Our glorious Anza Borrego Desert beautifully framed another successful BASIC Circle of Art. The 35th annual juried event showcased the creativity of 55 artists and we are so grateful for their participation and loyalty. Circle of Art is a signature fundraiser for BASIC’s scholarship program, and I am delighted to announce that BASIC will be awarding over $86,150 to both graduating seniors and continuing college students for the 2024 – 25 school year.

This event would not be possible without the help and participation of so many. I want to thank this year’s sponsors, OLAX de Borrego, Kendall’s Café and Borrego Valley Realty. Thank you to Jeff Sloan and the board of Christmas Circle for allowing BASIC to use the park as our venue. Kirk Kendall, Pedro Hernandez and Luis Hernandez hung our banner and marked our booth spaces. The artist’s booths were kept safe and secure overnight on Friday and Saturday by Jose Troncoso. The bathrooms were kept clean and stocked by Rafaela Magdalena. Victor Arias set up the tables and chairs for patrons to sit and chat or have a bite to eat from the food vendors. Water was donated by Fred and Nick Sibu of Mirage Gas.

Our beautiful banner was created by Ellen Fitzpatrick of Graphics You Can Trust. Additionally, Ellen worked with Jeanne Plekon, this year’s poster artist, to create the 2024 Circle of Art commemorative poster from Jeanne’s original oil painting entitled “Buddies”. I am thrilled to report that this year’s poster was a sell out! Thank you, Jeanne!

The following individuals donated their time to make the show a success: Tom Cassidy, Barbara Coates, Ken Collard, Martha Deichler, Sandra Delgadillo, Esmeralda Garcia, Rosemary and Richard Fausel, Joanne Ingwall, Mateo Mamea, Israel and Carmen Ochoa, Urmi Ray, Eddie Rivera, Joann Stang, Roberta and Jim Wall and Mary Watkins. A very special thank you to Russell Webb for allowing BASIC to borrow his commercial router so that our artists could process their sales without delay. Another very special thank you to Michal Rue of Borrego Valley Community Radio who MC’d our event with timely announcements and the music of Borrego’s new FM radio station 90.5 KRAM – “The Ram”!

Future scholarship recipients, students at Borrego Springs High School, were extremely helpful in passing out water, emptying trash and helping artists with set up and tear down and did so with smiles and enthusiasm. Thank you to Anahi Siqueiros, Xiomara Perez, Angela Carmona, Angie Fuerte, Javi Garcia, Evelyn Arambula, Mariana Torres, Astrid Lopez, Victor Rodarte, Brody, White, Alejandro Morales, Pedro Rodriguez, Isabella Magdalena, Angela Fregoso, Jasmile Lopez, Elena Sanchez, Yair Fuentes, Miriam Hernandez and Jonathan Garcia.

To my co chair, Nidia Meza…thank you, thank you, thank you!

Finally, thank you to the Borrego Springs community for your continued support of BASIC and its mission to provide educational opportunities for the youth of Borrego Springs from cradle to graduation. Nearly $2 million dollars has been invested in programming and scholarships over the last 35 years to help Borrego students achieve their goals and realize their dreams. To learn more about BASIC or to make a donation, please visit http://www.borregobasic.org.

Angela Cassidy

– BASIC Circle of Art Co-Chair