Present: Mari Emori, Chris Johnson, Julie Taber, Jan Schachter, Iver Hennig, Susie Rubenstein, Sean Free Alcala, Emil Yanos, Barbara Prodaniuk, Tamara Danoyan, Piper Christine, April Zilber, Vicki Gunter, Lee Middleman, Haley Tessler, Cheryl Costantini    Absent: Ren Lee, Britt Jensen, Pierre Bounaud    Guest: Sally Jackson (recorder)

The meeting began at 5:15 p.m.

Welcome (Mari)

Announcements (Mari)

Mari welcomed new Board members Haley Tessler, Pierre Bounaud, and Britt Jensen. She noted that Tamara will become the Jury Coordinator this year, assisted by Britt Jensen.

Financial Report (Julie)

ACGA ended 2025 with $163,000 in the bank. Some of that is in PayPal, which receives fees from membership, calls-for-entry, and festival registration. ACGA has begun 2026 in good shape financially. Income for 2025 totaled $157,000, expenses totaled $125,000, and net income totaled $32,000.  Since Clay & Glass Festival registration opened last week, 95 artists have applied.

Archives Relocation Plan (April)

When we moved our ACGA storage from Berkeley to Santa Clara in 2023, we handed off our archives to a collector in Berkeley with the idea that he would add these papers to his ceramic art collection, for eventual donation to a museum or other institution. Now, over two and a half years later, the ultimate destination of his collection is still undecided, and he needs the space back. The Board feels that the archives should stay in California. April will retrieve the archives and try to fit them into our Santa Clara storage unit, with Bruno Kark’s help.

Proposals for Approval

Privacy Policy Update (Julie): Julie presented an updated Privacy Policy for ACGA’s website prepared by a lawyer. The Board suggested minor edits which Julie will incorporate into the final wording.  The Board voted unanimously to approve this new policy (16 yes)

“About Us” Page (Mari): Mari presented two options for the wording of ACGA’s “About Us” section on the website, prepared by the Communications Team and Mari. The Board voted unanimously in favor of Option 2 (16 yes).

Honoraria 2025 (Mari): Mari proposed honoraria for work done in 2025: an additional $1000 to April for her work as Festival Liaison, $500 to Ren for her work as Festival Media Liaison, and $500 to Ren for her work as Festival Social Media Promoter. The Board approved these retroactive honoraria (15 yes, 1` abstention). Mari also proposed that Vicki receive an honorarium of 50% of the net profit from the “Arts of Fire” exhibition, which Vicki coordinated. The Board amended the honorarium to $500 and voted to approve the amended proposal (14 yes, 1 abstention), but agreed that in the future such honoraria must be based on clearly defined criteria that apply to all the varied outcomes of exhibitions.

Proposed Stipends for the 2026 Budget (Mari): Mari proposed that the 2026 Clay & Glass Festival Liaison will receive $2000.  The Festival Liaison-in-training will receive $480, the Festival Social Media Promoter will receive $500, and the Festival Media Liaison will receive $500 only if these roles are filled by non-ACGA members, with a preference to find an ACGA member volunteer first. Ren will write job descriptions of the latter two positions, and her replacements will be recruited. The Board voted to approve these stipends (15 yes; April left the meeting before the vote).

Glass Ambassador

The Board approved Chris Johnson as ACGA’s first Glass Ambassador (15 yes).

All-Member Meeting: January 24, 2026

Mari shared the agenda for the All-Member Meeting to be held later this week.  This will be a hybrid meeting, in-person at the Palo Alto Art Center and also on Zoom.

Acting Vice-President Vacancy

Mari noted that she will be away for two months this year and will need an acting vice president to run meetings in her absence.

The meeting ended at 6:50 p.m.

Next Meeting: Monday, February 16, 2026 at 5:15 p.m. via Zoom