ACGA Board Meeting Minutes
May 20, 2024, 5-15pm-6:45pm, via Zoom
Present: Mari Emori, April Zilber, Sally Jackson (recorder), Julie Taber, Lee Middleman, Iver Hennig, Vicki Gunter, Susie Rubenstein, Barbara Prodaniuk, Scott Jennings, Emil Yanos, Ren Lee, Jan Schachter, Tamara Danoyan, Sonja Hinrichsen. Absent: Chris Johnson, Trudy Chiddix, Cheryl Costantini. Guests: Ruth Ehrenkrantz, Rebecca Love, Victoria Buck
The meeting began at 5:15pm.
Welcome (Mari)
Mari introduced and welcomed two newly juried festival artists, Rebecca Love and Ruth Ehrenkrantz. Sally introduced Victoria Buck, who teaches ceramics at Gunn High School in Palo Alto.
Revised Budget Approval (Julie)
Julie presented a revised 2024 Budget that reflects Board-approved changes since the budget approval in January, and minor changes resulting from our recent transition to using QuickBooks for bookkeeping. The Board voted in favor of accepting the revised budget (13 yes, 0 no, 2 not yet present)
Financial Report (Julie)
Our current bank balance is $128,814. An additional $6000 is held in PayPal. Upcoming expenses will be related to the festival. We expect that festival income in July will offset these expenses and likely provide a small profit.
Festival Update (April)
Booth Space: Seventeen new festival-eligible artists were accepted by our recent jury. Depending on how many of them apply for the festival, we may need to start a waiting list for booth space. Mari agreed with April to stop accepting double-booth requests, put them on a waiting list, and prioritize the newly juried artists. She also suggested that if spaces are available as the festival approaches, then offer double booths or two single booths to those on the waiting list who wish to purchase them.
Alcohol Sales: If we want to sell beer and wine at the festival, we have to apply for a license and purchase alcohol liability insurance. The vendor pouring the alcohol would also need insurance. The applications might take a while to process and the insurance would be a significant added expense. After much discussion, the Board agreed that even though we’re in favor of this idea, we should wait until next year to organize alcohol sales properly at the festival.
Pottery Throwdown Proposal: Miki Shim-Rutter is looking into the possibility of having several wheels available for short “throwdown” competitions during the festival. Ren recommends a “hands-free” competition.
Media & Publicity: April and Ren are working with our new media consultant, Mega Jewell, to distribute ads and publicity for the festival. Emil is designing the advertisements.
Flags & Kiosks: We have permission to mount flags and kiosks at the festival.
Meetings: Mari requested that the Festival Committee meet more regularly in order to work through most decisions ahead of our Board meetings.
Proposed Website Changes (Susie)
Susie has found many aspects of our ACGA website that are out-of-date or in need of editing. For example, our Privacy Policy needs to be rewritten and our History section needs to be updated and improved with photos. The videos vary greatly in terms of relevance, organization, and interest. The Board acknowledged the need to edit the website. Susie will continue working with Pam Carpenter on this. Ren mentioned that she has requested videos from our artists many times in the past, but has had little response. We discussed the possibility of having someone making short videos with artist interviews during the festival.
Exhibitions: NY2CA Update (Vicki)
Regarding the ACGA show at NY2CA Gallery in Benicia in 2025, Vicki noted that the gallery has hired Suzanne Long to install the show. Two jurors have been chosen: Lisa Reinertson will choose the clay entries and Demetra Theofanous will choose glass. UPS in Benicia will allow accepted artists to ship their work there. Mari requested that the entire Exhibition Committee and Ren meet periodically to discuss the challenges of planning future exhibitions as a team before our Board meetings. Tamara expressed interest in joining these meetings.
Membership Committee Report (Emil)
The membership committee is still working to come up with an unequivocal definition of Collaborative Membership. When this task is completed, an explanation will go out to the membership, both in a members-only newsletter and a post to the GoogleGroup. Existing Collaborative Members will retain that designation even when the new definition is posted.
ACGA Presentation at the Pacific Art League (Tamara)
A friend of Tamara’s at the Pacific Art League has invited us to make a presentation about the organization and the festival sometime before the festival. Tamara and Jan will work on this and find a date that works.
The meeting adjourned at 7:05pm.
Next Meeting: Monday, June 17, 2024
5:15-6:45pm, via Zoom
