In the August 1999 newsletter was Linda Drake's first President's Message:
     "It was a balmy summer evening and the festive atmosphere pervade the Sculpture Court and Gallery 15 at the Artists Guild Juried Membership Exhibition reception. Nancy Clark, we thank you for the culinary arrangements and hospitality details, Donna Baird, Exhibition Chairperson and Stephanie Goldman, past President deserve a round of applause for their tireless efforts to make the evening a success. David Batt, brother of Treasurer Dennis Batt, provided us with artful background music.
     Nancy Emerson, Library manager, donated her special calligraphic skills for the awards certificates; Sara Bush, coordinator of Curatorial Affairs, remained affable and efficient… Bob Trettin, Deputy Director of Marketing and Public Affairs, arranged a live radio interview for us to promote the exhibition… And a special note of gratitude to Caron Smith, Acting Director, for presenting the awards, and for her thoughtful and inspirational remarks. We were delighted to welcome Ann Davies, President of the Board of Trustees of the museum, and many other museum board members."

Profiles of the Artists Guild Board of Directors was begun in the August 1999 newsletter:
Dennis Batt
     "Dennis Batt, Artists Guild Treasurer, was born in 1952 and studied art at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. While living in Istanbul, he developed an original style of painting using complex geometric patterns to represent natural objects. His gouache paintings are visual allegories, a world of dreams and fantasies brought to life. In 1976, Dennis discovered the age-old art of Florentine mosaic or stone intarsia. This compelled him to move to San Diego to study under Conrad Grundke, a second generation master of the medium. Dennis now works almost exclusively in gemstones, creating intricate mosaic pieces that are exquisite masterpieces of fantasy and myth."

     Here is the review of the Guild show by Robert L. Pincus from the San Diego Union Tribune, August 12, 1999:

small arts guild exhibition
     "In 1999, as in every other year, the San Diego Museum of Art in Balboa Park is presenting the San Diego Artists Guild juried exhibition. But don't go in the main entrance if you want to view it. The selected woks are in a hallway, just off the Sculpture Garden Café.
It's an unceremonious space and a mighty small show, by guild standards….
Very few works are terrible… You have to wonder how they could make the cut in a show this small. Was there a small pool for juror Billie Milam Weisman? ….
Most of the show is competent….
     The exhibition is free, which is one reason why it's in a low profile hallway. You can't enter the rest of the museum from this locale. But its site has to make us wonder if the museum remains committed to the long-standing tradition of guild shows, notwithstanding the friendly rhetoric of deputy director Caron Smith in an accompanying brochure." (Note: This was the last time the San Diego Union-Tribune ever wrote a review or even mentioned the Artists Guild in its newspaper.)

     Billie Milam Weisman gave an Artists Guild sponsored lecture at the SDMA on August 15, 1999 called "Living with Art: The Eclectic Eye at the Carolwood Collection." It showed her home and extensive art collection of modern work. (Note: The author recalls that $500 from the Guild Treasury, was spent on Lemonade and Cookies for the reception before the lecture.)

     Linda Drake wrote this note on August 17, 1999 to Billie Milam Weisman:
     "Your entire demeanor speaks to people about your love of, and dedication to, art. Besides being a tremendous responsibility, I can see that such a wonderful collection would inspire joyous responses and more creative ideas. The energy and commitment you portray are assets that we could all aspire to embrace and cultivate.
On behalf of the Artists Guild Board and membership, I extend my sincere gratitude for the excellence and thoughtfulness and thoroughness in the jurying of the members' exhibition; and for the dynamism and enthusiasm you presented in your lecture, along with the opportunity to share in the visual feast in your slide presentation. You mentioned twice that the art was collected because of the response it evoked in you and your late husband, whether the artist was well-known or not; it is an encouraging message for all to hear, and I applaud it.
Thank you for your generous time allotment to this organization. We hope to see you when we arrange to bring a group to Carolwood for a tour."

     On August 17, 1999 Linda Drake penned this note to Ann Davies, President, and the Board of Trustees:
     "The Artists Guild Board of Directors and membership are most appreciative of your support of the Artists Guild and the Artists Guild Exhibition. Approximately 600 attended the opening reception and enjoyed both the artworks and the festivities. There were several inquiries regarding the purchase of some of the exhibited pieces.
     We are looking forward to a productive, exciting 85th year, and, as always, are encouraged by the positive responses form the Board of Trustees."

     In September of 1999 a situation arose between Steve Beck-von-Peccoz, Guild Database Chairperson and Sara Bush, SDMA Guild Liaison concerning a breakdown in communications about the mailing of prospectuses for the scheduled 2000 All California Exhibition. Sara wrote to Linda Drake on September 1, 1999 about this and said, " Steve Beck and I seem to be having a great deal of trouble understanding each other. I thought that if I wrote out point by point how I am handling the mailing of the Prospectus, that it would be easier for you to understand the situation." She followed with a detailed description of 10 items explaining her duties and what she was attempting to do to expedite this situation. She also stated, "I am not going to take on the responsibility for the existing Artist Guild database. Steve has indicated that he no longer wishes to maintain it, and that there is no one in the Artists Guild who can take it on. That is an issue for the Artist Guild to resolve; it is far beyond what I have the time to do (not to mention the limits of my computer know-how). My interest in the database is limited to facilitating the mass mailing… I am trying to do my best to streamline the process so that the ends are achieved as well and as soon as possible, but the means may be different from how they have been done in the past."

     Steve wrote on September 20, 1999, an extensive seven-page document describing the database and his situation with Sara Bush and the SDMA. Here are some excerpts from that document:

INTRODUCTION
     "Several years ago, as a board member of the Artists Guild, I designed for it, and have since been maintaining, a database of California artists. It contains about 3,000 artists whom we can reasonably expect to be interested in entering the All-California exhibition, and to who we mail unsolicited prospectuses. In between All California exhibitions, various artists request to be added to our mailing list, and these are also added into the database. We have also traded lists with the San Diego Art Institute for several years, which has been beneficial to both of our organizations….
DATABASE ORGANIZATION AND PROGRAMMING
     "The database is a paragraph-based text file, a versatile format originating in Word Perfect 5.1 for DOS. I have written many programs in the BASIC language to get information out of the database….
THE PROBLEM
     "Creating this database and the programs to use it has been interesting, mind-livening, and fun. However data entry must be done very carefully and requires a great deal of time… The data entry clerk's work… has required hundreds of hours of my wife's and my time. Add to that the many hours of programming required….
     Fortunately Sara Bush, our liaison at the San Diego Museum of Art, is mailing out prospectuses for the 2000 All California Juried Exhibition. I don't know how she came to take on this task, but I am truly grateful. I have tried to coordinate with her in the same manner as I had done with our previous liaison, David Kencik, to see if we could work together and devise a database that would save as much duplication of effort as possible. However, she has informed me, in quite a rude and disrespectful way, that she has absolutely no intention of entering the requests for prospectuses into any kind of database, the maximum she would do is make a photocopy of the labels she has written by hand….
     Further, she told me also that she didn't want me to call the mailing company because she thought I would screw things up, since I had wasted so much of her time (I estimate I talked with her a total of 35 minutes over a three-month period!). I chose to ignore this request, and arranged with a bulk mailing company to e-mail the appropriate file to them, since I know how this stuff works… But the worst is, Sara has 'forbidden' me to talk to her, but only go through the Guild President. And she says she wants her efforts and the Artists Guild efforts to be completely separate, effectively saying 'go off and solve your own problems.'
     This is not the kind of environment I (or anyone else, I would think) thrive in, and certainly does not represent an attitude of cooperating with the Artists Guild. I have no interest in continuing to serve on the board of an Artists Guild which allows a museum staff member to treat a museum and Guild member so inappropriately….
     The fact remains, though, rude or polite, helpful or antagonistic as museum staff might be, I still feel some responsibility, before my somewhat eagerly-anticipated-but-with-some sadness departure, to turn my job over to someone else in some kind of 'user-friendly' form….
CONCLUSION
     "It has largely been a good experience to serve on the Artists Guild board. I have admired the dedication and hard work that most of the board members have contributed, and the excellent job our presidents have done. The Guild has seemed to steadfastly improve its relationship with the San Diego Museum of Art, and for the 1995 and 1998 All-California exhibitions, I have been able, with the cooperation of museum staff (David Kencik) and other Guild board members, to do what seemed to be a useful job. I hope the current situation does not represent a deteriorating relationship between the museum and the Guild. I have been advised by many not to 'take it personally', but I find that, being a person myself, that's impossible. The thought that I may have caused pain to another, completely unintentionally, and apparently with no chance for understanding and remedy, is unacceptable to me. And painful though it is, if it is personal, then the Guild is probably in good shape - 'it was just a personality clash.' One which I will be happy to be out of." (Note: Steve mentioned his overall assessment of the Guild/SDMA relations at the Board meetings. He often referred to the Guild as being treated like the "unwanted stepchild" of the Museum.)

     On September 20 the author, now Guild Treasurer, reported at the Board meeting that the Guild had a balance of $23, 027.07.

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