ACGA BLOG

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

Absent: Vicki Gunter, Chris Johnson.   Guest: Barbara Savage.

The meeting began at 5:15pm.

Welcome (Mari)

Mari and Jan are working to update the ACGA Mission Statement on our website. They will share a revised statement for approval by the Board in the coming weeks. Mari asked the communications team to keep the homepage up-to-date at all times. Mari asked whether the registration form on the website could require physical addresses and digital marketing links such as Instagram or Facebook to help with regional mapping and grouping, since many addresses are missing from our proprietary membership database.  The Board discussed how publishing personal information such as address, email, or phone number could have implications for privacy and it was suggested that requiring only city and zip code might be sufficient for the artists’ profiles. Ren emphasized that we need all the data for where our members are located in our proprietary database and that there is no plan or suggestion that we should publish personal information. Emil will follow up with our website administrator to update requirements for the registration form and artist profile pages.

Mari let the board know that Piper is preparing the 2025 Festival Sales Report and will share it with the membership as soon as possible.

Nomination/Self-Nomination for the Board of Directors 2026 (Mari)

There will be four seats open on the Board at the end of the year. Nominations for new Board Members are open until November 23. The election will take place December 1-28 and results will be announced by December 31. Mari introduced guest Barbie Savage and announced that she would like to be on the ballot. Barbie is a ceramicist, retired from many years teaching high school ceramics, and now teaches at Clay Hands Studio in Fresno.  Several other ACGA members have also expressed willingness to be nominated.

Jury Update (Scott)

The Fall 2025 jury is underway. Of the 31 applicants, 30 work with clay and one works with glass. The five jurors will make their decisions in time for an announcement in our November newsletter. Scott noted that he’s been able to help several applicants with their presentations. He also expressed his appreciation for Tamara Danoyan’s help in getting things organized.

All-Member Meeting – January 2026 (Mari)

The Board discussed whether to have the All-Member Meeting as a hybrid meeting like our last one, or explore other models like in-person only and Zoom only.  The general consensus was to conduct a hybrid meeting from the Palo Alto Art Center as we did in January 2025.

Exhibitions: General

Mari proposed an honorarium for those who organize exhibitions since it’s such a huge amount of work. The exhibition committee will meet to discuss and propose a policy. Cheryl will contact Sebastopol Center for the Arts, following up on a proposed exhibition that Jan and Sally discussed with them earlier this year. Jan added that ACGA member Pierre Bounaud will be organizing an exhibition of Southern California member artists in the coming months at Studio Door, a gallery in San Diego.

Exhibitions: “Fiber & Fire” Update (Jan)

The show “Fiber and Fire” is coming together in collaboration with fiber/Dimensions, a Bay Area organization of fiber artists.  ACGA member Deb Sullivan is working on the logistics and all that goes with that.  The deadline to apply is mid-November and the show will be February-March 2026 at the Sausalito Center for the Arts.

Exhibitions: Santa Cruz Show (Iver)

Preparations continue for an exhibition of California ceramics at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, to be held September 2026-January 2027. The show will include 20 invited artists and about 40 juried artists.  California potters and sculptors are encouraged to apply between April 1-May 1, 2026.

Exhibitions: Arts of Fire (Mari)

“Arts of Fire”, organized by Board Member Vicki Gunter, earned $3290 in income. Expenses were $2391 and ACGA’s net income was $898.  Eight pieces sold during the exhibition, totaling $7305, an excellent outcome. The exhibition added 8 new ACGA members.

Financial Report, Moving Funds, 2026 Budget (Julie)

ACGA’s assets as of September 30 are $159,000.  Julie will send each committee a report of its income and expenses for the year-to-date so that they can generate their budgets for next year. Julie is looking into moving some of our assets into higher interest-earning accounts and will report more at the November board meeting.

The meeting adjourned at 6:45 pm

Next meeting: Monday, November 17, 2025 via Zoom

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

The meeting began at 5:15 p.m.

Welcome (Mari)

Financial Report (Julie)

Total assets as of August 31 are $161,635.  Income for this year is $139,000, which is $7000 over budget.  We expect additional income in December from membership dues.  Income for the Clay and Glass Festival was $120,000. Expenses for the festival were less than expected this year.  Julie will look into moving some money into higher-earning investment accounts, and will share some options with the Board at our next meeting.

Exhibitions (Jan, Deb Sullivan, Iver)

Jan was recently invited to the New Museum Los Gatos (NUMU) by ACGA member Janet Wolfe. They discussed the possibility of having an ACGA exhibition there, and Jan will report more as the opportunity moves forward.

Member Deb Sullivan reported that the Sausalito Center for the Arts will host an ACGA exhibition in collaboration with fiber/Dimensions, a Bay Area fiber arts organization, around February 14-March 12.  Deb is negotiating with a potential juror associated with the American Craft Council. Applications will open in mid-October with notification in November. Deb hopes to arrange various local drop-offs around the Bay Area for delivery to the gallery.

Iver continues to plan an exhibition at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History. This will be a ceramics show, scheduled for September 2026-January 2027.  It will include 20 invited artists and 40 artists juried in by juror Stan Welsh. The application deadline will be in May 2026.

Festival Report (April)

April and the Palo Alto Art Center have established dates for future Clay & Glass Festivals:

July 11-12, 2026

July 10-11, 2027

July 15-16, 2028

July 14-15, 2029

July 13-14, 2030

Festival Financial Report (Piper)

Total sales for 137 artists in the 2025 Clay and Glass Festival were $511,606, topping last year’s total of $427,000 for 124 artists.  Average sales were $3734, and the top seller took in $19,450. Both numbers are higher than last year.  The Art Center site can possibly accommodate 140-143 artists, but that would be the upper limit. The Board discussed strategies to address the variation in sales during the two days, Saturday generally being more profitable. Piper added that she would like to calculate previous years’ sales in today’s dollars, just for comparison.

Jury Report (Scott)

Scott thanked all who have helped publicize ACGA’s next jury call for festival eligibility.  He would like to add one more glass artist to his group of jurors. He has had requests for mentorship during the application process.  He is also working to address frustration among rejected applicants who received unedited comments after the last jury. The next jury will announce results in November.  Ren will boost the announcement again on social media.

Festival Eligibility Revisited (carryover from the last meeting) (Cheryl)

The Board considered a suggestion that lifetime festival eligibility be withheld until a new artist has participated in the festival once and jurors have been able to actually see their work.  After a brief discussion, this idea was deemed too complicated and frustrating for new artists and jurors alike. The ACGA seeks to have only the best quality of work accepted in its digital juryings; that said, one of the main appeals of the festival is the range of work and the range of customers who come to shop.

Next President & Board of Directors Nominations (Mari)

The Board discussed nomination possibilities for our next ballot in December.

The meeting ended at 6:50 p.m.

Date of Next Meeting: October 20, 2025, 5:15 p.m. via Zoom