ACGA News

Present: Mari Emori, April Zilber, Sally Jackson (recorder), Ren Lee, Emil Yanos, Vicki Gunter, Cheryl Costantini, Chris Johnson, Susie Rubenstein, Iver Hennig, Joe Battiato, Trudy Chiddix, Barbara Prodaniuk (Absent: Sonja Hinrichsen, Lee Middleman, Jan Schachter)

Guest: Julie Taber

The meeting commenced at 5:30 p.m.

Welcome (Mari)

Treasurer’s Report (April)

April introduced ACGA member Julie Taber, who will be taking over the position of Treasurer. Julie is a ceramic artist in Altadena, CA, and she has extensive experience as a bookkeeper for nonprofits. Thank you, Julie, and welcome!

Our total assets as of February 28^th are $117,651. This has been boosted lately by booth fees received for the festival in July. Our 2022 tax information has been submitted to our CPA. We discussed the possibility of giving our members the option to pay a little extra when using PayPal to cover its processing fees.

Festival Report (April)

April reported that 98 artists have signed up for the 2023 Palo Alto Clay & Glass Festival in July. We discussed how to staff Clay-for-All in the courtyard, and how to ensure that the courtyard is properly cleaned up afterwards. We discussed having demos outside this year to attract more attention. We also discussed how to recognize new festival artists, how to select Best-in-Show artists, and how best to collect and enter contact information for those who sign up on our mailing list. The auditorium will be available possibly as a cool place for visitors to sit and eat. Messenger Events will try to address problems we had last year with unsecured fire extinguishers and rutted spots on the grounds.

Membership (Emil)

ACGA’s website feature “Artist of the Month” has thus far been populated by a small pool of members who have volunteered for the honor. When this feature was introduced, we expected more members to embrace the opportunity, but response has been sparse, leaving us with fewer choices. Some on the Board believe that only festival-eligible artists should be featured as Artist of the Month, whereas other Board members who actively exhibit, but do not plan to jury into the festival, would like the Artist of the Month to be chosen from a broader pool. We will continue discussions to resolve this issue in a future meeting.

“Meet-Your-Board-Member” in the Newsletter (Mari)

Mari has prepared a monthly calendar assigning each board member to provide a profile for the newsletter. This slot will be titled “Meet Your Board Member”. The profiles will be due on the 8^th of each month.

Encouraging More Sign-ups for the Festival (Mari)

We discussed ways to regain some of the artists who were accepted in 2019 and 2020 for one-time-only festival eligibility. Some have since juried in as fully eligible, but others have not reapplied. It was proposed that the Board admit all of those one-time-only artists as fully eligible. Chris, Ren, and April will look into the artists’ original applications and festival participation for assessment.

Communications (Susie)

The Communications Committee is working to make our website more engaging and more financially viable. The Treasurer reminded the Board that it had budgeted $300 per month as a stipend for communications work. The Board approved initiating this monthly stipend for Ren, retroactive to January 2023. Ren will send invoices to April. Ren informed the board that it should allocate money to pay writers to write articles for the newsletter. She also requested that members submit more information for the calendar.

Managing Access (Mari)

Cheryl and Mari will talk about how to transfer Zoom meeting management to one person on the board. Sally will step up for this role. Later discussions should address access to all other ACGA accounts with logins.

Exhibitions (Sally & Vicki)

The Exhibitions Committee recently visited the gallery Curated by the Sea in Santa Cruz, and met with the owner, Melissa Kreisa. We will have a juried exhibition there in 2024, probably in the spring. This will be a clay and glass show open to ACGA members and to clay and glass artists residing in Santa Cruz County. Opening it to local artists is a good way to spread the word about ACGA. Those who visited included Jan Schachter, Sally Jackson, Chris Johnson, and Randi Silverstein (who was also the original contact). Iver Hennig has also been in consultation and has visited the gallery on his own.

Vicki Gunter reported that Arts Benicia is a promising space for an exhibition in Benicia. She is pursuing this opportunity with a letter of inquiry and will know more after March 22. In addition, a new gallery in Benicia called NY2CA may also provide a chance for ACGA artists to show their work.

The meeting adjourned at 7:10 p.m.

Next Meeting: 5:30 p.m., April 10, 2023 via Zoom

All Members are Welcome

Present: Mari Emori (President), April Zilber (Treasurer), Sally Jackson (Secretary), Chris Johnson, Susie Rubenstein, Iver Hennig, Vicki Gunter, Barbara Prodaniuk, Emil Yanos, Joe Battiato, Lee Middleman, Cheryl Costantini, Trudy Chiddix, Ren Lee, Jan Schachter

Absent: Sonja Hinrichsen

The meeting commenced at 5:30 p.m.

Welcome (Mari)

Our new president, Mari Emori, welcomed everyone and proposed that board members each take a turn writing a short introductory statement to open our monthly newsletter. This makes us more visible to the members and gains recognition and credit for the work we do.

Treasurer’s Report (April)

As of January 31, 2023, our total assets were $96,300. The board voted unanimously in favor of increasing the monthly fee for Pam Carpenter’s services as our website manager, retroactive to include January 2023.

Festival Update (April)

Our festival event manager, Annie Hermes of Messenger Events, has sent out the application for the 2023 Clay and Glass Festival in July. The deadline is in four weeks. Participating board members will have the opportunity to request preferred booth locations. Table rental will increase to $20 per table this year. April is in the process of organizing this year’s Festival Committee, ideally comprised of 6-7 artists and including some non-board members.

Board Committee Assignments

   Festival Committee: April Zilber (Festival Liason), Joe Battiato, Sally Jackson, Barbara Prodaniuk, Cheryl Costantini, Lee Middleman (and others, to be added).

   Exhibitions Committee: Jan Schachter, Vicki Gunter, Iver Hennig, Sally Jackson

   Communications Committee: Ren Lee, Susie Rubenstein, Cheryl Costantini

Board of Directors Directory (Mari)

Mari has compiled a directory in a Google Doc for internal use by the board. This will make it easier to communicate among ourselves.

ACGA Board Timeline Proposal (Mari)

Mari has updated a timeline prepared by Lee to track the board’s tasks by month. This timeline is meant to be a template for each year, not specific to a particular year. It will help especially with tasks that have set deadlines. Consistent deadlines (e.g., newsletter copy due on the same date each month) will make communications and announcements easier.

Review of the Annual All-Member Meeting (Lee)

Our All-Member meeting in January included about 30 attendees. The pace was good and followed the agenda well. Some members gathered in one place and Zoomed in as a group, which they followed with a potluck lunch and sharing of work. The exhibitions discussion was lively, and the communications segment provided a good opportunity for members to understand how to use our social media, our website, and our newsletter. The short studio tours were a great way to bring people into each other’s workspaces. It might be good to record more short videos like these and post them on our website and on our social media.

The All-Member meeting should be publicized much earlier next year to increase attendance. Encouraging members to gather in smaller groups for Zooming and potlucks would also be good. Lee suggested that future all-member meetings include less business; we need to find the balance between delivering information and engaging our members in discussions. He recommends one simple summary of our financial information rather than spreadsheets. A short board meeting before the All-Member meeting will enable us to test the online set-up ahead of time.

Membership Update & Artist of the Month (Emil)

We discussed the intricacies of tracking how festival-eligible artists who forget to renew their membership (or delay it) will be included in mailings about the festival each January/February. We also discussed how to select the Artist-of-the-Month for our website. Choosing only festival-eligible artists does not represent our membership, nor does it encourage emerging artists whose work is still developing.

Jury Update and Question (Chris)

Chris is working on jury assignments for the March jurying. He is trying to recruit more glass artists to apply. He pointed out that a number of excellent glass artists make Cannabis-related paraphernalia, and that the board should consider how this work would fit into the festival.

Exhibitions Update (Jan)

Jan received good leads for exhibition venues at the All-Member meeting in January. In the coming weeks she will pursue an opportunity for a juried show at a gallery in Santa Cruz. Each location is unique and requires very specific planning. ACGA exhibitions are open to all members. Most are juried. Occasionally we have shows that are open to other California clay and glass artists.

The meeting adjourned at 7:25 pm.

Date of Next Meeting: March 13, 2023, at 5:30 pm via Zoom

ACGA All-Member Meeting Minutes

10 a.m. – 12 noon, January 28, 2023 via Zoom

 Present: Cheryl Costantini, Mari Emori, April Zilber, Sally Jackson (recorder), Susie Rubenstein, Ren Lee, Lee Middleman, Trudy Chiddix, Jan Schachter, Joe Battiato, Chris Johnson, Emil Yanos, Sonja Hinrichsen, Vicki Gunther, Iver Hennig, Barbara Prodaniuk

I. Welcome (Cheryl Costantini, Outgoing President)

Cheryl welcomed everyone and said that it has been an honor to serve as ACGA’s president for the past four years. Her goals as president were to make the organization more relevant to a wider array of clay and glass artists, particularly younger artists; to eliminate the hierarchy of exhibiting and associate members in favor of one general membership category; and to improve ACGA’s means of communication through its newsletter, social media, and email. The Board is grateful for all Cheryl’s hard work in realizing these goals. Thank you, Cheryl!

II. Announce election results and elect officers

We received 77 ballots in this year’s election. Three of our incumbent board members were reelected for another two-year term: Mari Emori, Emil Yanos, and Joe Battiato. Four new board members were also elected: Barbara Prodaniuk, Iver Hennig, Vicki Gunther, and Sonja Hinrichsen. Welcome, new board members!

The Board elected the following officers:

President: Mari Emori

Vice-President: (vacant)

Treasurer: April Zilber

Secretary: Sally Jackson

III. New President’s Message (Mari Emori)

Mari has been a member of ACGA since 2018 and has served on the Board since 2021. Her studio is part of the Berkeley Potter’s Guild. She is looking forward to serving as our new president.

IV. Introduction of New Board Members

Barbara, Sonja, Iver, and Vicki gave short introductions of their work and their involvement with ACGA.

V. Communications Committee (Ren Lee)

There are important new ways for members to communicate now:

1. ACGA’s GoogleGroup: All ACGA members are encouraged to use our GoogleGroup. The address is <the-acga@googlegroups.com>. Any information sent to this address will immediately be emailed to all members who are enrolled in the group. Emil or April will enroll new members when they pay their dues. This is an excellent way to post last-minute announcements, equipment sales, or anything else of clay and glass interest to our members.
2. Instagram & Facebook: When you post on these social media platforms, tag the ACGA (@theacga) and it will be reposted on ACGA’s feed.
3. Website: There are now two new menu items under “For Members” on the ACGA website (https://acga.net/):
   1. Submit an Event to the ACGA Calendar allows you to put events on a master calendar that can be viewed by other members and the public. This is a good way to publicize your sales, workshops, open studios, and so on. Be sure to include your full name in the TITLE, and submit the full address of your event.
   2. Submit a Post to the ACGA News allows you to enter information that will appear in the monthly newsletter. These posts can be announcements, articles, notices of awards or recognition, etc. Your full name must be in the post title. Please submit well ahead of the 10^th of each month in order to be included in that month’s newsletter. The newsletter goes out to our members as well as our mailing list of 6000+ names. It is a great way to get information out.

VI. Membership (Emil Yanos)

            Renewals should have ended on December 31, but there were some glitches this year that kept some from renewing. At this time we have 270 members. Quite a few of our older members have opted not to renew. Emil is also working on integrating how new members become part of the GoogleGroup and MailChimp, and how non-renewing members get taken off. Discussion focused on how to attract and keep members. Some attendees feel that glass gets marginalized because clay artists outnumber glass artists.

 VII. Treasurer’s Report (April Zilber)

            Our total assets at the beginning of the year were $95,000. Our net income for 2022 was $4000. In 2023 we estimate a net income of $2300 unless our administrative expenses increase. April has served as Treasurer for over 20 years and would like to step down. She will offer training to anyone who can replace her. This job pays $300 monthly.

 VIII. Festival Update (April Zilber)

Festival applications will go out to festival-eligible artists soon. Artists who become festival-eligible in the next jury in March will not have to pay late fees. April is looking for more non-board members to serve on the Festival Committee. We will not have the Artist’s Showcase this year, but Barbara Prodaniuk proposed some way to recognize outstanding work, such as Best-in-Show ribbons for both clay and glass.   We will probably be able to have the Artist Party in the Sculpture Garden. Clay-for-All is under negotiation.                        

IX. Call for Festival Demo Artists: Joe Battiato

If you would like to present a demo at this year’s festival, please contact Joe (battiatoart@yahoo.com).

 X. Jury (Chris Johnson)

The next jurying deadline will be in early March. Chris has worked tirelessly to create an improved protocol for online jurying, which is quite different from live jurying. Please contact Chris if you would like to serve on the upcoming jury (chris@chrisjohnsonglass.com).

XI. Exhibitions

1. NCECA 2022

            Gallery Expo: In March 2022, Sacramento hosted the NCECA Conference “Fertile Ground”. ACGA was chosen among many applicants to be part of the onsite Gallery Expo. Mari Emori organized our sales booth at the conference featuring 16 ACGA artists. Attendance was excellent and total sales were almost $19,000. Everyone who contributed time and work to this project is much appreciated!

            In Hand, By Hand: Jan Schachter and Sally Jackson organized an ACGA sale that took place just before and after NCECA as part of the East Bay Clay Routes Tour. Potter Mary Law juried 13 ACGA clay artists who showed their work in a beautiful space donated to us by Brushstrokes Studio in Berkeley. Attendance was good but sales were slow.

            Seismic State: California Ceramics: Jan and Sally also organized a full-scale exhibition at the Sparrow Gallery in Sacramento during NCECA. Juror Beth Ann Gerstein (Executive Director, American Museum of Ceramic Art) invited eight artists and chose work by 34 more from more than 200 applicants. Cynthia Lou, owner of the gallery provided huge support and expertise in mounting the show. Attendance was very good.

2. Exhibitions future: We definitely need to expand our exhibition opportunities now that pandemic restrictions are lifting. Jan is always looking for new suggestions, so please contact her if you know of a space that is available (janschachter@gmail.com).

The meeting adjourned at 12:15 pm.

 Next meeting: Monday, February 13, 5:30 pm via Zoom