BOMH President’s Letter – 400 Members have opportunity to give back

by Lee Richards

What an exciting time to be a part of Best of Missouri Hands! How lucky are we to be a part of an organization that has over 400 members! We have an organization that personifies the artistic spirit of our state of Missouri and the Midwest region. I have never been a part of an organization that has so much potential and so much talent. Best of Missouri Hands was instrumental in my deciding to make the leap from an 8 hour/5 day week ho-hum job, to a 10 hour /7 day week art business creating things that I love. It is a great networking tool and it is how I personally have met many lifelong friends that are an inspiration to me.

As with all organizations, we have experienced growing pains over the past few years. Many challenges have been met and conquered (for the most part) and many new things have come to fruition.

• We have begun to revitalize established programs with fresh ideas and materials pertinent to the age in which we live. Our membership meeting in March is one example. It was well attended and well received. We hope to build on this each year.
• Your Regional Event Committee is working hard to bring opportunities to our members to showcase their work in different areas of the state and they would like to offer more. We currently have the Lillian Yahn Gallery in St. Charles Exhibit “With These Missouri Hands”. We also have a great display opportunity in the front window of PWArchitects in Columbia. We are also in the planning stages of events in Hannibal and Cape Girardeau.
• We have a new, powerful website that will serve as a great resource for our artists and members for years to come. Please take a minute to sign in and look around.
• There are so many opportunities just waiting for you to take advantage of them. A lot of them are featured in our email blasts that come from our newsletter editor and social media guru Kim Carr. She also facilitates the BOMH Facebook page which is always buzzing with current events. And more recently, Kim has added a members only Facebook Group and an Instagram account to our social media opportunities.
• You have an amazing board with a lot of energy and commitment to the organization. We are looking forward to a great year. We have a lot going on and lot we would like to get going; but we need volunteers to make the happen.

Best of Missouri Hands is continually looking for members who will step up and contribute an article to the newsletter, volunteer to be considered for a place on our board, be a member of a committee, or participate in a BOMH sponsored event. We need our artists to become an active part of our organization if we are going to continue to thrive and grow. We have amazing talented members from around the state and we would love to bring events to your area but in order to do this, we need members who will participate, coordinate and facilitate.

When we join BOMH, we join a community of artists who have a passion to create and who want to be part of a group that has that same passion. Please consider channeling a little of that passion into volunteering with BOMH. If you are interested in helping with an event in your area, serving on the board, serving on a committee, writing an article, or have information you want to share – please let us know.

Lee Richards, BOMH President

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.” ~Vincent Van Gogh

 

Contact Information:

Kim Carr, Newsletter Editor News@BestOfMissouriHands.org

Angela Walleman, Vice President wallemanangela@hotmail.com

Don Crozier, Regional Event Chair  doncrozier@gmail.com

Lee Richards, President   president@BestOfMissouriHands.org