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General Categories => Calligraphy Guilds => Topic started by: Blotbot on March 17, 2015, 09:35:05 AM

Title: List of Calligraphy Guilds
Post by: Blotbot on March 17, 2015, 09:35:05 AM
This list of calligraphy guilds was recently published on cyberscribes.  A great resource!

 List of Calligraphy Guilds (http://summitscribes.org/guilds-societies/)
Title: Re: List of Calligraphy Guilds
Post by: JanisTX on March 17, 2015, 11:32:01 AM
Thanks, Ellen!  I wish that I had a guild close to me!  It's lonely out here all by myself in the Wilds of Texas! :-)  I'm grateful for my online guild, though!  I've learned so much from all of you!

Janis
Title: Re: List of Calligraphy Guilds
Post by: MeganUnderlined on March 17, 2015, 07:51:01 PM
Aw man, so bummed there's not one to be found in New Jersey! But I echo the above, so grateful for Flourish Forum and all that I've learned here. :)
Title: Re: List of Calligraphy Guilds
Post by: Erica McPhee on March 25, 2015, 04:16:30 PM
Thanks Ellen! I'm trying to figure out a way to organize the list and make it easily accessible and useful. I may do it within the board (each state/country be its own topic) or I may set up a linked page on the Flourish website. But in the meantime, it's great to have the link.  :)
Title: Re: List of Calligraphy Guilds
Post by: Blotbot on March 25, 2015, 04:23:36 PM
Aw man, so bummed there's not one to be found in New Jersey! But I echo the above, so grateful for Flourish Forum and all that I've learned here. :)

Hey but there's one in NYC and one in Philadelphia! 
Title: Re: List of Calligraphy Guilds
Post by: schin on March 27, 2015, 05:46:26 PM
It lists two very old Vegas guilds... our current most active guild in Las Vegas is the Fabulous Las Vegas Scribes: fabulouslvscribes.weebly.com
Title: Re: List of Calligraphy Guilds
Post by: Erica McPhee on March 29, 2015, 11:40:05 AM
Schin, are those guilds no longer active?
Title: Re: List of Calligraphy Guilds
Post by: schin on March 29, 2015, 05:49:12 PM
I don't think so... some of those guild's members are now in our guild so I think it's safe to say it has disbanded. The LV Scribes are now where it's at!
Title: Re: List of Calligraphy Guilds
Post by: Cindy_H on September 13, 2015, 03:01:43 PM
Thank you for posting this, Ellen!

Wish there was one close to me, but sadly I cannot find any in my state.
Title: Re: List of Calligraphy Guilds
Post by: Mimi on June 01, 2016, 08:58:15 PM
This is helpful! Thanks for this list of resources! :) Hopefully there are some in my area!
Title: Re: List of Calligraphy Guilds
Post by: anam_t on June 13, 2016, 03:22:34 PM
This is a question for people who hold positions in calligraphy guild executive boards or who have had experience with working closely with managing guilds:

Is there any process in setting up a guild/society? I am looking to introduce one in the UAE with a few calligraphers, but I'd like to know your experience in management of one. I know the process might be different from the US, but it would be good to learn from someone's first hand experience.


Title: Re: List of Calligraphy Guilds
Post by: jeanwilson on June 13, 2016, 08:42:08 PM
If you visit the websites of some of the guilds you can get a good idea of how they are organized and what they offer members. Some are very large, others are quite small. They are usually started by a small group of people who want to establish an organization to promote calligraphy in their community, offer educational opportunities, and have regular meetings for scribes to get together. Most groups meet monthly and have a topic presented at each meeting. There is usually time for people to share the projects they have been working on.

Many years ago it was more difficult to find ways to publicize the organization. Today, with all the social media options it is a lot easier to get the word out. It is good to network with the art supply stores where calligraphers are buying their supplies. Some of them have class rooms that are available for meetings. Many guilds like to meet in libraries because they publicize the groups that are using their meeting rooms. Finding a place to meet can be challenging. It is nice to be centrally located in a community. The day and time is also challenging as there are people who can never attend on the weekends and others who can only attend on weekends. Meetings tend to be for two hours.

Years ago, most guilds published newsletters. Today, information is usually posted on a website. Blogspot is a good option for a free website.

Dues. Most guilds have a membership fee. You might wait on collecting membership dues until you have enough people to make it worthwhile and have figured out why your organization needs a bank account. Large guilds use money for things like exhibits and community outreach or to subsidize the cost of bringing in rock star instructors for workshops.

Most guilds need several members who are teachers as the main focus of most guilds is education. If you do not have several people who teach who are interested in starting a guild, you might consider calling it a club. Medieval guilds were more like a professional organization for craftsmen. Modern day calligraphy guilds are made up of both professionals and hobbyists so they are more like a club. There is a lot of variation in how guilds are run. If you can find a group of people interested in a guild you probably need a lot of input from the people about what they feel would make it worth their time to participate.

The hardest part of managing a guild is finding enough people to volunteer their time to keep it running. It's not that hard to find people who want to join a club or guild to network and learn. But, if there are only a few people doing all the work of organizing, booking the meeting rooms, planning the programs, publicizing, running the website or blog, etc - those people quickly burn out.

I am happy to answer any additional questions. Guilds are wonderful organizations and it's always a good thing to get one started. If you check the list of guilds - and visit their websites - I am sure you will get a good idea of how varied they are.
Title: Re: List of Calligraphy Guilds
Post by: Lindah on September 20, 2018, 10:31:43 AM
I wish there was one in SC.  If anyone knows of one, please let me know.
Linda
Title: Re: List of Calligraphy Guilds
Post by: cejohnson on September 25, 2018, 07:22:36 PM
Thank you for posting this list Ellen. It is a good resource and nice to find so many guilds still out there and active (at least most appear to still be active).

Cat
Title: Re: List of Calligraphy Guilds
Post by: lizabetht on May 10, 2019, 09:45:58 PM
The San Diego Fellow Calligraphers have voted to disband.  Our last meeting is in June 2019.  I really enjoyed the group but have only been there 6 months.  I think this group has been around for many years.  It's a shame to see this happen.  The wonderful people who are the core members have been doing the work for so long and there were a few who could not return to be on the board this year.  A call for new board members produced 1 or 2 volunteers but that was not enough to keep things going. 
Title: Re: List of Calligraphy Guilds
Post by: Erica McPhee on May 11, 2019, 01:26:55 PM
Aw @lizabetht That is so sad.  :'( It’s always a bummer to lose a guild - especially one that strong and that has been in existence for so long.
Title: Re: List of Calligraphy Guilds
Post by: lizabetht on May 15, 2019, 03:53:44 PM
Thank you, Erica.  I should note that there is another group forming but they will be a Regional group associated with Society for Calligraphy a little north of San Diego, in the L.A. area.  I don't believe they have a meeting place yet.  I may consider joining at a later date, depending upon location of the meetings, but I'm unable to travel to L.A. for various reasons so all those lovely classes in L.A. would be out of my reach. 
Title: Re: List of Calligraphy Guilds
Post by: JenniferJesse on February 15, 2021, 09:34:30 AM
Thank you for this list!