faqs, Board Members and Minutes of meetings:

 Board positions are elected for one term, by member vote at the April Membership Meeting. Nominations may be made from the floor prior to the vote, by the membership. The newly elected officers will assume their role in September. Meet our current board in the "Our Current Board" section below.

As a Section 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, we observe a set of bylaws by which our organization will conduct its affairs.   

CTPS is an arts organization and, as such, will occasionally engage businesses with which to partner or to obtain goods and services. For that reason CTPS observes a conflict of interest policy. 

On occasion, CTPS may be gifted goods and services. To follow consistent and ethical policies regarding acceptance or non-acceptance of those gifts, the organization has a "Gift Acceptance Policy". 

CTPS will experience changes in Board positions and any committees necessary to run the organization. Due to that constant change, there is a need for consistent policies on retention of documentation. 

Please view the most frequently asked questions regarding our organization in the  FAQs section above.

Alora Johns
Alora is a long-term CTPS member and past CTPS Board member as well. She is  now (Fall 2024) stepping in as President, and we are delighted to have her!

Jane Copeland
I have been involved in creative endeavors all my life including various crafts,  glass blowing and ceramics, and as a child, a most memorable Christmas present was a Jon Gnagy Learn To Draw set. But I didn't start painting until 2012, when a friend introduced me to pastels. I have delighted in demonstrations and workshops by favorite pastel artists, most notably Margaret Dyer, who awakened in me a fascination with the human figure. I love capturing gesture, and telling a story. 

Cynthia Bsaibes

I began my painting career at 50, when I entered a postcard painting contest. My paintings didn’t win any awards, but two were sold. Back then I was using watercolor. A few years later I took a workshop with Frankie Johnson, a local artist in Lake Zurich, Illinois. She demonstrated how to combine watercolor and pastel. This experience got me hooked on pastels. These days, I paint most often with pastels, but I do enjoy playing with mixed media. I paint what brings me joy. Therefore, many of my paintings are of nature, flowers, and birds.

 https://www.cynthiabsaibespaints.com

Jan Frazier
Art has been the driving force of my life since I was a child. I began my formal training at the University of Kentucky where I graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Art Education. A short while later I moved to Austin, Texas, where I began pursuing art as a full-time profession. 

http://www.janfrazierart.com

Carolyn Kilday
My background is in design, art direction, illustration, photography, and teaching. For more than thirty years, I worked as a designer and educator, including eighteen years teaching Communication Design at Texas State University. I loved encouraging creativity and helping my students discover their own visual voices. I’m especially proud that many of my students went on to receive numerous juried awards at the local, regional, national, and international levels, with their work also being published online and in several Graphis Annuals.

Right now, I’m excited by where all of these experiences are coming together. My background in design and photography, along with travel and years of teaching, has given me a particular way of seeing. Pastel and watercolor give me new ways to explore that way of seeing. 

Travel is a big part of my creative practice. Italy has been a particularly important influence, from leading study-abroad programs in Florence and Tuscany to spending time as an artist-in-residence at Arte Ginestrelle in Assisi. I have also worked in residency in Seville, Spain, exploring the intersection of design, photography, and visual storytelling. More recently, two painting residencies at Estudio Corazón at Ghost Ranch in New Mexico have given me the opportunity to study light in a very different landscape and to push my pastel work in new directions.

I’m continuing to paint, travel, write, and look—and I look forward to where the journey will take me.

https://www.artframingservices.com/Art-ArtistListPage.php?artistfirst=Carolyn&artistlast=Kilday

Therese McHugh

My artistic journey began with success: I won the "color the Space Needle on a paper bag" contest at Albertson's grocery and was awarded a book of Seattle World Fair tickets! When I began college, I always "squeezed in" art classes whenever I could, and had the very good fortune to study for three years with Tom Sherwood of Bellingham, Washington, in a classical life drawing setting. When I discovered pastels several years ago, I immediately loved the hands-on vibrant pigments. Participating in the Central Texas Pastel Society has been educational, inspiring and fun.