ACGA BOARD MEETING – JUNE 17, 2024 via Zoom
Present: Mari Emori, April Zilber, Sally Jackson (recorder), Lee Middleman, Ren Lee, Scott Jennings, Julie Taber, Susie Rubenstein, Jan Schachter, Emil Yanos, Tamara Danoyan, Vicki Gunter, Iver Hennig, Barbara Prodaniuk, Chris Johnson, Cheryl Costantini, Trudy Chiddix Absent: Sonja Hinrichsen
The meeting began at 5:30pm
Welcome (Mari)
Mari expressed gratitude to all the Festival and Communications Committee members who are working to organize the Clay & Glass Festival in Palo Alto on July 13-14. She especially thanked April and Ren for their leadership and hard work.
Financial Report (Julie)
Total assets as of May 30 were $134,030. May was an expensive month as we covered costs of the festival. Our total revenue for the year thus far is just under $7000, somewhat ahead of our budget.
Festival Report (April)
April expressed her gratitude for all the work that Ren is doing to promote and publicize the festival. She noted that the planning committee has generated some excellent new ideas for this year’s festival, but cautioned that new ideas create extra work and complications. At this late date, we should save any new ideas for next year. April showed mock-ups of the new feather flags in purple and yellow, as well as the new banners for Mitchell Park, the Embarcadero overpass, and the new information kiosk. Ren has done most of the work on this. Barbara is working on the People’s Choice Awards. One clay artist and one glass artist will each receive a ribbon and a certificate. There are currently 127 artists signed up for the festival, many of whom are new. Susie has edited the Artists Feedback Form, and Julie will help her turn it into a GoogleForm. April will reenable the JotForm that captures names of people for our mailing list so that we can do a random drawing for a gift certificate giveaway at the festival. Cheryl suggested that names can also be captured in the artists’ booths, and they will be, because the QR code will be on the booth signs and all artists will have paper mailing lists as well. April will alter the paper mailing list forms next time they are printed, adding a column to indicate something like “ACGA list only” or “Artist’s list only”. Our website now includes a full roster of festival artists in alphabetical order with their booth number, a small photo, and a link to their Instagram or other account. This display will be reusable in future years. Mari thanked Emil for making beautiful graphics and videos for the festival ads; Pam Carpenter, our webmaster, for making an additional Festival page upon request; and Susie for collaborating with Pam as Website Liaison to update and improve the ACGA website. April has sent out the templates that Emil created for artists to use on social media and email announcements. Demo slots and ikebana slots are almost full. We are still working out details for the throwdown competitions, but agreed to have one session each day in the afternoon. Handmade ceramic trophies will be generously provided by Mikio Matsumoto of Nichibei Potters. Board members Vicki Gunter and Iver Hennig will emcee the throwdowns. Iver will help coordinate the event based on past experiences. Mari encouraged all of us to recruit contestants.
Exhibition Update (Ren)
The exhibitions team (Jan Schachter, Vicki Gunter, Iver Hennig, Tamara Danoyan, and Ren Lee) met via Zoom to create a Call for Entry on EntryThingy. Ren made the recommended revisions and Julie Taber created the PayPal integration.
In order to install the Call for Entry on our website, Ren provided content to Pam Carpenter and asked her to set up a notice on the ACGA Homepage with a link to the exhibition page.
By mid-August the Call for Entry will be live. It will be shared via MailChimp email to ACGA members, San Joaquin Clay & Glass Association Members, and Clay Hand Studios. It will be posted to the ACGA Google Group and there will be links to the ACGA website exhibition page from the SJCGA website and the Clay Hand Studios website.
Collaborative Membership (Mari)
Mari informed the Membership Committee that they would meet after the festival and before the August Board meeting to finalize the proposal on Collaborative Membership. This meeting is necessary because the next fall jury will open on September 1st. Mari explained that Collaborative Membership is a special category under General Membership, designed specifically for artists participating in the festival. The situation has become increasingly complex due to inquiries from artists with more unique circumstances.
Next Meeting: Monday, August 19, 2024, at 5:15 pm via Zoom.
