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

The meeting began at 5:15 p.m.

 Welcome (Mari)

Arts of Fire Exhibition (Vicki)

The deadline to submit entries to Arts of Fire is May 21.  To date there are 36 complete entries and several more pending. Most of the entries are clay rather than glass.  When the jurors have made their selections, Vicki will coordinate carpooling for delivery to the NY2CA Gallery in Benicia. The gallery might need to borrow some of ACGA’s pedestals for the show.  Jan commented on the excellent publicity for this call.

Santa Cruz Exhibition (Iver)

Iver and fellow artist Carlos Dye have written a successful proposal for an exhibition of clay and glass at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History.  Museum curator Marla Novo has blocked September 26, 2026 – February 27, 2027 for this show, which will accommodate around 20 invited artists and 40 juried artists. It will also include a pop-up sale of work by accepted artists in the museum’s gift shop.  It may be necessary to use some of ACGA’s pedestals stored in Santa Clara. ACGA will assist in organizing the exhibition, but all artists in California will be eligible to apply to the Call for Entries.

Financial Report (Julie)

Our total current assets are $163,863, higher than this time last year. Year-to-date income is $20,000 more than we budgeted, and expenses are slightly over.  The large pool of applicants for the last jury and the high number of booth applications for the festival have boosted our bank balances.

Zoom Orientation for Festival-Eligible Artists (Cheryl)

Around 20 artists attended the virtual orientation that Cheryl and Susie presented on Zoom on May 4th.  The hour-long event went well, with good discussions and sharing of information.  Participants appreciated the document that Cheryl and Susie had put together.  Cheryl thinks that this orientation should be held annually.  ACGA artist Diana Greenleaf, who had originally suggested the gathering, reported that it was very useful.  Suggestions made by artists during the presentation have been passed on to April.

Jury Discussion (Mari)

The next window to apply for festival eligibility will be September 1-30, 2025.  The jurors’ decisions will be announced in October.  The Board discussed pros and cons of having two juries per year (fall and spring) as opposed to only one (fall).  One jurying in the fall is simpler and gives all artists equal chance to sign up for the festival when booth applications open in January.   The Board also discussed whether to limit the number of applicants for juries, since the last cohort was unusually large (44 applicants). Additionally, the protocol for sharing jurors’ comments with applicants needs improvement, especially when the comments are negative.  These topics will be discussed further at our next Board Meeting.

Festival Report (April)

The Clay & Glass Festival is fully booked.  Waitlisted artists have all been admitted. Cancellations are still possible, but even so it will be a robust show.  April is still working on matching artists with volunteer jobs.  Some jobs formerly assigned to volunteers will be done by paid staff.  April is still looking to fill the paid slot for staffing the CERF+ booth.

The meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m.

Next Meeting: 5:15 p.m., June 16, 2025 via Zoom