Artist: Don Markofski - Artwork: Arroyo Seco Bridge

About Us

Associated Artists of the Inland Empire (AAIE) was established in 1964 and held the first Membership art show in the spring of that year. In the years since its beginning, the purpose of AAIE has been to promote the creative talent of its members, to provide an exchange of ideas between area artists, and to generate public interest in fine arts. The meetings and yearly show keep members abreast of a variety of techniques and of what is happening in the art community. At the same time, AAIE hopes to make the community more familiar with art and local artists.

Membership Gives You...

AAIE has grown from a few dedicated members to a current enrollment of about 200 artists. Visit our Membership page for an Application.

New members are accepted on an ongoing basis. Membership is open to artists of all levels of accomplishment, and to those working in any media. The only requirement for membership is a genuine interest in creating or sharing the enjoyment of artwork.

Members are advised by a monthly Newsletter of AAIE upcoming events and art-related events from our area and throughout Southern California. We offer Juried Art Show which allow members to show their art with the community .

Artist: Karen Clark - Artwork: Seeking Nectar

The Associated Artists of the Inland Empire has been a proud recipient of the Community Arts Grants from the Rancho Cucamonga Community and Art Foundation (RCCAAF) over many  years. In the past they have supported our Annual Art Shows and recently our new web site construction and Art Show Judging Software.  In June 2023 we again received the announcement that our 2023-24 Grant request to financially support our  Demonstrations and  Art Shows was approved. The RCCAAF continues to promote and help the Arts thrive in our community.

A big thank-you  to the RCCAAF  Board. 

Thank You!

Upcoming Events

Zoom Art Classes and Events From unsplash

From the
President's Desk

Dear AAIE Members, 

     Welcome to 2024! I’m looking forward to this year and our continued partnership with the Chaffey Community Museum of Art (CCMA). We are very appreciative for their allowing us to use their space for our 2023/2024 meetings. We have a new calendar of Artist Demos, CAT days and field trips scheduled, and we are looking forward to participating in local Art in the community by partnering with CCMA, RCCAAF, and OHMA. We had some challenges in 2023 and overcame them and our membership continues to grow.

    2023 was a successful year of Art for the AAIE with demonstrations by Karen Clark (Weaving); Katherine Duncan (Golden Acrylics), a CAT day (in March), Joe Oakes (acrylic landscapes), Claremont Botanical Gardens (field trip), Sue Linn (Art history lecture), Trish Heydorn (pour painting), Sherif Hakeem (chalk on black paper), Mandir Hindu Temple (field trip), Ray Tucker (gouache demo). We also participated in the Art Walk in Ontario, the Art Festival at Victoria gardens, and our Artful Expressions Exhibit at CCMA, ending the year with an enjoyable holiday celebration and art gift exchange at our VP Pechez Sephri’s home.

      Nancy Speaker our Show Chair has done an amazing job on our quarterly online Art shows as well as the exhibitions at the Upland library which are a source of revenue for AAIE, as well as a place where we can show and sell our Art (perk of membership). The Rancho Cucamonga Community and Arts Foundation (RCCAAF) graciously gave us another grant in 2023 and we plan on applying again in 2024. Gary, our treasurer, continues to balance our books and provides us a budget keeping us solvent, and Hollie provides us an amazing Newsletter monthly. Linda does a superb job in membership including publishing a new directory for 2023 and Trish, Nancy K.  and Madeline provide delicious refreshments at our meetings.

     The AAIE board has also been working on ways to generate income and reduce our expenditures including selling grids in storage to individual artists and organizations and having the bargain table and raffles at meetings. Eventually, we’ll have a yard sale of items in storage that we no longer need. This will allow us to eventually eliminate the annual storage costs which are a significant drain.

      I want to send out a big thank-you to all of you who have continued to show up, participate, and volunteer. As a non-profit Art Association, our goal is to promote, support, educate and make accessible Art to our surrounding communities and I think we did a great job of accomplishing that in 2023. Here’s looking forward to a successful 2024, with new opportunities for success in our creative endeavors. 2024 will be an election year for a new president and board so keep that in mind as we move forward. We have a lot of talented and capable members which can fill these positions.  Happy New Year! Sincerely:

 Mark Rush, AAIE President