2021 End of Year Message
Dear Guild Family,
Another year closes and the Creative Arts Guild stands strong due to the tremendous support of our donors, volunteers, students, staff and board.
We look forward to 2022 as the final year of the Guild’s fifth decade. I am always inspired by the founders’ vision and by the love and work that has been poured into this organization to bring it to where it is today. While the Guild is indebted to its visionary founders, we are sustained by those who have offered essential financial support that allows the Guild to flourish. Those investments made 2021 a year to remember.
This year, we have thoroughly enjoyed breathing new life back into all our events and programs. While we missed much of our programming immensely during the closures and cancelations of 2020, we chose to view that time as time to rethink, refresh, and revitalize. We actualized those plans during 2021, and your support made that possible. Highlights of our 2021 calendar year included: bringing our dancers home and our Guild family back into one space – as artists we benefit from engaging with one another each day; expanding access to the Robert T. Webb Sculpture Garden through the addition of an ADA-compliant poured concrete path; bringing our Spring for the Arts celebration back to our grounds; cooking and eating with friends at our Low Country Boil Cookoff; hosting the Conasauga Shakespeare Coalition’s performance of Twelfth Night on the pavilion; launching our inaugural Pops in Burr Park 4th of July celebration to the joy of hundreds of audience members; partnering to organize and host the Off the Rails Downtown Dalton Summer Music Series; spotlighting our 58th annual FESTIVAL of Fine Arts and Crafts; enjoying a Dia de los Muertos celebration with a community altar, food, music, and dancing; celebrating the retirement of our longtime employee and beloved friend, Leanne Martin; and ending our year with The Snow Queen ballet performed again with our much appreciated and enjoyed Creative Arts Guild Chamber Orchestra. That’s to say nothing of recitals, jam sessions, performances, exhibits, Student Art Expo, field trips and even a float in the Dalton Lions Club Christmas Parade.
This exceptional year was possible because of the generosity and commitment of all our donors and most especially our Sustaining Partners, who fill our well by offering long-term pledges of general operating support each and every year. This allows us to properly budget and plan, gives us flexibility in the event of unexpected challenges or opportunities and ensures these generous funds are directed to where they are needed most. Thank you for believing that the Guild is a meaningful asset for our community and for your partnership in cultivating and sustaining the arts in Dalton, Georgia. We are humbled and honored by your support and vow to continue forward by providing the highest quality arts experiences and enhancing the quality of life in our community. The Guild is in constant motion, and it is truly a joy to be a small part of its story. Whenever I pause to reflect on The Creative Arts Guild, I cannot do so without also feeling immeasurable gratitude for the community in which we live. Thank you ALL for another year FULL of the ARTS! I feel honored and fortunate to be a part of it all, and there is always more to look forward to on the horizon. We wish you all a celebratory close to 2021 and a joyous and energetic beginning of a new year! We hope to see you soon and often!