ACGA All-Member Meeting Minutes – January 25, 2025, In-Person and via Zoom
Board Members Present in Person: Mari Emori, Chris Johnson, Sally Jackson (recorder), Cheryl Costantini, Jan Schachter, Sean Free Alcala, Iver Hennig, April Zilber, Tamara Danoyan, Lee Middleman
Board Members present on Zoom: Ren Lee, Vicki Gunter, Barbara Prodaniuk, Piper Christine, Emil Yanos, Susie Rubenstein, Scott Jennings
Board Members Absent: Julie Taber
Members Present in Person: Britt Jensen (Timekeeper & IT), Jennifer Hennig, Caroline Masters, Ruth Ehrenkrantz, Barbara Sebastian, Jim Iacoponi, Miki Shim-Rutter
Members Present on Zoom: Randie Silverstein, Rebecca Love, Joe Battiato, Gail Splaver, Sarah Lin, Sylvia Chesson, Karen Winograde, Janet Wolf, Jody Lee, Deb Sullivan, Kathy White, Tom Knight, Harald Nordvald, Ann Wagenhals, Trudy Chiddix, Diana Greenleaf, C. Reese, Peggy
Total Attendees: 42 (17 Board Members, 25 non-Board Members)
The meeting began at 10:00 a.m.
Welcome (Mari Emori)
Mari summarized the agenda and introduced Britt Jensen, who ran the meeting. Members gathered in person at the Palo Alto Art Center and online via Zoom. Britt explained the meeting guidelines.
SoCal Fire Fundraiser Update (April Zilber)
Our GoFundMe fundraiser for ACGA members affected by the fires in Los Angeles has raised $3300 so far. Thank you to all who have contributed. April is exploring the best way to distribute the money.
Newly Elected Board of Directors (April Zilber)
Officers elected for 2025 are Mari Emori (president), Chris Johnson (vice-president), Sally Jackson (secretary), and Julie Taber (treasurer). Board members elected for another two-year term are Mari Emori, Vicki Gunter, Iver Hennig, Barbara Prodaniuk, and Emil Yanos. We welcome two new board members, who introduced themselves: Sean Free Alcala is a kiln glass artist based in Modesto, and Piper Christine is a ceramicist working out of the Berkeley Potter’s Guild. She will be our new Festival Treasurer.
Membership Report (Emil Yanos)
Emil thanked all who have renewed their memberships. Emil continues to work out problems with the payment process. See the membership page on our website, or email Emil if you need help. At present we have 313 members, 57 of whom are new this year. We have 12 collaborative members, 3 student members, 2 gold sponsors, and 1 platinum sponsor. There are 59 members who have not renewed. The Board discussed contacting them to find out why they’ve chosen not to renew, either via a survey or through personal emails from members who know them.
Financial Report (April Zilber, for Julie Taber)
Our year-end assets for 2024 were $130,069. Revenue for 2024 was $132,071; the Clay & Glass Festival contributed $106,088. Our expenses for 2024 were $119,052. The festival accounted for $83,000 of that. We ended the year with a net income of $13,000.
Studio Visits with ACGA Artists
Three artists gave virtual tours of their studios and art practice:
- Scott Jennings, ceramic artist, San Francisco
- Hannah Nicholson and Alana van Altena of Nicholson van Altena Glass, Auburn
- Cheryl Costantini (with Mikio Matsumoto) of Nichibei Potters, Sebastopol
Exhibition News (Jan Schachter & Vicki Gunter)
Jan summarized our 2024 exhibition in Fresno, and emphasized the need for more venues to host ACGA-organized exhibitions. She encouraged all members to look for spaces in their areas and to talk in person to gallery owners, program directors of museums and art centers, and so on about hosting. We have board members who know how to organize exhibitions and would like to hear from anyone with a lead.
Vicki summarized the upcoming exhibition “Arts of Fire” at NY2CA Gallery in Benicia, August 7 – September 21, 2025. Submissions will be accepted February 21-May 21 on EntryThingy. The jurors are Lisa Reinertson (clay) and Demetra Theofanous (glass). Curators are Suzanne Long and Vicky Marchand. Awards will be given. Vicki has been working to publicize the call for entries via magazines, websites, and other means. She welcomes further suggestions.
2024 Festival Highlights (Mari Emori)
There were two new programs of note at the 2024 Clay and Glass Festival. First, the Pottery Throwdown competitions attracted big crowds and great contestants, many of whom were not ACGA members. Mari emphasized that this activity was not only entertaining but was also a good way to reach more people in the clay community. The second new program was to invite the resident artists and director of Cobb Mountain Arts and Ecology Project (Loch Lomond, CA) to have a sales booth at the festival. The booth was well-received and we’d like to include up to three of these types of groups in the future.
Festival Report (April Zilber)
April shared comparisons of 2023 and 2024 festival numbers. In 2023, 109 artists reported $478,000 in total sales. In 2024, 124 artists reported $427,000. April suspects that the high number in 2023 was partly a result of people returning to the festival after the pandemic.
Our proposed budget for 2025 is $101,500 in income and $87,750 in expenses, for a net profit of $13,750. Messenger Events has made a new booth map with options for smaller and larger booths as well as premium corner booths. Response to these options from festival registrants has been very good. Some artists have had trouble paying for their booth online; April recommends that you save your application before you proceed to payment. She is still exploring the option of having beer and wine sales at the festival. There is some cost involved, but it might be worthwhile to try once.
Festival Volunteer Discussion (Cheryl Costantini)
Participating artists have always been required to volunteer for 2 hours before or during the festival. Volunteering helps build community and saves money, but many artists don’t like to leave their booths (and likely miss some sales) for two hours while customers are present. Cheryl suggested raising the booth fee and using the additional income to pay more people to do jobs formerly done by volunteers. She added that anyone who wants to volunteer would pay less (for example, $350 for a booth if you don’t volunteer, and $300 if you do). We’ll discuss this further and work out the details, but overall response seemed positive.
Jury Report (Chris Johnson)
Applications for festival eligibility are now being accepted for the Spring jurying in March. The deadline to apply is February 28 and accepted artists will be eligible for booths at the 2025 festival in July. Guidelines for applicants are on ACGA’s website. Chris is also available to find mentors for applicants who would like guidance. Let him know if you would like to be a mentor or a juror. He’s looking for ceramicists for the Spring jury. The jurying process involves at least two group meetings approximately one week apart in March.
The meeting ended at 11:30 a.m. Those who gathered in person enjoyed a potluck lunch after the meeting. The ACGA sincerely appreciates the Palo Alto Art Center staff for generously hosting us and assisting with technology to run a hybrid meeting!
