The executive director of America's oldest art society says she is impressed with its counterpart here -- the Bermuda Society of Arts. She also sees the Society as being ideally placed to promote the increasing popularity of "painting holidays'' for artists from North America and Europe.

Ms. Georgian Druchyk, who heads the famous Copley Society of Boston, made her comments during a visit here last week. Invited to jury the local Society's Members' Summer Show, which has just opened in the City Hall gallery, she commented, "It's an inspiration for me to see what the Society is doing, and the strength of the organisation. I wouldn't call it small at all! I have been very surprised by the numbers, diversity and strength of the Bermuda Society of Arts. In my opinion, it is working in a very important and active way and, I would say, very competitive with other art organisations in North America.'' She also said that the local Society's decision to collect contemporary art by Bermuda's outstanding artists, was a "fabulous idea -- it will promote enthusiasm to be associated with the Society and for those artists to be featured in future travelling shows overseas. There will probably be people who will criticise this decision for one reason or another, but the directors of the Society need to consider the greater good and I feel that by assembling a collection of current living artists, you are not only servicing those artists, but the Society and Bermuda itself. It should be strongly encouraged.'' With degrees in fine arts, English and management, as well as teaching qualifications, Ms Georgiana Druchyk was previously an appraiser and buyer for several of America's leading galleries. As an expert in 19th and 20th century American marine art and American sculpture, she writes in various arts journals, curates exhibitions throughout New England and is a much sought-after juror. Her latest project is `Manifest', the annual Greater Boston Open Juried Show for Non-Traditional Styles.

On the subject of jurying, Ms Druchyk commented that The Copley Society has taken steps to secure the services of very prominent jurors: "When jurying decisions are made by committees, standards can be compromised and objectives deluded. It dilutes the process if your juror doesn't have credentials. In Boston, we work very hard to have juries that possess high academic standards.

We make a great effort to obtain outside jurors -- as your Society of Arts is doing. Creditable jurors are the best way to maintain high standards and should be painters, working artists, professors, critics -- people who are actively involved in the artistic process.'' Describing the Copley Society as being "almost the history of American art'', Ms Druchyk said the venerated Boston institution should itself have started a collection "long ago. If we had started from the beginning, when the Society was founded in 1879, just think what an incredible collection we would have now!'' Incredible indeed, for just a few names on the illustrious roster of artists who have exhibited over the years with the Copley Society, either as guests or members, include such giants as Claude Monet, John Singer Sargent, James McNeil Whistler, Winslow Homer, Picasso, Kandinsky and Van Gogh.

The Copley Society, named for America's most famous 18th century artist, John Sington Copley, was originally formed by a group of graduates from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, who represented the avant garde of the day. The Society brought to Boston the `outrageous' 1913 Armory Show of New York which is credited with changing the course of American art, but the 115-year old Society is also steeped in tradition and owns many precious archives.

Now, at last, Ms Druchyk added, they, too, were setting up an endowment fund to purchase works by `Copley Masters' (members who have won at least three prizes in juried exhibitions). And, she stressed,"Even though we're the oldest association in North America, we are constantly looking for new ways to increase the level of service and opportunities for our members. That was why I was so interested in coming to Bermuda. We are all living in a global economy now, the world being in many ways a smaller place, and we can no longer afford the luxury of working just within our own little circle.'' She went on to say that "as a rule'', art museums tend to be "10 or 15 years behind'' and that artists increasingly looked to their art societies to function as the chief support for living artists and to be receptive to new styles and trends. Ms Druchyk said she felt it was important for the Bermuda Society of Arts and the Bermuda National Gallery to co-ordinate activities as much as possible: "You shouldn't separate in any way. You are two distinct entities, but there should be as many joint ventures as possible. Bermuda has a great strength of visual artists who are actually working here, so the two galleries should encourage one another and not lose sight of common ideals.

There is no profit to either side to separate your efforts -- you should be working closely together.'' The Bermuda Society of Arts, in her opinion, is extremely fortunate to have its own `home' in City Hall: "This is wonderful, because the society has an identity, a foundation from which to work. The Coply Society had endless problems because we didn't acquire our own premises in Newbury Street until 1957. The size of the Bermuda gallery and its location in City Hall gives the Society the perfect venue to help in its primary task, as an organisation of working artists, which is to define the visual arts in Bermuda.'' Noting that "working together'' is the picture of the future, she said there was now a great opportunity for art socities and associations to exchange shows and guest juries, and perhaps sometime in the future, "even an exchange between the Copley and the Bermuda Society of Arts. It would be a costly venture, but we would be looking at a two to three-year planning period to raise the funds that a venture like this would require.'' Asked how she felt about `shop art', Ms Drychyk replied that just about all societies have their fair share of that: "In New England, everyone wants to paint lobster pots! It just means you have to develop your own style, your own signature. The relevancy of what is going on in Bermuda has to fit, you can't just change it to comply with the `progressive' test -- Bermuda does need to promote and support what is unique here.'' She went on to suggest that the Society of Arts should support its strongest artists: "Maybe have a couple of artists-in-residence programmes? At the Copley, we provide them with studio space and then give them an exhibition.

This would help to promote what is unique here -- and you ARE a tropical island, so there is going to be a certain similarity of subject. But it's up to the Society to do as much as possible to promote other things, such as life drawing -- which I understand it already does.'' On the subject of painting vacations for visitors from abroad, Ms Druchyk said the Society, through its gallery and members' own studios, could adopt a programme similar to those in New England.

"Unlike us, you have an ideal climate all year round and the the beauty of it is that you could work very easily with travel bureaux to put `packages' together. You could encourage people to `Join your predecessors, such as Winslow Homer, who have discovered the beauty of Bermuda and came here to paint!''' Another way in which the Bermuda Society of Arts could set new incentives for their members, said Ms Druchyk, might be to set up a programme similar to Boston's Copley Masters concept: "It gives artists a goal to work towards and, most importantly, they are chosen by their colleagues, fellow artists.'' THE COPLEY VIEW -- Executive director of The Copley Society of Boston, Ms Georgiana Druchyk, has been viewing the Bermuda Society of Arts.