As a non profit organization, letting your membership know how things have went the last year is important. Spiva Center for the Arts recently held such a meeting.

From Nov. 13 through Dec. 31, Spiva Center for the Arts is holding their 68th Annual Membership Show.

The goal is to showcase the great talent and creativity of Spiva members. An opening reception was held on Nov. 13.

As a part of the show, artists will also be recognized for their outstanding works.

“It is also our annual membership meeting of Spiva, where we share our past fiscal year with the membership,” said Kerstin Landwer, assistant director at Spiva Center for the Arts.

Landwer said the membership show is an open call for entries, and members can submit any work they have crated as long as it hasn’t been previously displayed at Spiva.

“It’s great that we also have kids that submit works,” Landwer said. “It’s quite an honor to have a piece displayed in a main gallery show at any art center or gallery.”

Spiva Center for the Arts sends out information on the show in September and all members of Spiva in good standing are eligible to submit entries.

There is also an opportunity to have their work(s) entered as part of the competitive judging part for $10.

To make things more interesting, Dr. John and Mrs. Barbara Windle provided cash awards for winning artists.

“The Windle’s are great supporters, and have been generously providing the monetary awards since 2002,” Landwer said.

Pieces on display will be available for purchase. If the artist has another piece to replace it with in the display, the purchaser can take the piece before the end of the exhibit.

“This is one of the largest and most exciting openings of the year,” Landwer said. “It’s a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the members and artists that make Spiva such a well-respected and integral part of our community.”

For this year’s show, nearly 100 artists participated in the contest.

Top winners , as announced in The Joplin Globe included:

– Paula Giltner, first place in the 2-D category;

– Steve Doerr, first place in the 3-D category.

Each winner won a cash prize of $500.

In related news, Spiva also has welcomed a new executive director. Jo Mueller served with Spiva as the executive director for 12 years. Taking the place of Mueller is Dr. Jacqueline O’Dell. According to Spiva, Dr. O’Dell “comes to us with an extensive background in education and program development. We are so excited to have her on board!”

Dr. O’Dell’s first day was Nov. 19.

For more information on the Spiva Center for the Arts Membership Show or Spiva in general, visit www.spivaarts.org.