Bobbi Hopp
11/29/1932 - 6/30/2015

 She sat at the sign-in table at our meetings, but her roots went all the way to the beginning of the club. She founded the Cary Photographic Artists club with just sixteen members in 2007 out of her strong belief and firm conviction that photographs range in intent and value from purely factual recordings to creatively appealing artwork. She was firstly an artist, secondly a photographer, and lastly a superb and lasting inspiration to all photographic artists everywhere.

Many art clubs and many photography clubs already existed in the Cary community and surrounding areas, but the CPA was (and still is) the only art-based photography club. Art through the use of cameras, scanners, and all sorts of optical accessories is what the CPA is all about.

The "Bobbi Hopp Best-of-Show Award" is presented at the Annual CPA Juried Photographic Exhibition each fall. This show is open to all artists in the Cary area.

Bobbi graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Temple University's Tyler School of Art with a major in Arts Education. She taught high school art for 27 years before relocating to Cary, North Carolina. Along with teaching art, she conducted student tours to Europe with the American Institute of Foreign Study and was very active in the arts communities of New Jersey and Pennsylvania.

Bobbi was ever the teacher. Locally, she taught three levels of pencil drawing classes, mentored an adult open art studio, and enlivened the CPA club's teach-learn-share motto. Her personal art legacy includes watercolors, acrylics, pencil drawings, and photographic art -much of which involves the subject of cats (as frequently seen on her lapel pin) and other animals. She has exhibited her artwork widely, has won many awards, has pieces in permanent collections, and was twice selected by the International Library of Photography for publication.

All of the many members of the CPA (more than 150 in early-2015) are most grateful for Bobbi's years of vice-president and president leadership, along with her continuous exhibits committee and membership committee chairperson duties. We thank her for all that she did to make sure that our club grew and developed to encourage and preserve photographic art in Cary and its surroundings.

Bobbi was the finest of photographic artists, the best of teachers, and a great lady!

Burnette Blakeley
9/3/1942 – 2/11/2019

 We still miss CPA leader and friend Burnette Blakeley, who passed away unexpectedly on February 11, 2019. He is survived by his wife, Tricia, and two daughters, Dara and Kim.
 With the exception of Bobbi Hopp, no one did more to lead, grow and enhance Cary Photographic Artists. His quiet presence and powerful influence were instrumental in shaping our organization over the course of many years. There was literally nothing he wouldn’t do to support CPA, from serving five years as vice-president, coordinating with the Town of Cary on matters large and small, performing really essential tasks like getting the beer and wine permits for our socials in The Cary theater, and helping haul the audiovisual equipment back and forth from Cary Art Center for every meeting. He was critical to the success of the annual juried exhibit and recently helped with the programs committee, even as his health deteriorated. His daughter told me how much he loved the club and that after every meeting he’d tell her about the program, who presented, who was there and how much he got from it.

We certainly won’t forget his diagrams and charts—he could and did create diagrams to explain everything. Upon first viewing, the diagrams would often seem more complicated than our mere mortal minds could grasp. Then, after Burnette patiently guided us through the flow, we would see and understand—we’d be better and smarter.