Hello Fiberarts Guild of Pittsburgh members!
I’m baaaack! And I’m thrilled to be taking the reins of this beautiful organization, again, at this exciting time. A decade ago during my presidential term, KtB was adorning the Andy Warhol bridge, FI13 was on display at the Society for Contemporary Craft’s former location in the strip district and I had one tiny baby who joined me at FGP board meetings, which were held at Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.
Much has changed…a global pandemic catapulted us into the digital realm, management of the Fiberart International is being facilitated by our long-time partner Contemporary Craft, their new location in Lawrenceville now serving as our physical address, and though our membership base is smaller than before (122 members strong), our wonderful intimate gatherings in-person and our global reach digitally via zoom continue to provide engaging meaningful connection, and my TWO growing children now join me at board meetings.
My goal for this term as president is to help make the opportunities the guild affords more accessible for our members, and to grow engagement and our memberbase so that we can all achieve more, together!
As a first order of business, I am making the operations of the guild more transparent in the following ways:
- All of our board meetings are now listed on the events calendar. Members are always welcome to attend.
- You may be thinking, “Another meeting? No thanks!” Which is why we are also posting the board meeting notes in the members only section of the website.
- “But how do I access that?” I got you! I’ve created a short video explainer to help you maximize usage of our redesigned website.
- We will be sending a monthly President’s Message via eblast with news and links to resources.
- We are creating an abridged version of the beloved printable Directory/Resource Guide for ease of use.
Additionally, our newly elected slate of directors and officers are working to increase the perks that your membership cards provide at local businesses (updated list coming soon), we are looking for additional membership committee members to join and help promote memberbase engagement and growth, and we want to encourage you all to submit your work to Fiberart International 2025 by TOMORROW, July 31st, and attend the upcoming potluck!
Looking forward to seeing you here and there,
Staci Offutt
FGP President 2024-2025
2024-25 Officers pictured above (left to right): Barb Grossman (Vice President), Lisa Haabestad (Treasurer), Staci Offutt (President), David Anderson (Secretary)