Winter 2026 Newsletter
"Art is not what you see, but what you make others see."
Welcome to the Winter 2026 Newsletter of the Westfield Art Association (WAA). We have been busy over the past year and we want to celebrate our achievements with you. We also have a number of events planned for our members in 2026 and want to highlight those in this Newsletter. Please feel free to print this and share it with your friends.
Highlights of our 2025 Events
Scholarship Benefit Sale – April to May 2025
Every year the Westfield Art Association gives a scholarship to a high school senior student, selected by the Westfield High School art department teachers, who plans to study art after high school. Each year we ask our artists to prepare and donate artwork for a benefit art sale with the proceeds going to the student selected.
This year’s scholarship sale featured small works by our artists with no specific theme. All items were on display at South Avenue Arts and were available for sale for $60.
We are so proud that our artists donated 50 pieces of artwork. We raised $1,000 and awarded $500 scholarships to two wonderful artists and graduating seniors, Olivia Gaffney and Sophia Basaldua.
Pictured below is “Room Tour 1” by Olivia Gaffney.
Springfield Library’s Donald B. Palmer Museum – June and July 2025
Our member show “Summer Vibes” was featured in the Donald B. Palmer museum at the Springfield Free Public Library during the months of June and July 2025. This summery show featured 16 member artists and 59 pieces of art!
Below is “Friends Forever” by Heda Matiejunas.
Overlook Hospital Show – August to November 2025
We were invited to hang our members artwork in the hallway galleries of Overlook Hospital in Summit. We had 19 artists and 70 pieces of art in the show, and a number of pieces sold during the exhibition.
Art below is “Color Crush” by Wendy Rosenberg.
Artist in Residence Program at the Westfield Memorial Liabrary
Our collaboration with the Westfield Memorial Library for an Artist in Residence program for a Westfield Art Association member entered its second year in 2025, with two artists in residence, Samantha Mooney (above) and Kelly Renee (below).
Sam and Kelly taught workshops open to the general public, teaching about their art process, motivation, and vision. They also created their artwork at the library twice each week for four months, enjoying their interactions with library patrons.
Four Artists in Residence for 2026!
We had such an overwhelming interest in the artist in residence program for 2026 that the committee approved four artists to have two-month residencies during 2026. We will announce more information about the artists and their events in a separate post.
Lord Stirling Park Environmental Education Center – September 2025
Our fourth third annual exhibition at the Lord Stirling Park Environmental Education Center had a theme of “All Things Great and Small” and was on display in Basking Ridge throughout the month of September. We had 13 of our member artists displaying 54 pieces of art.
Below is “Cascade” by photographer Ed Lara.
Collaborations with Art Entities
South Avenue Arts, Garwood
.We collaborate often with South Avenue Arts, and 2025 was no exception. Our artists contributed art to the “Love” show in February, and we had our second annual scholarship sale in person at South Avenue Arts in April and May.
Atelier Rosal, Rahway
Our artists displayed work at the Atelier Rosal in Rahway during three shows in 2025, a figure show in August, a “Moon” show in the Fall, and a holiday small works show in December.
Union County Cultural and Heritage Affairs
WAA President Darrin Owens and Stefanie Lalor, the owner of The Artist Framer in Cranford worked together to assist the Union County Cultural and Heritage Affairs group in their first plein air painting event at the deserted village in Watchung Reservation in September. Several of the WAA artists participated in the plein air painting event on a beautiful day. The event was so successful the County has schedule the second annual plein air painting event in September 2026.
Westfield Historical Society
The Westfield Historical Society invited the artists from the WAA to display and sell artwork at their Applefest event in October. We had 14 of our artists bring their artwork and display works on panels and tables. While sales were limited in 2025, we expect to advertise the event more this year and hope for a better turnout of art lovers.
Upcoming Events in 2026
Exhibitions and Shows
We are scheduled to show our artists work at the Westfield Memorial Library in August 2026 and at the Lord Stirling Environmental Education Center in September 2026. The Board will decide show themes and will send out a Call for Art when we get closer to the exhibition dates.
Please let us know if you have any ideas of places where our members can show their work or if you want to help us coordinate or find additional show places.
We hope to add an Exhibition Committee to the Board this year and are seeking volunteers who are interested in curating shows and helping us select artwork and hang the exhibitions. Please send us an email if you are interested.
Plein Air Painting Events
We can all become better artists by experiencing nature and painting from life. We will once again participate in the Union County plein air painting at the deserted village in the Watchung Reservation in September and will coordinate with the Friends of Brightwood Park for a plein air painting event and art walk in October 2026. Many of our artists participate in the Cranford Community Paint Out in September each year and we will encourage more of our artists to participate in this great event. Are you interested in painting en plein air? Send us an email and we can organize a group outing to paint outside.
What’s Next?
Expanding the Members’ Gallery on the WAA Website
The WAA website features an online member gallery to highlight and display our artists’ outstanding creations. We currently feature 15 of our member artists on the website and hope to expand that significantly in 2026.
We encourage you all to draft your artist bio and artist statement, and share digital examples of your artwork on our website.
If any of you have experience in website maintenance or want to learn how to create webpages and at the same time help out the WAA please let us know!
Member Meetings
We will continue to have member meetings where members can hear about the latest happenings in the Association, share their artwork with other artists, seek feedback on art processes and works in progress and learn from other artists.
The Brush and Banter event at Sunrise Cellars in January was a great hit. Not only did our members enjoy a night or wine, fine art, and great conversations, but a number of non-member artists who attended the Brush and Banter ended up joining the WAA and will participate in our future events.
We are planning a meeting that will allow our artists to meet local interior designers and share their art styles and capabilities to establish connections that will benefit everyone.
Board of Directors Elections
We plan to hold elections during 2026 to add members to the Board of Directors and for several Board positions, such as treasurer. Please let us know if you want to volunteer and be more involved.
Grow the WAA!
Renew your membership! Invite new artists and those who appreciate great art!
The fees for membership in the WAA remain very inexpensive compared to other associations and are a bargain given all the benefits of being a member. The annual fees are currently $60 for a family (two adults in the same household), $45 for an individual, $35 for a senior (age 65 and up), and $15 for a student in high school grades 9-12 or a full-time college student.
Membership benefits include no application fees for member shows, free member educational programs, free admission to plein air events, online promotion of artwork, and membership in a community of great artists.
We would love for our association to continue to grow. Please invite other artists you meet, and feel free to invite anyone who is interested in art in general. We would love to expand our program offerings to include people who love art but who may not be motivated to produce their own artwork.
The Westfield Art Association is a non-profit organization that has been supporting local artists since 1922. The Association is run totally by volunteers on the Board of Directors and the Officers of the Association. Here is a list of the current Board of Directors: Francesca Azzara, Mariya Kovalyov, Kiyanna Lawrence, Sam Mooney, Darrin Owens, Sharon Reed, Kelly Renee, Barbara Uhr and Jennifer Wilner.
We are seeking more volunteers to help direct the Association in the future!
There are many committees that need help and would love to have more members join and provide ideas and assistance.
If you have any questions or are interested in helping out fellow artists, contact us!
I am so grateful for all you do to organize and put up these events. Thanks you for your efforts. I will participate more after my upcoming “retirement” .