January - May 2026 Newsletter
Give us Five, See A.R.T.S. Thrive!
 

Five minutes a day keeps the block away.
Five dollars a month supports A.R.T.S. worldwide.
Five minutes to read so A.R.T.S. thrives!

 
 
Do you have something to contribute? Please send us poetry, audio files, short writing, A.R.T.S.- related stories, images of your art (in jpg.)! Those who submit work retain their copyright, and a copyright statement is included by request. 
Email the editors at newsletter@artsanonymous.org
 
       
       In this Issue:
 
 

 

2025 Contributions from Meetings
 

Thank you to the following meetings for honoring the 7th Tradition to keep A.R.T.S. self-supporting during 2025: 
 

Culver City A.R.T.S. - $428.26 in 2025 

London Meeting - $160.00 in 2025 

A.R.T.S. Dublin - $84.98 in 2025 

Walk and Talk - $60.00 in 2025 

Surrender to Creativity - $42.44 in 2025 

A sincere apology to the Surrender to Creativity Meeting. Its donations to A.R.T.S. in 2025 were mis-identified to another meeting and are corrected above. 

 
 

Announcements
 

Meeting Contributions January - March 2026 Thank you to the following meetings who are keeping A.R.T.S. alive during the first three months of 2026: 
 

Five Alive for Writers - $111.00 in January 

Monday Relume - $56.95 in January 

Monday Dublin A.R.T.S. - $10.50 in February 

Surrender to Creativity - $10.61 in March 
 

Please email officemanager@artsanonymous.org if your meeting feels it's contribution has been missed. World Services welcomes the opportunity to acknowledge contributions from A.R.T.S. Meetings

 

Monthly Treasurer’s Reports: The monthly Treasurer's Reports give a general overview of expenses and income by month. They are posted on the website here. 
 

Financial Management Statements:  Quarterly Financial Management Reports, showing details of A.R.T.S. expenses and income, are posted on the website. For questions, please email:  officemanager@artsanonymous.org 
 

Your Contributions to A.R.T.S. We don't charge anyone for participating in meetings, but there are expenses for the website, online software, rent, and staffing. Links and instructions for making contributions are provided on the Donate page of the A.R.T.S. Website. Credit Card, Paypal and Venmo options are available, or mail a check. Thank you for your help in support of A.R.T.S. 
 

The 2026 World Service Conference Report is available! The report includes the motions as passed by the Conference, Committee Reports, a Financial Report for 2025, the results of elections to the Board of Trustees, and a transcript of the Open Forum. It is posted on the website here.  
 

The Conference Service Manual: The 2026 World Service Conference reviewed proposed additions to Conference policies and procedures, resulting in the Conference Service Manual. It contains the A.R.T.S. Conference policies that have been approved by the World Service Conference since 2021. It is posted on the website here in PDF – downloadable and printable.  
 

Officer Positions on the Board of Trustees: A rotation of service took place on the Board of Trustees in February. Pat Q is now the Board Chair; Allegra B is the Vice-Chair, Vickie D. remains the Secretary, and Chris M. has joined the Board of Trustees and is serving as Treasurer.  A complete list of Board members, with their statements, are posted on the website on the Service Info page
 

Spring Sharathon: Saturday, May 30 beginning at 10 am PT/1 pm ET. Link for Details and to Register (flyer and details later in this newsletter) 

 

 
 


 New Meetings and Meeting Update: 
 

Note: To access all A.R.T.S. meetings please go to https://artsanonymous.org/meetings/ and click at the link at the top of the page to view a sortable meeting list by day, time zone, type, language, etc.  

Julias Artists: This is a new meeting on Tuesdays beginning at 9 am Central European Time for one hour. It is a Zoom meeting and is in German.  

Thursday Thrivers: This new meeting is held on Thursdays beginning at 12 noon Pacific Time for one hour. It is held on Zoom. 

Tuesday Step Study: Invites our creativity while exploring the Steps. Each month a Step is studied through literature and suggested questions. Tuesday beginning at 11 am PT/ 2:00 pm ET/ 7 pm GMT for 1 ½ hours on Zoom. 

Beach Cities: This phone meeting is now a hybrid meeting with WebEx. Tuesdays at 7:30 pm Pacific Time. 
 
 

Is your Meeting Looking for some Guidance?
 

The A.R.T.S. website has information to help strengthen and guide your group in how it conducts its meetings. Included are suggestions for starting new meetings, meeting formats that can be used or adapted, suggested group conscious inventory, etc.  

All of these can be found at https://artsanonymous.org/meetings/  towards the bottom of the page.  

 
 

Artwork by Galina R., Sosnovy Bor, Russia

All works are copyrighted by Galina R. All rights reserved. 
 


Announcement - Seeking an Editor for the A.R.T.S. Steps Study Guide
 

The Literature Committee and the Board of Trustees of A.R.T.S. Anonymous are pleased to announce that they are currently seeking an Editor for the A.R.T.S. Steps Guide. It is our deepest hope that members of A.R.T.S. with relevant experience will consider applying for this paid position.   

The job of Editor for the Steps Guide is open to members of the A.R.T.S. Anonymous fellowship. Please encourage capable members to apply.  Editors are required to have at least 3 years in A.R.T.S. and a total of at least 5 years in any 12-Step Program.  Terms will be negotiated with the Board of Trustees.  

A description of the Editor position for the Steps Guide can be on the website found here.  The A.R.T.S. Editorial Policies are on the website here. 

Please email chair@artsanonymous.org or officemanager@artsanonymous.org to express your willingness to apply, with supporting documents, including a summary of related experience and/or education 
 


Spring Sharathon Event!
Sign Up for the May 30 Spring Sharathon
 


Welcome Chris M., to the Board of Trustees!
 

The Board of Trustees interviewed Chris M. for the position of Financial Officer in February 2026, and at the end of the interview, he graciously accepted the nomination to join the Board of Trustees. The decision was unanimous. Chris M. is also serving as the Board Treasurer.  Welcome, Chris! 

 

Chris M. is a writer, lecturer, teacher, and Jungian coach. “Years ago, I told someone about the terrible struggles I was having when attempting to write my Ph.D. dissertation. I would sit down and stare at the blank page and then suddenly find myself getting up to do something else. Over and over again. Compulsively. My friend told me it sounded like I had an addiction. I Googled ‘Art and addiction’ and discovered A.R.T.S. To my great fortune, there was an in-person meeting four blocks from my apartment, so I started going. That was October 2012. Thanks to A.R.T.S., its tools, talents, principles, meetings, and more, I was able to finish the dissertation and successfully defend it, and I was able to prepare and deliver public lectures and classroom presentations. I also wrote and published blog posts and journal articles and reviews. Over the years, I have been so moved and impressed by the recovery of other members of A.R.T.S. More recently, I have gained a greater appreciation for the role service plays in their recovery. As a result, I increased my service in my primary meeting, and I joined the A.R.T.S. Conference Service and Support Committee. I look forward to learning more from the other members of the Board and A.R.T.S. as a whole; I look forward to serving the fellowship to the best of my ability.” 

The Board of Trustees considers applications to serve on the Board. A.R.T.S. Board Application.

 
 


Strategic Planning Report

 

Submitted by Pat Q. 

A quorum of the A.R.T.S. Board of Trustees convened for two days of Strategic Planning Sessions on December 29, 2025, and January 2, 2026. Following round-robin, open discussions, the Board voted to choose the top three selections as priorities for the next two-to-five years. The top three priorities are Literature (7 votes), Public Outreach (5 votes), and Finances (5 votes). 

Round-robin discussions brainstormed key areas of concern within each of the top three priorities. Members listed items that each Trustee considered to be the most important aspects to pursue. The result was a generous number of ideas and suggestions to engage and stimulate discussions among future strategic committees so they can propose actions for the Board to consider taking. 
 
 

A.R.T.S. Closing Prayer

 

In closing, I would like to say that no matter how distanced we may feel from our creative sources, no matter how long it has been since we were in touch with our creative spirit, or how feeble may seem our creative impulses, they are reawakening in our Higher Power’s time, through this program and through our actions, no matter how small or how simple, a day at a time. I may not be able to see my own growth, or even to see my creations as beautiful, but I am able to see yours as inspiring and enriching my emotional, spiritual and physical world. We are not recovering merely to hide our light under a bushel; our creative gifts are a gift. To celebrate them, we humbly apply ourselves, sometimes to the work of art, and sometimes to play. May A.R.T.S. Anonymous teach us that our art, celebrated, will benefit and feed our own souls first, and the world’s second, for the world hungers as much for this beauty as for food. We meet here together to feed this deeper hunger.
 

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