There is a haven for artists in Columbia County, for them to learn and grow together, teach each other, commune and develop their craft together. Artists just need to know it’s there, but many people still aren’t aware of the Artists’ Guild of Columbia County.
“We are making Columbia County look really good,” said Angelika Selman-Bondar, president of the Artists’ Guild of Columbia County. “Because when someone pulls up anything, we’re offering classes, programs, exhibits. The problem is we’re nonprofit; we’re all volunteers.”
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The Artists’ Guild of Columbia County was founded in 2004 under the umbrella of Columbia County Arts, Inc. The Guild would participate in the annual Art in the Park Festival in Evans, the last of which was in 2018.
The organization promotes visual arts with educational programs, sponsoring exhibits, hosting events and facilitating relationships between artists.
Works by its members can be found in offices and public spaces throughout the area, including Queensborough Bank and Augusta University. Classes the guild offers range from drawing and painting for elementary-school aged children, mixed media for teens, and acrylic and oil painting for adults.
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There’s even a weekly anime and manga drawing class.
“We’re not just the little old lady painting group,” said Selman-Bondar.
One upcoming event planned is a tour of Augusta University’s art department for high school students.
“I try to offer this to the teens of Columbia County because usually they have no clue that there is a fantastic art department here,” said Selman-Bondar. “They don’t have to go away to school and spend a lot more money when they can get that here.”
Selman-Bondar, who has been with the Guild since its inception, is a retired teacher. She taught art at John S. Davidson Fine Arts Magnet School for 19 years, and in Columbia County’s schools for 12, starting a pottery program at Grovetown High School before retiring.
“I didn’t give up on education,” she said. “I’m just educating people in a different way now.”
Now, she said, in the aftermath of the COVID pandemic and amid limited funding or attention from local government, the guild struggles to make the accommodations and garner the interest it once did.
It has not hosted Art After Dark, its signature exhibition event usually held annually at the Evans Library, since November 2019. Its monthly meetings sometimes have to alternate locations. The Guild mostly gets the word out about itself and its events via social media and a monthly exhibit on the walls at the library.
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Selman-Bondar notes that the public has often expressed to the guild the desire for a community center where it, alongside several like-minded local organizations, could be part and hold its functions.
The organization has continued to strive towards its mission to support local visual creatives and educate the public. Classes and children’s camps have resumed and there are still several more events on the horizon.
Selman-Bondar attributes her own optimism and perseverance to her devotion to her many crafts, including painting and sculpting; and her enthusiasm about sharing it.
“I’ve seen the struggles that people have with doing their own art,” she said. “Finding the time for it, making yourself get out there and meet that public.”
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She encourages Columbia County residents interested in the arts to attend the Board of Commissioner meetings and air out their concerns. She also finds hope the diverse range of ages, backgrounds, careers and walks of life among members, and in the eager crop of young new members within the last three months. Bondar believes this will be the key to perpetuating its aims and its legacy, even through its ups and downs.
“They’re anxious to do things,” she said. “It’s progressively getting better. It’s moving. The support will be there, it’s just getting the information to them.”
For more information on the Artists’ Guild of Columbia County visit its website at https://www.artistguildcc.org/ or its Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Artist-Guild-of-Columbia-County-139963932682272.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter covering Columbia County with The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
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