Bev Tietjen

Reminiscing

The best of stories begin with the following words…

In the beginning…It is not without a certain amount of reminiscing that we begin each show and there have been a number of incidents, both funny and unfunny, that spring to mind.

At first, we had to drag folks in from the street to help make a decent-sized show for the lobby. The hotel (formerly the Sheraton) allowed us to rush home to “create” the food for our first reception and my husband, Richard, playfully filled the bathtubs with champagne. A great time was had by all.

By the second year, those many artists who had intended to “wait and see” before joining us—no doubt to see if we’d sink or swim—decided to get on board, and before you knew it we were off and running.

Someone decided we’d better get a little more organized and we quickly made some adjustments which became by-laws. “No dealers” our first decision, which meant we’d have to work a lot harder. The artists, with the thankful help of many selfless volunteers, produced the show.

As always, abundant anxiety attends the production of each show, but there has been humor too.

One of the couples we took in at our first show was a pair of beautiful lady sculptors. They had excellent art, so we welcomed them with open arms. After the show, we were informed by the hotel that apparently their more lucrative business was carried on up in their sleeping rooms after dark, with gentlemen they’d collected from the bar.

Once, one of our artists had such a good time at the show that it became necessary to lock him in his room to keep him from falling down the stairs over and over. This might not have been too bad, except that he would lie there until someone picked him up and brought him back to his room. This, the board of directors agreed, cast an unfortunate pall over the proceedings.

We tightened up the rules, though, and have proceeded in an orderly fashion ever since.

It was my privilege to serve on the Board of Directors for twenty years and I watch with pleasure the steady advance to excellence the WHA is making.

To the people who come to our show year after year to appreciate our art, we give our grateful thanks. We truly know your generous support has encouraged each member and we have all become finer artists because of it.

– Beverly Tietjen