How do artists in the Trumbull County area stay informed about what's going on in the local art world and with each other?

That's the question Warren artist Karen Fry, a retired art teacher, asked herself over a year ago.

Since there didn't seem to be an easy answer for that question, Mrs. Fry said she created an answer: Trumbull Area Artists.

Mrs. Fry said she created the ever-growing group in the summer of 2002. Members of the group pay $5 to join and receive a monthly newsletter. There are no meetings and no officers so no real time commitment is required except for the art itself.

The group started with 16 members, by last December had grown to 38 members, and now boasts 120 members.

Trumbull Area Artists will exhibit their works Sunday at the grand opening of the Trumbull Art Gallery Holiday Show in downtown Warren. Forty members of the group are displaying their work. Mrs. Fry said she hoped more members would contribute to the exhibit but "it's a good place to start."

Mrs. Fry said she wanted a mechanism to communicate and network with other area artists. The monthly newsletter, of which she is the editor, keeps members informed about classes, workshops, exhibitions and places to show and sell their work, she said. It also lets local artists share good news with one another such as when someone wins an award for their work.

"It's just a group of artists who support one another and keep each other informed," Mrs. Fry said.

Locals who are Trumbull Area Artists members and have works exhibited at Trumbull Art Gallery are Jeff Behm and Dave Chill, both New Castle; Ellie Steines, West Middlesex; Gail Trunick, Burghill; and Josephine Maruskin, Hubbard.

For more information about Trumbull Area Artists visit www.artgally.com/taa