The Chula Vista Art Guild is accepting artwork from artists across San Diego County for its upcoming 22nd Annual Community Art Show 2022 at the Bonita Museum & Cultural Center. The show is from Oct. 8-29. Juried, the show has cash awards and artists must be 18 years and older. Sales of artwork is encouraged and will be conducted between the artist and the buyer.
A reception for artists and their guests will be held on Friday, Oct. 14 from 5:30-7:30 p.m., and awards will be presented at the reception.
Chula Vista Art Guild chairperson Sharon Hyde said the guild has been active for 77 years.
“We were founded in 1945 by Alfred Mitchell and we have been going steady ever since,” she said. “This annual event has been going on for 22 years, and during the pandemic we had a virtual show.”
Hyde said the entry date is Oct. 8 and participants must turn in paintings to the Bonita Museum between 10 a.m. to noon. A judge then selects 60 paintings for display. Hyde said they normally get artists from around the county to participate.
“We have watercolor, oil, acrylic, and pastel, but it all must be two dimensional,” she said. “The painting may be any subject.”
Hyde said the Art Guild is a friendly group, meeting the fourth day each month at the St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Chula Vista.
In tandem with the Community Art Show, The Bonita Valley Garden Club is hosting its Blooming Art in Bonita, where local floral designers take a painting from the Community Art Show and interpret that painting through floral design. Blooming Art chairperson Laura Cormode said in past years, students from Southwestern College and Cuyamaca College’s Floral Design programs have been given a chance to create floral art interpretation designs to represent the local artwork being displayed.
“The Bonita Valley Garden Club is a local club that meets in Chula Vista with more than 100 members,” said Cormode. “We have a main fundraising plant sale every year and we raise money for the Southwestern College and Cuyamaca College scholarship programs, along with different types of charities.”
Cormode said the art interpretation in October in regard to floral design, it invites floral designers from around the county and personally invites students from both colleges to participate.
“That way students get the opportunity to do a floral art interpretation to get their hands wet and try to create a design that matches a painting of their choosing,” she said. “It is open to the novices and the professionals.”
Cormode said floral interpretation is done around the world and as the Chula Vista Art Guild holds its exhibition, during the second week, floral designers will view the exhibition, pick a painting, then make a floral design interpretation that is their representation of what they see from the artwork.
“Participants will pick the design prior to the reception, set up the day of the reception, and the next day remove the floral designs,” she said.
The Blooming Art in Bonita is Oct. 21 and 22, with the reception on Oct. 21 from 5-7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. To participate, stop by the Bonita Museum Oct. 12- 15 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., and ask a docent for an entry form.
Cormode said people who attend the reception will vote on the floral designs for People’s Choice Award. She said in past years they only had one People’s Choice, but she is working to be able to have two or three awards this year if possible. At the end of the evening, they count the votes and announce the winner.
To learn more about the Chula Vista Art Guild, contact Anna Lohse at jalose@cox.net. To find out more about Blooming Art in Bonita contact Laura Cormode at bonitavalleygc@ gmail.com.