ANNUAL MEETING & MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL
Our annual meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 5, at 6 PM in the theater of the Central Rappahannock Regional Library on Caroline Street. The meeting will be brief, with no program or refreshments. Masks are suggested but not required.
PLEASE RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP for 2022-23!
$25 Individual
$35 Family
$100 Sustaining
Here is the link if you wish to pay online. https://www.fred-este.org/membership
Or, you can send your check to:
Fredericksburg-Este Association
PO Box 157
Fredericksburg VA 22404
We are gearing up for new activities! Thank you for your continued support!
2022 ARTIST EXCHANGE
Cathy Herndon is the Artist Exchange Honoree for 2022. She's going to Este, Italy, to create, to teach, and to exhibit her work!
Long-time regional artist and teacher Cathy Herndon has been selected as the exchange artist by the Fredericksburg-Este Association. She will travel to Este, Italy, in April and May for three weeks. While in Este, she will create a wall mural as a gift to Este, as well as produce her own art. In addition, she will teach in Este’s academic prep high school and at a facility that works with the disabled, an assignment that she requested.
Cathy will also mount an exhibit of her art alongside Andrea Rimondo, an Este artist who has widely shown both painting and sculpture in Italy.
LIBERTYTOWN EVENT:
Contributors to the Arts Exchange Fund will be eligible to participate in a drawing for one of Cathy’s original works, during an exhibit and talk when she returns. We are again partnering with our good friends at LibertyTown, and we will hold a reception and arts drawing on Saturday, June 4, at 6:30 PM. Cathy will talk about her experiences in Este, and we will gather for our first social membership event in two years!
Here is the link for a GoFundMe fundraiser to help defray the expenses of the artist exchange. https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-send-cathy-herndon-to-este-italy
If you prefer to contribute by check, you may do so by sending your contribution to the address above. Please make a note that the donation is for the Artist Exchange fund.
The Fredericksburg-Este Association is a non-profit. Your gifts are tax-deductible.
Many thanks!
ESTE COMMUNICATIONS
Even though we have not had any membership activities in the past two years, we have nonetheless continued activities. We have kept up our non-profit registrations, our insurance payments, our membership roster, and our communications with Este.
In January, we held a joint online chat with dozens of members from both Fredericksburg and Este. We recorded the conversation, and you can see the video below
It runs about 15 minutes, and many Este members talk about themselves by way of an introduction. We hope to continue this connection!
ONLINE CHAT With New Este Sister City Head
On March 30, Kathryn Willis video chatted with Andrea Quadarella and Massimo Giordano about the future of the Este sister city connection. Este recently elected a new mayor, and Andrea has been appointed head of the city’s sister city association. (As you may know, Este has many sister cities: Fredericksburg, of course; but also Leek, England; Pertuis, France (very close to Frejus); Bad Windsheim, Germany; Rijeka, Croatia; Tapolca, Hungary; and Bethlehem, Palestine).
Andrea is eager to become involved with our twinning, and wants to plan a conference with representatives from all the sister cities, for sometime this fall. In another interesting bit of information, his girlfriend Carmen spent time with a host family in Fredericksburg, and attended some classes at Mary Washington. Small World, indeed!
Kathryn and Chip Willis, and Bob and Barbara Antozzi, are going to Este to support Cathy as she works on her artist exchange duties. Kathryn helped her pack up and send the artworks to Este that will be exhibited during her expo, and the Antozzis and the Willis’ will also help her put up and take down her artwork, as well as prepare the works for their return to Fredericksburg. They are paying for their travel expenses.
During the visit, they will meet and talk with Andrea and the new mayor. The trip is not an “official” visit, but it offers the opportunity to get to know our new Este city officials.
IT WILL BE WONDERFUL to begin to gather again for the Annual Meeting. We hope to resume activities as the risk of Covid, hopefully, subsides.
Grazi mille, cari amici!
Kathryn Willis
President