Alan Morrow, a new member of the Guild wrote this note to the Board on February 16,      1981:
     "As a member of the Artist Guild, I'm obligated to register my disgust with the handling of this year's Guild show as well as other matters.
     The first I heard of the show was through the February S.D.M.A. Calendar, and it was the announcement of the opening. A museum employee later told me that the judging had already been held. What chance did I then have of entering?
     My outrage could be lessened if I were the only member slighted in the mailing, but it has come to my attention that many Guild members did not receive a prospectus for this show.
     It has also come to the attention of myself and others that our membership card expiration dates are inaccurate and expire within the same year in which they were issued.
     I find this lack of responsibility and the unprofessional manner in which the Guild operates very unfair to the members of this organization.
     I hope this problem is corrected soon and a letter of apology from those responsible is put in the next SDAG Bulletin."

     This comment was recorded in the February 17, 1981 minutes:
     "Board members felt that the drinks at the bar set up for the All-Media reception had too much ice and were too expensive."

     This was published in the March 1981 issue of the Guild Bulletin: Nominees to the Museum Board of Trustees
     "The Nominating Committee of the Board of Trustees of the Museum would like the Guild members to know that it would welcome nominations to the Board. If any Guild member would like to serve on the Museum Board he should get a form from Steve Brezzo, ten signatures of Museum/Guild members and send the form to Gordon Luce at the Museum, where the name will be presented for being voted on.
     If a Guild member wants to nominate another Museum/Guild member, he should get his nominee's permission and ten signatures and follow the same procedure."

     Harry Sternberg became newsletter editor in April 1981 and reformatted the Guild Bulletin. It was considered an improvement by the board.
     The relationship between the SDMA and the Guild began to experience a radical change. It was sudden, although not completely unexpected, as the SDMA was usually very straight up in its communications with the Guild.

     The first sign of this new relationship was recorded in the April 21, 1981 minutes of the Guild's Board meeting:
     "The meeting began with a report from Steve Brezzo concerning the October closure of the Museum's Sales and Rental Gallery. This action was recommended by the Sales and Rental Committee on March 31, 1981, after several meetings. Brezzo mentioned that this Gallery is one of the few still in existence because private art galleries have challenged Sales and Rental Galleries in museums as 'improper Museum activity'. The income generated presents a legal problem to the Museum's non-profit status, as well. The San Diego Museum of Art's Sales and Rental Gallery, though breaking even financially, has been inconsistent in the quality of work and artists represented. (Note: Steve Brezzo was the juror.) The Sales and Rental Gallery will close in October and the space it occupies, plus the adjacent room… will serve in the future for exhibitions of regional artists plus showing of objects for the permanent collection…
     This news caused much discussion between the Board and Brezzo. Carl Johnson moved that the Board voice to the Museum's trustees its concern over the discontinuance of the Sales and Rental Gallery. This was seconded and passed. An additional proposal asking for reinstatement of the Sales and Rental Gallery was opened for a vote, but not passed. Susan Osborn indicated that she would send a letter to the Board of Trustees. Pauline Eaton stressed that we all want emphasis on regional art representation, as better serving the artistic community, and not reinstatement of the status quo of the Sale sand Rental Gallery. Most of the Board concurred with that statement."

     On April 22, 1981 Susan Osborn, Chairperson of the Guild and Trustee wrote this letter to Mr. Edward Muzzy, Mrs. Philip Gildred Jr., Mr. Steve Brezzo, and the Board of Trustees:
     "Subject: Minutes of the Board of Trustees Meeting -- March 31, concerning the closing of the Sales and Rental Gallery.
     The Artists Guild Board, on behalf of our 250+ members, has asked me to express some thoughts to you concerning the closing of the Sales/Rental Gallery. It distresses the Board to learn that the people of San Diego; the collectors, the art enthusiasts, the patrons, and the artists will be losing a museum facility that has served as a place where these people can view and purchase quality, contemporary artwork that includes work by artists of our local area.
     Mr. Brezzo has informed our Board of the projected plans to use the Rental/Sales space as a space in which regional arts, the museum's permanent collection, and other exhibition programs can be exhibited. This proposal is exciting in that I am sure that it will enhance the quality and exhibition variety of our museum. However, I am certain that the Trustees are aware of the urgent need for a well patronized space for living artists to show and share their work with the public. I encourage you to put top priority in assuring that this space is used for such an important purpose.
     In the past, the artists have seen the Sales/Rental Gallery as a facility in which they can support their museum by contributing the commissions gained from artwork sales. In doing so, artist, museum, and community are given a method of interaction which fulfills one purpose of both the museum and the Artists Guild. Many of our Artists Guild members, upon hearing of the closing of the Sales/Rental Gallery, will feel that a frequency to exhibit in a quality exhibition space has been taken away from them. I ask that the Trustees help fill this 'gap' by making a commitment to the artists of San Diego to insure that regional art will be supported with frequency in the new exhibition space. I realize the difficulty in doing so, (because this is still in planning), but I would be pleased if I could secure from you a minimal numerical commitment, For example, we would be very happy if the museum could state that it plans to devote a minimum of six regional art exhibits per year. This commitment could be announced to our members as an assurance that the closing of the Sales/Rental Gallery is a positive development in the artist community."

     The newspapers picked up this story and the following article, by Ann Ehrenburg was published in the San Diego Evening Tribune on May 6, 1981:

Reaction mixed on SDMA plan to shut down sales gallery

     "The San Diego Museum of Art plans to close its rental and sales gallery, where local artists exhibit and sell their paintings.
     Reaction in the art community is mixed. A number of artists are unhappy about losing the chance to exhibit in a major museum.
     The San Diego Artists Guild, however, had gone on record favoring the new use of the space as a permanent exhibition area featuring regional art.
     Museum director Steven Brezzo said the rental and sales gallery will close in October. He said the decision follows consideration by a number of museum committees.
     'All the committees felt the space could be put to better use,' he said. Part of the gallery is being used for storage. Sales figures are not available, but Brezzo said the museum had been breaking even on the sales and rentals.
     Brezzo said most museums are closing their rental galleries, partly because the Internal Revenue Service 'frowns on unrelated income earned by an institution such as ours. We are supposed to be primarily educational.'
     The La Jolla Museum of Contemporary Art no longer exhibits local artists in a rental gallery. The Los Angeles County Art Museum retains a sales area, but it is just a hallway area, Brezzo said. (Note: The author visited that space in Los Angeles, and the hallway is actually an immense highly trafficked space winding through all the museum's offices and the museum currently generates approximately $500,000.00 per year supporting local artists with no interference from the IRS.)
     'That few hundred feet in the museum is not the only place to exhibit,' Brezzo said when asked if losing the sales gallery would hurt local artists. 'There are numerous community galleries. And we're going to show regional artists in the new permanent exhibit space.'
     Artists Helen Spiller Rounds, who volunteers and exhibits at the rental gallery here, has a different view, however.
     'This is going to cause exasperation to 50, 60 artists or more', she said. 'The museum is such a nice place for us to show our work, and people can rent or buy the pieces.
     'This seems a regressive policy, and one more tripping up of living artists to make way for dead artists. I thought, that since Balboa Park belongs to the people, gallery artists might be considered 'the people' also.'
     Elliot Lugo, secretary of the San Diego Artists Guild, called the move a blow to the local artist community.
     'Local artists don't have many top-notch places to show,' he said. 'The Museum of Art was one of the few museums where good local artists could show.'
     The guild represents several hundred artists who are selected on the basis of juried shows.
     'We are sad about losing the sales gallery, but the guild strongly supported positive plans for the new uses,' said guild president Sue Osborn. 'If the proposed use for regional shows will happen, that's great. We have to take it on faith right now.'"

     On May 7, 1981, the San Diego Union picked up the story:

Gallery To Close

     "The San Diego Museum of Art will close its Sales and Rental Gallery in October and use the space to mount small exhibitions from the permanent collection and shows of regional artists' works, some of which may be offered for sale.
     'Our analysis of the operation showed that the level of activity and the marginal profits generated didn't warrant continuation,' said museum executive director Steven L. Brezzo. 'In addition, the Internal Revenue Service is frowning on income-producing activities not directly related to our educational purposes or that might be in competition with commercial ventures. The exhibitions we hope to install, we believe, will be a better use of the space.'
     Lyn Gildred, chairman of the sales and rental gallery committee which unanimously favored the closure, added: The gallery was started as a service to members who wanted to start a collection. But with the advent of credit cards, most people were buying, not renting.
     'We will still offer works for sale, but the displays will focus on one artist from the area or region, rather than the more than 20 artists shown at once in the gallery now. We can still provide opportunities for local artists in a better setting.'
     Brezzo said the move had the support of the board and the San Diego Artists Guild."

     Gary Hansmann, the Guild's new chairman hand-wrote this letter on May 20, 1981 expressing his feelings about the situation between the Guild and the Museum. It was distributed to the Guild members but never sent to the Museum:
     "The Members of the San Diego Artists Guild, and the rest of this city's art community, are witnessing with rising apprehension the San Diego Museum of Art's declining role in supporting local and regional contemporary art. The closing of the Museum's Sales and Rental Gallery, the neglect of the biennial California-Hawaii Exhibition, and the small spaces allotted for solo shows to winners of last year saw Guild All-Media, are only three manifestations of this attitude. Although Museum administrators promise to make up for these losses through different type of shows emphasizing so called 'regional artists', many artists and others attuned to San Diego's cultural scene, feel that the Museum is attempting to appease those favoring heavier involvement in local art by the Museum, through use of rhetoric intended to placate, and has no intention of acting on its implied commitments other than through token gestures.
     The Guild realizes that the Museum has a stronger commitment than ever to high quality, and supports this goal enthusiastically. However, Guild members suspect that because local and regional artists are not well-known and, in the museum's perception, not big enough drawing cards to attract the general public 'en masse', the Museum is not interested in them. Because artists are unknown does not mean they're untalented or unworthy of exhibition in a Museum.
     Local artists and others fear that the Museum is losing sight of its obligation to the community in its eagerness to provide the public the glitter and hype of mass entertainment. If the San Diego Museum of Art does not offer the unique opportunity that only it can, to boost the careers of local artists, then no one will. San Diego's indigenous art community will never flourish as long as the Museum is not behind it. The apathetic and ignorant attitude of San Diegans toward their own art community is disgraceful and if the Museum is to honor its widely publicized commitments to education, surely calling attention to local and regional artists should be among its priorities.
     One of the ways to do this is through reinstatement of the biennial California-Hawaii Exhibition, referred to in the rest of this letter and the attached proposal as the California-Contemporary Exhibition. The new exhibition, as outlined by the proposal committee in the attached sheets, attempts to satisfy the standards of the Museum, as well as addressing some of the needs of local and regional artists."

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