Mr. Jerrold Morris,
Curator, Vancouver Art Gallery

Dear Mr. Morris:

       It is just a year since I first crossed the threshold of the Gallery on business other than that of the casual visitor. On that day I hesitated at the door, waiting for a thunderbolt to strike me down for my temerity in seeking admittance to the inner sanctum of the art world with nothing to offer but a nebulous problem and a willing heart. In the year just passed, I have crossed that same threshold many times ... and with me has come the West Vancouver Sketch Club, the seed of which was sown that first day in Mr. Grigsby's office.
       As curator of the Gallery, I thought you might like to know just how much we owe both Gallery and staff, for we could never have achieved what we have in such a short time without their help and encouragement. So herewith is our story:
       On that memorable day I was seeking information on the presentation of a small art show in West Vancouver ... to be used as "bait" to attract enough amateur painters to form a club and finance an instructor on a co-operative basis. The local Community Centre had made a half-hearted effort to start such a club, but by this time only three of us remained as members and desperate measures were called for. A small exhibition seemed the only answer, so I was delegated to seek expert advice.
       Not daring to bother Mr. Grigsby with such a trifling matter, I introduced myself to Miss Faunt ... who immediately boosted my morale by commending the idea in no uncertain terms and suggested we put on a really good show while we were at it. Offering her whole-hearted assistance, she then introduced me to Mr. Grigsby by the impressive title of "president of the West Vancouver Community Art Club". I hastened to confess there there were only three members ... but concealed a guilty secret: that I had but one dreadful watercolor of a wilted tulip to my credit. After all, a president has some pride.
       Mr. Grigsby settled down to practical matters at once and when I left his office an hour later I was armed with a catalogue draft, printing estimates, sample entry forms, introductions to well-known artists who would act as jury, speakers and general advisors ... and best of all, the knowledge that we had the full co-operation of the Gallery behind us.
       A month later we put on our show and it made West Vancouver history. Instead of the shop window we'd originally planned on, we used the entire Community Centre building for two days and nearly a thousand people attended. The Reeve oficially opened the show, followed by speeches from Mr. Ira Dilworth and Mr. W.P. Weston, thus making it one of the outstanding social, as well as cultural, events of the year. Over two hundred entries had been received, which were narrowed down to eighty-nine by the jury, (Lionel Thomas, Gordon Appelbe Smith, and Illingworth Kerr) plus an imposing display of pottery, clay models, wood carving and other handicrafts.
       Tommy Slater was the real hero of the day, arriving bright and early to hang all the pictures properly in ramshackle rooms never intended for anything more imposing than calendars and Community Centre posters.
       Prompted by Mr. Grigsby, we sold our catalogues at ten cents each and made over sixty dollars! (Enough to pay all expenses and three dollars over!)
       Fifteen people were sufficiently interested in the club idea to fill in a form on the back of our catalogue, and from that group ... plus the original three ... the West Vancouver Sketch Club was organized last May. Two weeks ago we inaugurated "Group Two", which brings our total membership to nearly fifty.
       During our brief history we have had some of B.C.'s finest artists as speakers, thanks to the Gallery, and during the past winter we have conducted our own art class in the local high school, under Gordon Smith's direction ... a project so successful we are faced with the necessity of enlarging it next season.
       In addition to speakers and class instruction, we have attended all Gallery showings under the guidance of Miss Faunt and through her efforts on our behalf were able to exhibit in the Vancouver Public Library early this year. Our first Gallery exhibition is scheduled for June 1st.
       As individuals we have frequently taken our paintings to the Gallery for criticism and advice and as a club we now proudly boast a sustaining membership. The Gallery library has been a wonderful help to us all.
       For such assistance and warm encouragement we are deeply grateful. Without it we could not have accomplished half so much.
       Thank you ... from all of us!

              Sincerely,
              (Mrs.) Eileen Laurie, president (signed)
              West Vancouver Sketch Club