OFFICERS/BOARD MEMBERS

2020-2021 Board officers

The Board of Directors of the Gaston County Art Guild thank you for taking the time to vote on the chosen Board Officers for FY 2021-2022.  The officers are listed below and will serve from June, 2021-July 2022.  
 

Cam Tracy, President

 Camilla (Cam) Tracy serves as the current president of the Gaston County Art Guild and has been a member of the guild for several years. Her goal this year is to advocate for the non-profit’s mission of promoting an environment for artists to support and connect with one another, by providing opportunities to share their visual art with the greater community.

Growing up on a farm in the mid-west, Cam has always been drawn to the earthiness of nature’s elements. She developed a passion for being creative at a young age and took art classes at Buena Vista College in Storm Lake, Iowa. Moving to North Carolina in her 20’s she worked as an artisan in fabrics and textiles. Inspired by the diverse and scenic subject matter of the east coast, she discovered oil painting as a way to capture the energy and essence of the Carolinas. Studying this medium for several years, Cam shared her passion by teaching art classes and continues to do so today. A recent new guild group, the “en plein air “ painters, offers the  perfect setting for her inspiration.

Her educational background includes a MA in Pastoral Spirituality and Chaplain training, along with being a trained REIKI practitioner (an ancient healing system.) She believes, these opportunities have given her the tools to be a more intuitive artist to focus on the interconnectedness of nature and discover art as a healing outlet in stressful times. “Our life journey begins as a blank canvas, we are the artists who splash light and dark, amazing colors, and intriguing designs to draw the viewer in to connect and share the journey with us.”


 

Dorothy Lodge, Co-Vice President

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Dorothy is a newcomer to the guild, having taken up oil painting after her retirement from Gaston County Schools.  She was a teacher, assistant principal and principal, finally becoming Chief Accountability Officer for the school system.  In addition to painting, she creates fabric art.  She loves all things outdoors.  She hikes, bikes, paddles, and travels (at least when Covid allows!)  She believes art is key in education and in life.

  

 

 

Jill Meeks, Secretary

 

Jill began to draw pet sketches for family and friends as practice.  She soon received more and more requests.  After her retirement in 2020, she wanted to expand her art experience and started to paint.  Although she taught herself pet sketching, she found painting to be challenging and took an on-line class.  The instruction encouraged the students to paint plein aire, which let her to the CGAG plein air group.  She continues to learn and develop friendships with other artiists in the group.  She continues her art adventure with the guild.

 

 

 

Donita Stewart, Treasurer

Donita is our current treasurer and has agreed to serve another year.  She has implemented standard accounting practices, set the organization up with an online “box” to hold all our documents, set Quickbooks to run invoices and developed some bookkeeping forms to keep the rest of us in line.  She comes to GCAG with an extensive background in finance, having spent 18 years as corporate secretary and treasurer for Southwood  Corporation. Her duties included implementation and management of accounting systems, financial statement reporting and management of health and commercial insurance coverage.  She also served as treasurer for Arrowood Business Association in Charlotte where she was responsible to the BOD for the association financial management and reporting using Quickbooks.  We are grateful for all Donita has done in the past year and look forward to working with her in the coming fiscal year.