June 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!

• Service and Event Calendars 
• Announcements 
• Writing Experience, Strength and Hope: An Invitation 
• Delegates are invited to meet with the Board of Trustees 
• The A.R.T.S. Tools Game
• Holding a Step Work Group in A.R.T.S. Anonymous 
• Step Twelve Study Workshop 
• Thursday Step Meeting
• Conference Policies and Procedures Committee meetings
• July 26 -  Sharathon in Summer!

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Meeting Contribution: Thank you to the following meeting for honoring the 7th Tradition to keep A.R.T.S. self-supporting: 

Culver City A.R.T.S. Anonymous - $157.06

A Special Note of Gratitude: Culver City A.R.T.S. has made a contribution to A.R.T.S. Anonymous two months in a row! 

Treasurer’s Report: The May 2025 Treasurer’s Report is available. The Financial Statement for the first three months of 2025 is posted on the website.  For questions, email officemanager@artsanonymous.org 

• May 2025 Expenses: Office rent and internet; online software and accounts (Quickbooks, Zoom, Mailchimp, Adobe Suite); Special Worker salary; post office box rental, processing fees for credit cards, PayPal and Ticket Tailor; Kindle royalties; trademark registration fees. Total Expenses for May 2025: $1,850.82 

• May 2025 Income: Donations from members, literature sales, Step Study Workshops, desk share. Total Income for May 2025: $1,088.65. 

• A.R.T.S. Anonymous had a loss of $762.17 in May. It is the members and the meetings who contribute to A.R.T.S. Anonymous in support of World Services. Please keep A.R.T.S. self-supporting by donating here.
   

Updating Month-to-Month Contributions: Some members have opted to make a contribution to A.R.T.S. on a monthly basis, and for that World Services offers its sincere gratitude. If you do not use PayPal or mail checks to make contributions to A.R.T.S. you are likely using a service called DonorBox. If you wish to change the amount, or the credit card or other information, you will need to log into your Donorbox account. Step-by-step instructions including screenshots are posted on the Donate page of the website and can be found here: Step-by-Step Guide for DonorBox  

Sunday Step Study Workshop – Step Twelve: The Step Twelve Study Workshop will be held on Sunday, June 29 at 8 am GMT/9 am CET/7 pm AEDT. Click here to register. (This is not a closed group; you may participate to find out what the Step might do to help.) The link is also on the News page of the website. 

The "A.R.T.S. Tools Game" Ready to Create?: Two members of A.R.T.S. are looking for help to develop a "Tools Game" for A.R.T.S. This can be a way of learning to implement the A.R.T.S. Tools into our creative lives. Would you like to help? Please email officemanager@artsanonymous.org and the office will get you connected. 

Conference Policies and Procedures Committee Meetings: Every Tuesday beginning at 5:30 pm PT/8:30 pm ET. Members interested in developing a Service Manual to propose to the World Service Conference are welcome. Please email conference@artsanonymous.org with questions or for the Zoom link.  

Planning Meeting for the Sharathon: Monday June 23 at 10 am PT/1 pm ET/18.00 BST/19.00 CET. Email sharathon@artsanonymous.org for questions or to attend. A flyer is on the website at https://artsanonymous.org/current_poster.htm. The next Sharathon is scheduled for July 26, 2025. (See the announcement later in this newsletter.)

Writing Experience, Strength and Hope: An Invitation
 

What is your “before and after” story? Many members of A.R.T.S. find themselves listening and sharing in meetings about what it was like before coming to A.R.T.S., what happened so that they arrived to A.R.T.S., and what their creative lives have been like since. The result for both the people sharing and listening can be powerful, helpful and healing. By our own stories, we contribute to the self-supporting nature of our own recovery and to the recovery of others. 

What if members were to share their personal experience, strength and hope beyond the meeting? A.R.T.S. offers such opportunities. Consider writing a personal story on a Step, or on your creative process, or spiritual growth, or sponsorship; the ideas are endless. Members can submit to the newsletter at newsletter@artsanonymous.org. Or perhaps write a personal story and contributing it to a Members Stories book that could be published for the benefit of the Fellowship. memberstories@artsanonymous.org.  

Sharing with others can deepen or change personal recovery. What was your creative life like before you came to A.R.T.S.? What happened so you are here now? And what is it like now in recovery? Thank you for carrying the message of experience, strength and hope to the artist who still struggles.  

Delegates and Alternates (GSR's) are invited to meet with the Board of Trustees

Do you or your meeting have issues or concerns they would like the Board of Trustees to know about? Are there things that are needed and wanted? Without the input of the meetings we are sometimes guessing, wondering, or (Higher Power forbid!) making assumptions. All Meeting Delegates (your group or Meetings GSR’s) have been asked to attend the Board meeting on Saturday September 13, beginning at 10 am PT/1 pm ET/18.00 pm BST/19.00 pm CET and running for 2.5 hours. The meeting will largely be devoted to what the Meeting Delegates bring. A more complete agenda will be available as we get closer to the date.  

Please consider holding a group business meeting or two to talk over what A.R.T.S. wants and needs, sharing with your Delegates. It would be helpful to have an idea of what the concerns are so the Board can be prepared with any relevant data or information; however, this is not required.  

The Board of Trustees exists to serve A.R.T.S. as a whole, and if there are issues or concerns that impact all of A.R.T.S., it would like to know what it might be able to act on.   

Thank you for your care and support of A.R.T.S. Anonymous.  

Board of Trustees: Vickie D., Pat Q., Jay M., Dasha B., Cindyann W., Allegra B. 

For questions email: chair@artsanonymous.org or officemanager@artsanonymous.org 

Holding a Step Work Group in A.R.T.S.

A.R.T.S. Anonymous began in November 1985 as a program of recovery based on the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Members of A.R.T.S. use the program to discover and find solutions to their artistic blocks. In recovery, they take actions to transform hopes and dreams into reality. Much of the experience, strength, and hope of the program are reflected in the suggested guidelines and program of action found in the Steps, leading to creative freedom. Many artists find themselves powerless over their creative gifts, talents, or over their creative blocks and avoidant behaviors. Blocked artists are invited to reconnect with the source of their natural creative expression. 

The Twelve Steps can be used to help artists reconnect with a Higher Power, allowing them to release the tendency to control their creative expression and enabling creative inspiration to flow freely. 

Many A.R.T.S. members wish to work the Twelve Steps, and the Literature Committee is currently working on a brief guide in support of the kind of exploration that can bring about change. In addition, three series of Step Workshops was held, and those who are moved to lead this series are encouraged to do so. One member has developed the Step Workshop material into a guide for holding a Step Work Group – a group of members willing and committed to working through the Steps together. This material is available to those who wish to form a Step Work Group. Perhaps you have completed working Steps during the Step Study Workshops or by other pathways, and are willing to help others by becoming a group sponsor. There are guidelines for how that can be done. Please contact officemanager@artsanonymous.org or chair@artsanonymous.org for more information. 

Thanks for listening!