.
The Lending Library is available for members to borrow and return books, based on an honour system. These can be accessed at member events and/or on Open Mornings, should they become an option.
As always, we welcome suggestions for committee discussion.
To members with birthdays in April, congratulations and enjoy your day.
Image: Fairfield Hall garden corner