PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Hello Fellow Artists!
I can hardly believe I am writing the last president letter of the season; the year truly flies by. I thought this would be my final letter, but alas, it would seem I am president for one more year, so let’s wrap this year up with a bang!
Speaking of bang, I believe this year’s Members’ Fine Art Show is one of our best ever, expressing our members’ individual interests and passions, which has resulted in a beautiful exhibition. I feel so honored to be a part of this talented organization and view each of you as a winner.
I want to remind everyone to bring a side dish or dessert to share to our meeting on Tuesday, June 3, beginning at 6:30 pm, which will be our potluck social with hot dogs, buns, condiments, paper products, and drinks provided by FAA. Upon arrival, everyone will vote for their three favorite pieces from our wonderful show, which will culminate with mounting excitement in the announcement of our People’s Choice Awards. We will also have installation of officers, scholarship presentations, and Sweet Corn Festival king and queen introductions. This is always a fun evening, and I look forward to seeing everyone!
This month I would like to recognize Cindy Sayeedi and Linda Perry for going beyond the call of duty with this year’s Members’ Show. They had extra duties in finding volunteers to work the gallery during the additional hours we were open, snafus with the ribbons and sashes, and other challenges. This is their last year as Members’ Show co-chairs and I sincerely thank them both for all their hard work!
I will close now and wish everyone a fabulous summer. Please don’t forget to sign up to help at our Sweet Corn Festival in August… you all know how important it is to our organization.
Keep Creating!
Linda Brandenburg, President
FAA EVENTS CALENDAR 2025
Events are held in the FAA Gallery unless otherwise indicated
June 3 6:30 pm–8:30 pm Social
July 4 10:00 am–2:00 pm Virtual Art Show and Original Artwork Raffle (Spark, 305 W. Main St., Fairborn, OH 45324)
July 13 1:00 pm–3:00 pm Landscapes2025 Art Exhibition (Opening Reception)
July 20 1:00 pm–3:00 pm Landscapes2025 Art Exhibition
July 27 1:00 pm–3:00 pm Landscapes2025 Art Exhibition
August 16–17 Fairborn Sweet Corn Festival (Community Park, 691 E. Dayton Yellow Springs Rd., Fairborn, OH 45324)
September 2 7:00 pm–8:30 pm Mixed Media/Watercolor demo by guest artist Sharon Stolzenberger
October 7 7:00 pm–8:30 pm Watercolor demo by guest artist Janet Rogers
October Workshop TBD
November 4 7:00 pm–8:30 pm Mixed Media demo by guest artist Charmaine Boggs
December 2 Holiday Party (Date subject to change)
FAA MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL 2025-2026
Please renew your membership for the 2025–2026 year by June 1 (or the meeting in June) in order to be included in the FAA Membership Directory. Membership forms are available in the Gallery and on the FAA website Home page under Forms. A completed Membership Form is required, along with your dues payment. Please contact Debbie Cosenza if you have any questions.
2025-2026 FAA OFFICERS
The following members were elected at the May meeting to serve as officers on the 2025-2026 FAA Board of Directors:
President – Linda Brandenburg
Vice President – Julie Shuman
Recording Secretary – Sheryl Scott
Corresponding Secretary – April Coppess
Treasurer – Roger Browning
SWEET CORN FESTIVAL AND WATERMELON BOOTH VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
SWEET CORN FESTIVAL VOLUNTEERS
Many volunteers are needed to help with the Fairborn Sweet Corn Festival from August 14–17, 2025, so be sure to sign up to help with our major fundraiser of the year! The sign-up form is available in the gallery and on the FAA website Home page under Forms or contact Cheryl Miracle at 937-751-9442 or Warren Brown at 937-371-8531.
WATERMELON BOOTH VOLUNTEERS
The Sweet Corn Festival will be here soon! Please sign up to help work in the Watermelon Booth for Saturday, August 16, and Sunday, August 17. These are approximately 2 to 2 1/2 hour shifts. Contact Susan Fosnot or Leigh Andrews to choose a time you prefer to work. Thanks!
Susan Fosnot slfosnot@gmail.com (937-414-3378)
Leigh Andrews Leigh.brandenburg@gmail.com (937-825-7962)
2025 MEMBERS’ FINE ART SHOW AWARD WINNERS
Congratulations to the Members’ Fine Art Show award winners, to all the artists for a wonderful show, and thanks to the Juror for the show, Fran Mangino!
Best of Show (Sandy Kinnamon Memorial Award): Tom Kinarney “Frog in Puddle” (colored pencil)
First Place (Virginia Hess Memorial Award): Tessa Kalman “Precarious Perch” (watercolor)
Second Place: Matt Lammi “The Blacksmith” (photography)
Third Place: Eileen Thomson “My Dad, the Dude” (watercolor)
Honorable Mention: Nancy Dankof “By My Window” (mixed media)
Honorable Mention: Clarice Moore “Praise” (mixed media)
Honorable Mention: James M. Gifford “Steam Clock-Vancouver” (photography)
Honorable Mention: Linda Brandenburg “Angry Duck!” (watercolor)
Honorable Mention: Susan Scott “Windows” (watercolor)
Honorable Mention: Marsha Elliot “Wise Contemplation” (watercolor)
Honorable Mention: Connie S. Gifford “Different Spokes for Folks” (watercolor)
Honorable Mention: Carol Collett “Daybreak” (watercolor)
Judge’s Merit Award: Sue Seitz “Person of the Forest” (colored pencil)
Judge’s Merit Award: Paula Whittington “The Gardener” (watercolor)
Judge’s Merit Award: Christy Powell “Allium” (soft pastel)
Judge’s Merit Award: Rose Schultz “Ready, Set, Go” (collage/watercolor)
Judge’s Merit Award: Linda K. Perry “Rowan Jean” (colored pencil)
Judge’s Merit Award: Barbara Olekas “Time for Shopping” (watercolor)
Judge’s Merit Award: Shirley Bauer “It Rained on our Parade” (watercolor)
Judge’s Merit Award: Esther Wilson “First Snow” (oil)
Judge’s Merit Award: Jeffrey W. Davis “From my Point of View” (photography)
MEMBER NEWS
Connie S. Gifford will be the demonstration artist on Saturday, June 7, from 1:00–2:00 pm at the Carol Graff Beavercreek Community Library, located at 3618 Dayton-Xenia Road, Beavercreek, OH 45432. During the demo, Connie will use a limited watercolor palette to paint a colorful sunflower. The library’s summer of fun theme is “Color Our World.” During the month of June, Connie will have several of her watercolors on display in the Media room of the library. Access the library website link for this program: https://greenelibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/67ead6442971a34a250de686
Frank Trick had three pieces accepted into The Dayton Society of Artists 2025 Spring Juried Show “Peace Talks”, which runs through June 21, 2025, at 48 High Street, Dayton, Ohio 45403. The Dayton Peace Accords is the theme of the show. His piece titled “Turmoil into Peace” took First Place. Frank was a featured artist in a member’s exhibit at the Miamisburg Art Gallery in spring of this year. He also had six pieces accepted into The Gallery of the Dayton Designers Show House and participated in the FAA’s Members’ Fine Art Show with two pieces. Frank’s art is the newest addition to the Member Galleries section of our website.
Lorenzo Lee’s oil painting “Red Roofs on a Summer Day” was accepted into the Rosewood Arts Center’s 31st Annual The View Juried Landscape Exhibition. Only 60 pieces were accepted of the 300 submitted. The exhibition runs from June 9 through July 19, 2025, at the Kettering Health Art Gallery at Rosewood Arts Center, 2655 Olson Drive, Kettering, Ohio 45420 and is free and open to the public.
The following FAA members’ artwork was also accepted into The View exhibition at the Rosewood Arts Center: Yuki Hall, Brendan Higgins, Tessa Kalman, and Tamiko Stump
The following FAA members won awards in the Western Ohio Watercolor Society’s “Spring Fine Art Show” which runs through June 15, 2025, at the Tipp Center Building, 855 N. Third Street, Tipp City, Ohio.
Second Place: Tessa Kalman “Judging the 4-H Lambs”
Third Place: Rose Schultz “Around the Bend”
Honorable Mention: Marsha Elliott “Neon Beacon”
Honorable Mention: Shirlee Bauer “Shadows of Yesterday”
Honorable Mention: Eileen Thomson “I Wonder”
Honorable Mention: Carol Edsall “Just Follow Me”
It is with great sadness that we announce the loss of one of our members, Mary Louise Jackson, who passed away on May 23, 2025. Louise was president of the Fairborn Art Association in 2016–17. She authored 27 painting books, her art was in numerous magazines and private and corporate collections, and even on display in the Smithsonian. She founded the Decorative Artists Guild of Southwestern Ohio in 1976. She was also a distinguished member of the Dayton Painters and Sculptors and the Western Ohio Watercolor Society, and recognized as a Master Decorative Artist with the Society of Decorative Painters. She inspired artists through her teaching in the U.S., internationally, and through her online painting classes.
FAA ART SHOWS SUMMER 2025
FAA VIRTUAL ART SHOW AND RAFFLE
The FAA Virtual Art Show and Original Artwork Raffle will be held at SPARK, 305 W. Main Street, Fairborn, Ohio, on Friday, July 4, 2025, from 10:00 am until 2:00 pm. The Show celebrates Fairborn’s 75th Anniversary, and coincides with Fairborn’s 4th of July Parade. View the flyer here: FAA Virtual Art 2025 FLYER.jpg
LANDSCAPES2025 ART EXHIBITION
The B-W Greenway Community Land Trust & the Fairborn Art Association’s Landscapes2025 Art Exhibition Opening Reception will be held at the Fairborn Art Gallery on Sunday, July 13, from 1:00–3:00 pm. The art will be on display at the Gallery and open to the public on July 13, 20, and 27, from 1:00–3:00 pm. Landscapes was established in 2009 to heighten public awareness of local greenspaces and the need to preserve them, and to foster an interest in creating art from nature.
ARTIST OPPORTUNITIES
LANDSCAPES2025 JURIED ART COMPETITION
Entries will be received at the Fairborn Art Association Gallery, 221 North Central Avenue, Fairborn, Ohio, on Saturday, June 28, and Sunday, June 29, from 1:00–3:00 pm for the Landscapes2025 juried art competition. The juried competition is open to artists 16 years and older, living within a 200-mile radius of Fairborn, Ohio. The 2025 location to inspire artists is Koogler Prairie Wetland Reserve, located at 2779 Beaver Valley Rd. #2735, Dayton, Ohio 45434. The entrance and parking is on Beaver Valley Road, just south of New Germany-Trebein Road. For additional information, visit B-W Greenway at: www.bwgreenway.org
MAC 2025 PHOTOGRAPHY & DIGITAL ART COMPETITION/EXHIBITION
Middletown Arts Center will present the 2025 Photography & Digital Art Competition/Exhibition August 8–October 2, 2025. Digital photographs, film photographs or other digital works of art may be submitted by professional and amateur photographers 16 years or older. Submission of digital images via their website starts June 3 and ends June 20 at 8:00 pm. The Middletown Arts Center is located at 130 N. Verity Parkway, Middletown, OH 45042. More information can be found at: www.middletownartscenter.com
PIQUA FINE ART EXHIBITION
The Piqua Arts Council will hold its 33rd Annual Piqua Fine Art Exhibition, representing artists from all over the state, in September 2025. Works of art include drawing, oil and acrylics, water media, photography, three-dimensional and miscellaneous. Registration deadline is August 15, 2025, with artwork drop off on August 23 and August 25. The Awards Reception will be held on September 4, 2025. The show will be open to the public from September 5 to September 26, 2025, during normal gallery hours at the Apple Tree Gallery, 405 N. Main St., Piqua, OH 45356. For more information, visit their website at: https://piquaartscouncil.org/art-show
SUBMISSION DEADLINE FOR NEXT NEWSLETTER
The deadline for submitting articles to be included in the September newsletter is Monday, August 18, 2025. Please call, or email the article to, April Coppess.