Present: Mari Emori, April Zilber, Sally Jackson (recorder), Ren Lee, Chris Johnson, Vicki Gunter, Iver Hennig, Lee Middleman, Julie Taber, Emil Yanos, Trudy Chiddix, Cheryl Costantini, Susie Rubenstein, Sonja Hinrichsen, Barbara Prodaniuk Absent: Jan Schachter
Welcome (Mari)
Treasurer’s Report (April)
Total assets as of December 31, 2023 were a healthy $116,086. Our total income for the year was $123,771, well over the amount we projected in our 2023 budget. Our net income was $20,607, almost 9 times more than we projected. This greatly helped ACGA recover from pandemic-related losses in 2020. The main contributor was the robust festival income.
2024 Budget Discussion (April)
April walked the Board through a draft of the Annual Budget that she had prepared ahead of the meeting. Our discussion then focused the items for which the numbers were uncertain, such as exhibitions income and expenses, various festival expenses, and costs of the newsletter, PR, and other promotional activities. Ultimately the Board voted to approve a 2024 budget that includes larger stipends for our newsletter editor and festival liaison, a slight increase in festival booth fees, and other adjustments deemed important.
ICEX Promotion (Lee)
This year, the International Ceramics Exchange (ICEX) will bring six distinguished Korean ceramic artists to SOMArts Main Gallery in San Francisco for a three-day event on March 29-31. Lee proposed that ACGA make a contribution to sponsor this event. We agreed to give $400 in exchange for an ad in the ICEX brochure. For details about how to attend ICEX 2024, which includes a reception, exhibition, demos, and presentations by the artists, visit Miki Shim-Rutter’s website (https://www.mikisr.com/icex) or follow Miki on Instagram @mikisr_ceramics.
Exhibitions: Fresno (Ren)
Ren is organizing an ACGA exhibition at Clay Hand Studios in Fresno, to be held October 3-31. The gallery will collect 10% of sales.
Exhibitions: Santa Cruz (Iver)
There is no new information about the proposed exhibition in Santa Cruz. The Board feels that the financial outlay requested by the gallery is beyond our budget at a time when we don’t know what the income or other expenses will be. We would like to delay this exhibition until we can be more certain of the details and better prepared to make this exhibition a success. Iver will ask the gallery if we might reserve space on the calendar for 2025.
Acquisitions at AMOCA for its Permanent Collection (Trudy)
Trudy explained that the Acquisitions Committee at the American Museum of Ceramic Art (AMOCA) in Pomona, CA, occasionally selects pieces for its permanent collection from work appearing in the museum’s juried and invitational shows. The committee does not otherwise seek applications from artists who want to add their work to the museum. However, AMOCA’s gift shop is sometimes looking for new work to sell.
Agenda for All-Member Meeting (Mari)
Mari received feedback on her recent draft of the agenda for the hybrid All-Member Meeting on January 20.
All-Member Meeting: Saturday, January 20, 10am-noon
Online via Zoom & Live in the Meeting Room at the Palo Alto Art Center, 1313 Newell Road, Palo Alto, CA
Date of Next Board Meeting: TBD
