Susan Freudenheim wrote this review of the Guild show for the January 6, 1989 San Diego Evening Tribune:
Uneven Museum of Art show shortchanges local artists
     "Since the San Diego Museum of Art opened in 1926 it has been married to the San Diego Artists Guild.
     At first, the marriage apparently was a happy one. Today, one has to wonder if it's time to reconsider the vows. Or ask for a divorce….
     Like last year's show, and like most juried shows, this one suffers from incohesiveness and from the fact that much of the work is not particularly strong….
     This is not a good representation of San Diego art, and it is certainly not up to the level of quality that the city's largest museum should be showing.
     Sadly, this annual show is the only time the San Diego Museum of Art has presented work by local artists in recent years. Particularly in view of that record, the show does a disservice to the museum's audience, and the policy demands re-evaluation.
     The artists guild's annual show belongs to a long tradition of juried shows. The guild's status as a founding group for the museum had given it clout within the institution over the years, and so the tradition continues. But juried shows of this sort have been eliminated from most accredited museum programs nationally, primarily because such shows do not allow museum staff members to control the quality of work shown and the way it is presented.
     Juried exhibitions, which continue to play a vital role in exposing young artists' work, are best presented in experimental gallery spaces and university galleries where the work of emerging artists customarily receives early exposure. Such shows do not belong in museums that ought to devote their best efforts to showing the highest possible level of quality.
     In the case of contemporary art, which is necessarily experimental, museums ought to attempt to represent work demonstrating either new ideas, or tough-minded approaches to traditional media. And though any institution should play a role in representing work from the local community, museums like the San Diego Museum of Art ought to seek to apply high standards even to works of area artists. To not do so, as in the case of recent artists guild shows such as this one and last year's, is irresponsible.
     San Diego is rich in artists doing extraordinary strong work. But these artists rarely, perhaps never, submit work to juried exhibitions like the one at the San Diego museum because the unfocused and inevitably uneven nature of such shows is felt to diminish even good art."

     The San Diego Union on January 12, 1989 published this review by Robert L. Pincus:
Some Promising Works Displayed in Artists Guild Show
     "… Otherwise, the only current work on view at the museum was the annual San Diego Artists Guild Open Juried Exhibition. Fortunately, the Artists Guild show continues to be an annual event, even though the museum had scheduled two other contemporary art shows this year. For the focus of the guild showcase is on those who normally don't get space in a museum: local artists with a low profile in the art world-at-large.
     This year's version, now on view, proves the point, since only a smattering of the 25 artists represented have exhibited with any frequency. Lita Albuquerque, a well-known artist from Los Angeles, made the selections - 36 in all for 627 entries.
Of these works, only a few are of genuine interest. But then this is the case with any juried show.
     However, like many an exhibition of this kind, the juror's statement is full of exaggerated rhetoric. 'The works selected and prizes awarded showed originality, excitement, mastery and understanding of the art language and personal expression,' declares Albuquerque. Don't believe it, even most major museum shows can't offer all this. But scattered among a large number of mediocre works there are some of promise….
     Weighing the bad work against the good, Albuquerque's performance isn't any worse than that of other recent jurors. But perhaps one of these years, we will get an accompanying statement that doesn't promise us an Artists Guild exhibition full of masterpieces."

     In the February - March 1989 newsletter was this President's Report from Sharon Hinckley:
     "Steve Brezzo attended our January meeting. His presence was most appreciated and most helpful. Steve was encouraging about our work and the relationship of the Guild with the Museum. With Steve's encouragement, I made a short presentation at the January 31 Board of Trustees meeting requesting a permanent display area for Guild work within the Museum. My request seemed to meet with a favorable response. A number of Trustees told me after the meeting that they felt this would indeed be a fine idea. The next step will be for the executive council to discuss the proposal….
     Jennifer Spencer has arranged for us to have an exhibition at Calhoun Design Center from March 25 - April 2. Jennifer has done an outstanding job of negotiating for the space and we have the complete support of the Museum for this exhibition. This will be a wonderful opportunity for us to confront that toughest juror of all, our own self, and put on a truly outstanding show! ….
     The show is OPEN to all members of the Artists Guild. This is our opportunity to demonstrate how creative and expressive we really are."

     Steve Beck Von-Peccoz redesigned the Guild logo and stationary/envelopes. The board voted and approved them on March 21, 1989.

     The following was recorded in the April 18, 1989 minutes:
     "PERMANENT SPACE: for the AG - Sharon (Hinckley) has had no luck. She will be checking further with Steve Brezzo. She will ask about hanging paintings in office spaces in the museum - possible to hang in the hall and reception area downstairs, not the boardroom."

     Here is Sharon Hinckley's final President's Message for the May 1989 newsletter and some additional notes:
     "It is with great pleasure that I have served as President of the Artists Guild for the past year. My goals were to create a more harmonious relationship between the Guild and the Museum, and to create a permanent display area for the Guild within the Museum. I do feel that our relationship with the Museum has improved greatly…. We received excellent support from the Museum, especially from Marty Petersen, Curator of American Art, for our membership show at Calhoun Design Center….
     I'm afraid that I have egg on my face as far as creating a permanent display area is concerned, or rather the Museum is going to be filled with eggs instead. Perhaps we could co-eggsist', Seriously, I do feel that creating a permanent display area is a realistic goal and one I feel that we should continue to pursue."

NEW LOGO
     "Many thanks to Steve Beck-Von-Peccoz for designing our beautiful letterhead. This design will appear on all Artists Guild correspondence and publicity, and hopefully, on a T-Shirt to be sold at the Museum store as well. The new logo symbolizes our harmony with the Museum and our name at the bottom symbolizes the fact that the Artist Guild was indeed the original foundation of the Museum."

     The logo was used for a T-shirt. This was done for a show at the Calhoun (Studio) Design Center Exhibit for Art Walk 1989. The Guild also donated $1000 to the SDMA in 1989.

     The following appeared in the June/July 1989 newsletter.
SDMA LECTURE
     "Cultural Legacy: 100 Years of San Diego Art,' a discussion of visual art and artists from the turn-of-the-century will be the topic of a fund raising lecture by Martin Petersen, Curator of Early American Paintings, San Diego Museum of Art. This program, one of a series of events scheduled to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the San Diego Artists Guild, will take place on August 17th at 7:00 p.m. in the Copley Room, San Diego Museum of Art."

     In the August 14, 1989 minutes this was recorded:
     "Issue brought up - should we always have every other year open to non-members of the guild???? Betty (Riis) and others felt that the more competition would make for a more exiting show. Walter (Wojtyla) brought up the point that many AG members join the guild to be able to show in the museum and if everyone else could enter without being a member what is the point of joining the guild?"

     The following is an excerpt from the President's Message by Betty Riis in the October 1989 newsletter:
     "The press and the art critics in the 'finest city' could do more for the artist. They should write about them and print their work and let the public get acquainted with the art talent we have in this city. San Diego deserves a famous artist or two.
     It would be a wonderful and exciting era for the town to have some heroes and famous people. We need more role models for our young people to live up to.
     It's interesting that other big cities can make people famous through the media and let talent of the city be known to the rest of the country. Is San Diego behind the times? Why can't the press become more sensitive to the artist's need and review the art shows and artists more? There is such an active art world here, we deserve more. We wouldn't lose so many galleries and the public might become more aware of the wonders of art if the newspapers allowed more space or even a regular column for the arts. It would be an educational experience for the public, to help them understand the ways of the artists."

     Susan Freudenheim wrote this review in the San Diego Evening Tribune December 29, 1989:
     "Offensive in quite a different way, the San Diego's Museum of Arts annual San Diego Artists Guild Juried exhibition proved to be one more letdown. San Diego is home to so many artists deserving of serious museum shows, but they get so little attention from the city's major museums. The guild show is not a solution, it's a bad band-aid."

back to top