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Associated Artists of the Inland Empire (AAIE) was established in 1964 and held the first Membership art show in the spring of that year. In the years since its beginning, the purpose of AAIE has been to promote the creative talent of its members, to provide an exchange of ideas between area artists, and to generate public interest in fine arts. The meetings and yearly show keep members abreast of a variety of techniques and of what is happening in the art community. At the same time, AAIE hopes to make the community more familiar with art and local artists.
AAIE has grown from a few dedicated members to a current enrollment of about 200 artists. Visit our Membership page for an Application.
New members are accepted on an ongoing basis. Membership is open to artists of all levels of accomplishment, and to those working in any media. The only requirement for membership is a genuine interest in creating or sharing the enjoyment of artwork.
Members are advised by a monthly Newsletter of AAIE upcoming events and art-related events from our area and throughout Southern California. We offer Juried Art Show which allow members to show their art with the community .
The Associate Artists of the Inland Empire has been a proud recipient of two Community Arts Grant of $2,000 from the RCCAAF. The First Grant was used to develop this website and the second for an online juried Art Show software. Our first show is scheduled for March 2023, with additional shows scheduled for members and the public throughout the year. This is another example of RCCAAF promoting and helping the Arts thrive in our community.
A big thank-you to Susan Sluka Kelly and the RCCAAF Board.
Dear AAIE Members,
Welcome to 2023! I’m looking forward to this year and our new meeting place at Chaffey Community Museum of Art (CCMA). We are very appreciative for allowing us to use their space for our 2023 meetings. A new schedule of Artist Demos, CAT days, and participating in local Art in the community in partnership with CCMA, RCCAAF, and OHMA will be posted in a calendar on the website. We had some real challenges in 2022 as we emerged from the pandemic with Zoom to Live meetings.
Even with unknowns, 2022 was a successful year of art with demonstrations: Linda Caplette, glass artistry; Jeni Bate, abstract art; Ray Tucker, Acrylics; Mark Rush, abstract art, Sue Lin, Impressionism to Modernism lecture; Linda Garcia Dahle, Oil painting; Art Tour of CCMA’s Women Artists of the Pomona Valley by Dr. Wendy Slatkin: Frank Carillo, sculpting art, and Chick Curtis, oil painting, Also we had a wonderful Creating Art Together (CAT) day at the R.C. Community Center, a tour at the Rains House including a Plein Air paint day, participation in the Art Walk in Ontario, Chalk, and Art Festival at Victoria gardens, and ended the year with an enjoyable holiday celebration and art gift exchange at Pechez Sephri’s home.
Nancy Speaker is currently working on our online show with a software developer which will be a quarterly event and a revenue generator for us, as well as a perk of membership. The Rancho Cucamonga Community and Arts Foundation (RCCAAF), graciously gave us the grant to help us produce a show which is near completion.
The AAIE board has also been working on ways to generate income besides the quarterly show, including selling grids we have in storage to individual artists and organizations. We will be restarting the bargain and raffle table at meetings, and eventually, have a yard sale of items we have in storage no longer needed. This will allow us to eventually eliminate the annual storage costs and bring in some needed income.
I want to send out a big thank-you to all of you who have continued to show up, participate, and volunteer. As a non-profit Art Association, our goal is to promote, support, educate and make accessible Art to our surrounding communities and I think we did a great job of accomplishing that in 2022. Here’s looking forward to 2023 filled with opportunity and success in our creative endeavors.
Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
Mark Rush
AAIE President