Present: Mari Emori (President), April Zilber (Treasurer), Sally Jackson (Secretary), Chris Johnson, Susie Rubenstein, Iver Hennig, Vicki Gunter, Barbara Prodaniuk, Emil Yanos, Joe Battiato, Lee Middleman, Cheryl Costantini, Trudy Chiddix, Ren Lee, Jan Schachter

Absent: Sonja Hinrichsen

The meeting commenced at 5:30 p.m.

Welcome (Mari)

Our new president, Mari Emori, welcomed everyone and proposed that board members each take a turn writing a short introductory statement to open our monthly newsletter. This makes us more visible to the members and gains recognition and credit for the work we do.

Treasurer’s Report (April)

As of January 31, 2023, our total assets were $96,300. The board voted unanimously in favor of increasing the monthly fee for Pam Carpenter’s services as our website manager, retroactive to include January 2023.

Festival Update (April)

Our festival event manager, Annie Hermes of Messenger Events, has sent out the application for the 2023 Clay and Glass Festival in July. The deadline is in four weeks. Participating board members will have the opportunity to request preferred booth locations. Table rental will increase to $20 per table this year. April is in the process of organizing this year’s Festival Committee, ideally comprised of 6-7 artists and including some non-board members.

Board Committee Assignments

   Festival Committee: April Zilber (Festival Liason), Joe Battiato, Sally Jackson, Barbara Prodaniuk, Cheryl Costantini, Lee Middleman (and others, to be added).

   Exhibitions Committee: Jan Schachter, Vicki Gunter, Iver Hennig, Sally Jackson

   Communications Committee: Ren Lee, Susie Rubenstein, Cheryl Costantini

 

Board of Directors Directory (Mari)

Mari has compiled a directory in a Google Doc for internal use by the board. This will make it easier to communicate among ourselves.

ACGA Board Timeline Proposal (Mari)

Mari has updated a timeline prepared by Lee to track the board’s tasks by month. This timeline is meant to be a template for each year, not specific to a particular year. It will help especially with tasks that have set deadlines. Consistent deadlines (e.g., newsletter copy due on the same date each month) will make communications and announcements easier.

Review of the Annual All-Member Meeting (Lee)

Our All-Member meeting in January included about 30 attendees. The pace was good and followed the agenda well. Some members gathered in one place and Zoomed in as a group, which they followed with a potluck lunch and sharing of work. The exhibitions discussion was lively, and the communications segment provided a good opportunity for members to understand how to use our social media, our website, and our newsletter. The short studio tours were a great way to bring people into each other’s workspaces. It might be good to record more short videos like these and post them on our website and on our social media.

The All-Member meeting should be publicized much earlier next year to increase attendance. Encouraging members to gather in smaller groups for Zooming and potlucks would also be good. Lee suggested that future all-member meetings include less business; we need to find the balance between delivering information and engaging our members in discussions. He recommends one simple summary of our financial information rather than spreadsheets. A short board meeting before the All-Member meeting will enable us to test the online set-up ahead of time.

Membership Update & Artist of the Month (Emil)

We discussed the intricacies of tracking how festival-eligible artists who forget to renew their membership (or delay it) will be included in mailings about the festival each January/February. We also discussed how to select the Artist-of-the-Month for our website. Choosing only festival-eligible artists does not represent our membership, nor does it encourage emerging artists whose work is still developing.

Jury Update and Question (Chris)

Chris is working on jury assignments for the March jurying. He is trying to recruit more glass artists to apply. He pointed out that a number of excellent glass artists make Cannabis-related paraphernalia, and that the board should consider how this work would fit into the festival.

Exhibitions Update (Jan)

Jan received good leads for exhibition venues at the All-Member meeting in January. In the coming weeks she will pursue an opportunity for a juried show at a gallery in Santa Cruz. Each location is unique and requires very specific planning. ACGA exhibitions are open to all members. Most are juried. Occasionally we have shows that are open to other California clay and glass artists.

The meeting adjourned at 7:25 pm.

Date of Next Meeting: March 13, 2023, at 5:30 pm via Zoom