The Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts
Fall 2010 Newsletter
It’s the holiday season again and the Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts (WALA) is entering the yuletide season with a renewed energy and focus. You’ve got a new executive director in me, Mike Gipson, and several new interns and volunteers who’ve joined us in fulfilling our mission. I’m working with my team of amazing staff and volunteers to put together an exciting new calendar for 2011 with member attorneys and law firms, including two cycles of our wildly popular Creative Entrepreneurship workshop series.
We’re hosting our first major fundraising event for President’s Day Weekend on Thursday, February 17, 2011 to cap off our annual Autumn-to-Winter WALA Platinum fundraising campaign. The WALA Platinum campaign got kicked off with “Say YES to Pro Bono!” an intimate happy hour reception generously sponsored by Hunton & Williams. During the festivities, Hunton & Williams became among the first platinum law firm sponsors of the fundraising season. We invite other firms, organizations, and individual supporters to follow their example by donating to sustain WALA, a vital, thriving community resource for over 25 years.
Our campaign fundraising goal is $33,000, nearly 20% of which has already been met! With your committed support, we’ll get to 100% (or more!) by February 2011. Your dedication to our mutual cause will assist us in restoring some staff positions recently lost and come back stronger than ever in 2011. New infrastructure, more strategic community partnerships, and more innovative, inspiring educational sessions will be the foundation for even better support of the Greater Washington Metro’s creative community.
Toward those aims, we invite you to submit your workshop ideas and opportunities for WALA to better serve you in the New Year. We also invite all partner organizations to share information about your upcoming events and all member artists to submit examples of your work (i.e., photographs, writings, performance video clips, etc.) to the WALA Blog for us to consider for exhibition and sharing with fellow members and supporters through this collective space. We will use our blog and social media platforms as communal spaces to share the latest in legal thought and celebrate the awe-inspiring creative jewels our unsung local heroes produce every day.
Now more than ever it is imperative that we protect our precious institutional resources and develop fresh strategies for the sustainability of our creative community. Work with us to make 2011 a year of renewal, restoration, and revival. Let’s partner to help art do what it’s intended to do best: make us all better. Won’t you join us in that commitment?
To learn more about how you can help, just click here or make a donation here. We’ve also discovered enticing new ways to help support WALA while saving you money over this holiday shopping season. Just in time for Black Friday, shop with a purpose by becoming a WALA Champion through One Cause. Sign up with One Cause and make WALA your charity of choice, download the One Cause toolbar, and a percentage of every purchase from a partnering retailer is donated to WALA. Sit back and enjoy special discounts and offers as a One Cause member all year round while simultaneously supporting a mission you believe in.
Last, but certainly not least, we invite you to join us in commemorating WALA member organization Olu Yemisi & Co. 10th Anniversary Celebration, an awesome afternoon of film, dance, and loads of fun. We feel co-sponsoring this free Afro-Latin dance extravaganza is a fitting cap for a truly amazing year, one that you helped make possible. Thank you!
Happy Holidays!
L. Michael Gipson
Executive Director
Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts
Did You Miss?
All quarter, WALA has been standing tall with several legal basics workshop including Copyright Basics, Trademark Basics, and Copyright Registration sessions and a full run of the Creative Entrepreneurship series at the stunning new Artisphere space in Arlington. With the support of our Events and Education Committees, we’ve also hosted several social and educational events, including:
WALA Writer's Evening on Sep 27, 2010 at International Arts & Artists Hillyer Gallery featuring DC’s top publishing agents and attorneys, including: Gail Ross, Elaine English, Jeff Kleinman, and John Mason for a richly informative evening covering everything you ever wanted to learn about the publishing industry. We appreciate all we made this standing room only event a rousing success!
An Artful Evening ~ WALA Cocktail Hour & Fashion Preview @ Industry Gallery & Conner Contemporary on Sep 30, 2010 at not one but two premiere DC galleries, a sneak fashion preview by the critically acclaimed Dana Ayanna Greaves, and the rock and soul sounds of musical artist, James Terrell. The newly minted WALA Fashion Sub-Committee brought SoHo to DC with style and plenty of panache. Kudos to all involved!
Hunton & Williams Presents: WALA "Say YES To Pro Bono!" Appreciation Happy Hour!
Donating & Lending Your Artwork ~ An evening with Jo Laird
The 10th Anniversary Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit on Oct 5, 2010 at Georgetown University WALA member attorneys Kurt R. Klaus, Esq. of Kurt Klaus Entertainment Law and Robyn Guilliams, Esq. from Fettman, Tolchin & Majors PC covered the Genius Bar at the historic event, ably assisting nervous artists with a host of pertinent art and entertainment law questions.
Don’t Miss These Forthcoming WALA Workshops, Clinics, and Events!
November 30 - 5 pm 501(c)(3) Workshop at DLA Piper
December 4 – 1:30pm-4:30pm WALA Co-Sponsors The Olu Yemisi & Co. 10th Anniv. Dance & Film Festival
December 9 (by appointment) Legal Clinic at DLA Piper
December 16 - 7 pm Trademark Basics Workshop at Finnegan
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