Cooperative Gallery 213 - Minutes of September 4, 2007
Present:, Kendrot, Trapper, , Normile,
Colgan, Gould, , P. Johnston, Williams, Salton, Griffin, Epstein,
VanBuren, Ryan, Fedczuk, Demicco, Clark, N. Ryan
The meeting was called to order by
President Joe Trapper. Congratulations to Gallery members who
participated in success of the homeless show especially Peg for
organizing and MR and Judy for collecting and distributing food items. A
letter from the Homeless Coalition thanking us for our participation and
sensitivity was read.
Treasurers report – Geoff Gould
reported.
Committee Reports:
Artist membership committee – Betsy
Williams suggests that we refer to each monthly artists’ members show as
having 2 slots. A solo member would occupy the two slots for their month
and a shared membership member would each occupy 1 slot (totaling 2
slots) for their month. It is hoped that this method will help avoid
confusion in deciding if we have room to accept new members. Aubrey
reported she had not heard from Pam Kelly about applying for membership
Aubrey will contact Pam for definite answer. Betsy, MaryRose and Peg
each had inquiries from artists interested in becoming members. Open
slots must first be determined before any new members can be accepted.
Kitchen – Jeanne has replenished
supplies and will continue providing standard snacks for First Friday
but welcomes any suggestions of other choices.
Supporting membership committee – Geoff
suggests each member submit 3 works for inclusion on a CD to be used as
thank you gift to supporting members. Other suggestions for including
Supporting Members as partners of the gallery and to express our thanks
: Reception for Supporting Members – a committee will be formed to
decide dates and organization and will report back to membership.
Personalized gallery business card used as supporting membership card. A
sign in hall listing current artists and supporting members. It was
acknowledged that the hall needed a design plan to make it attractive
and functional. It was also suggested that the two membership committees
meet together at least once to coordinate info and efforts.
Maintenance committee – Joe reports
that there is now a light over the sink.
Education committee –Karen F. reports
the NYC bus trip will be Sat., Nov. 3, 2007. Information about the trip
will be available in a flier and ready for distribution on First Friday
in Oct. Information will also be posted on Pam’s calendar of events
e-mail list. Third Thursday programs will include: Sept. 20, 2007
“Concept verses Medium” Oct.18, 2007 “ Working in Series” hosted by Joe
Trapper in conjunction with A-RT show. Other business- Joe’s proposal
that every show begin on First Fri. was discussed and tabled for further
action. Other suggestion included beginning each show on the Fri. before
First Friday to accommodate those who may want a personal opening in
addition to First Friday. No action taken at this time. Peg volunteered
to head a committee to revise the gallery calendar to reflect these
proposals. Betsy questioned the necessity of including Gallery minutes
on web site (even the abridged version). No action taken at this time.
Peg suggested we join a list serve. No action taken at this time. Joe
asked people who wanted to further discuss any topics covered in the
meeting to do so after the meeting and report back to members at next
meeting.
Meeting adjourned at 8:10.
Respectfully submitted, Susan Kendrot
Cooperative Gallery 213 - Minutes of August 6, 2007
Present:
Trapper, Epstein, VanBuren-Pejo, Ewing, Bernstein, Summers, P.
Johnston, Williams, Salton, Normile, Gould, Kendrot, Clark, Kuff-Demicco,
Gorman, Gilligan
The meeting was called to order at 7:05PM by President Joe Trapper.
Congratulations to Geof Gould on his recent show.
There was an editorial in the newspaper about the homeless show.
There was no mention unfortunately about the artwork created by our
members.
The July minutes were approved.
Financial report – Treasurer Geof Gould reported. 10 members have
still not paid their third quarter dues. Geof has sent out reminders.
A number of ideas for fundraisers were discussed including the sale
of aprons with artwork on them in conjunction with a spaghetti dinner in
the winter. The suggestion was made that we should plan to have two
fundraisers every year whether we are in financial straits or not. One
of these would be typically be a bus trip.
Peg Johnston reported that the homeless show would be hung on
Wednesday and Thursday. Your artwork should be in the gallery by
Wednesday. Please bring canned or packaged food for the food house.
There will be photos of the homeless camps, visuals of statistics, a
PowerPoint presentation and other information about the homeless on
display. Artists may choose to donate all or part of the proceeds of
their artwork to the homeless coalition. Peg made a motion that the
gallery donate the 20% commission on any artwork sold to the homeless
coalition. Janet Normile seconded the motion. It was passed unanimously.
Betsy Williams gave a presentation on two artists who are interested
in joining the gallery – Nancy Ryan and Nancy Modlin Katz. We have three
shared memberships available. An 18 month gallery calendar includes 8
shared shows, 5 solo shows, 2 group shows (we have 2 groups of 4 members
each sharing a solo membership), the student show, the holiday show, and
one open month for special shows. We have openings for three shared
memberships. Members had a chance to look at their work and Aubrey Clark
and Cyrena Summers presented information from their meeting with Nancy
Katz. Betsy reports that there has been quite a bit of interest in the
third membership since the word has gotten out that there is an opening.
The members present voted and Geof counted the votes. The results were
overwhelmingly in favor of both artists. Betsy suggested that to get
more young people involved, we have a show of young emerging artists.
Peg reported on scheduling. Joe suggested that we have all shows
begin on First Friday and end before the next first Friday. There will
be further discussion on the scheduling of shows at the next meeting.
The discussion of the bus trip will be tabled till next meeting.
By-laws committee – Janet Normile reported that her committee has met
and feels that there needs to be some clarification about how decisions
are made for the gallery. There were some suggestions as to how
proposals would be made and how decisions would be made on them. The
committee will meet again and consider suggestions made on this subject.
Janet also suggested that the website should include a mission
statement.
Bill Gorman gave a report on the heart of the arts awards. Armondo
Dellasanta, a painter, and Bill Nurse, a volunteer for the arts, will
receive lifetime achievement awards. There will also be ten other
artists to be voted on. Bill made a motion that the gallery donates
$100.00 to the heart of the arts awards. The motion passed unanimously.
Mark suggested that all members be encouraged to make donations or buy
tickets for the dinner on October 7th.
Scheduling – Barb needs a staffer for this coming Sunday. Aubrey will
check her calendar. Barbara needs an answer quickly. Joe reports that BU
will have a homecoming weekend the first weekend in October. They are
proposing that Gorgeous Washington has a first Saturday on October 6th,
in addition to First Friday, and they will help promote it among their
alumni. If you are a BU alumnus, send an e-mail to Bill Gorman with your
year of graduation for PR purposes.
Bill reports that local dignitaries have been invited to the opening
of the homeless show.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:48PM
Cooperative Gallery 213 - Minutes of July 2, 2007
Present: Salton, Bernstein, Clark, B. Johnston, Gould, Ewing, P.
Johnston, Fitzsimmons, Kendrot, Williams, Colgan
The meeting was called to order at 7:10pm by Vice-President Judy
Salton.
Congratulations to Betsy Williams and Susan Kendrot on their show.
Attendance at Third Thursday was excellent.
Geof Gould made a correction to the June minutes. The dues for GWSA
are $175 not $100 as reported in the minutes. The dues are now paid.
Minutes otherwise approved.
Financial report – Treasurer Geof Gould gave the treasurer’s report.
Betsy Williams asked if there is money to consider some improvements
to the gallery such as lighting or air conditioning. Geof says there are
just the normal expenses coming up as far as he knows. There could be
some publicity expenses for the Homeless Show, but nothing out of the
ordinary. Andy Fitzsimmons offered to talk to an architect specializing
in sustainable building for information about energy efficient lighting.
What hours do we want to stay open for Julyfest on Friday, July 6th
(a first Friday) and Saturday the 7th? The hours of Julyfest are 10 to 9
on Friday and Saturday and 10 to 5 on Sunday. There don’t seem to be
very many visitors during Julyfest. Peg made a motion to be open our
regular hours during Julyfest and Susan seconded it. It passed
unanimously. Judy offered to come in if needed on Saturday.
Peg Johnston reported that the theme of the homeless show in August
will be “What is home?” She suggested that we give some homeless people
disposable cameras to take pictures to add to the show. The homeless
coalition is receptive to all our previously mentioned ideas and they
are in favor of taking a positive approach to the theme. We will be
collecting food for the food pantries during the show. Some other
suggestions were for the gallery to serve breakfast to the homeless or
to have a soup kitchen one day. Barbara Bernstein suggested that we have
more substantial food for the opening and invite the homeless to
participate. Geof says that Bess Greenberg’s latest project is with a
family in poverty in Harlem and that she should be invited to
participate.
Judy Salton suggested that we put a cap of $500 on the budget for the
show to include food and cameras. Aubrey Clark made a motion and it was
passed. Betsy will look into getting cameras and food donated.
Mary Rose Griffin has offered to work on this committee as well as
Judy. There will be an opening on August 10th.
Scheduling proposal – Barbara Bernstein
She suggests that when there is an opening in the schedule that we
cannot fill with volunteers, the person who has sat the lowest number of
times be assigned that slot. We can keep a list of members and other
trained individuals who are willing to sit for a fee, in case that
person is busy and cannot sit at that time. At one meeting it was
decided that we would pay anyone who sits for us $30.
At this meeting Barbara added to the above proposal that a week and a
half before an open date, she will notify the member with the lowest
number of dates that they will need to fill the open slot. At the same
time she will send them a list of names of people who have been trained
to staff the gallery. They will be responsible for sitting or hiring a
sitter. The motion to accept the proposal was made by Barbara and
seconded by Aubrey. It was passed.
Peg motioned that we pay a sitter $10.00 per hour. Susan seconded
that motion. The motion passed.
Stephen Harford made the following proposal to be considered at this
meeting:
A member could take a leave of absence for a year, during which time
his/her slot would be offered to an artist who has shown interest in
becoming a member and of course someone whom the gallery wants as a
member. At the end of the one year period the member on leave would have
the option of returning or possibly extending their leave. If a slot
happened to open up during that time period the temporary member would
be offered a permanent membership. But even a temporary membership could
be of interest to some artists for any number of reasons. It could also
pump some new blood into the gallery.
To accommodate Stephen’s request for a leave of absence, Aubrey will
take over his and Jeanne VanBuren-Pejo’s show in February by becoming a
solo member for that period of time. Jeanne will take Aubrey’s show with
Barbara in September. Stephen will take a leave of absence for a year.
The date of the beginning of his leave of absence is yet to be
determined but will almost certainly start now.
No action was taken on the adoption of a policy dealing with taking a
leave of absence. That will be addressed at a later date.
Betsy asked that the scheduling of future shows be added to the
agenda for the next meeting.
Committee Reports:
Supporting membership - Geof reports that he is doing data entry to
the mailing list at present, just keeping things up to date. Judy will
put a sheet in the gallery for people to sign up for the e-mail list to
be notified of shows.
Office organization – members are asked to provide an information
sheet or sheets for the binder.
Artist membership – Betsy says we have room for three more shared
memberships and one open show in an 18 month calendar. Her committee
will begin a search for artists interested in becoming members. If you
know of any one to recommend, please contact Betsy.
Public relations – Peg says we need a new sign outside.
Education – Martha reported that Third Thursday’s are suspended for
the summer and will resume in September. They will meet again soon to
plan another bus trip. Betsy suggested that a Third Thursday related to
the homeless show could be done. Peg will contact the homeless coalition
about that.
No other reports.
Work for the members’ gallery for Geof’s show is due on the 10th and
11th of July. The theme for his show is “Exploring Water”.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:53pm.
Cooperative Gallery 213 - Minutes of June 4, 2007
Dear members, Here are the minutes of the members'
meeting of June 4th. Please note that work for the members' gallery is
due on June 11th and 12th. This work should address the theme of an open
studio. It can be work-in-progress, unfinished and unframed. You should
also consider including a photo of your own studio to be displayed along
with your work. Nancy
Present: Summers, Kendrot, Trapper, Bernstein,
Normile, Colgan, Gould, Ewing, P. Johnston, Williams, Gilligan, Salton
The meeting was called to order by President Joe
Trapper.
Congratulations to Karen Fedczuk, Kate Niles and
Alexandra Davis on a beautiful show.
Minutes for the May, 2007 meeting were approved.
Treasurer's report Geof Gould reported. There
is a bill due for Gorgeous Washington Association for $100.00. There is
also an outstanding bill for ink for printing the brochure.
Homeless show theme Peg Johnston, Joe Trapper,
Cyrena Summers and Susan Kendrot are working on this show committee. The
Homeless show will be opened up to supporting members. Peg has prepared
an announcement calling for entries that will be sent out to our e-mail
list and handed out at the gallery. See below. All members are
encouraged to submit a work on this theme, including collaborative works
and installation.
Many ideas were discussed. Peg says that Marie from
the YWCA will talk to anyone who wants more information about the
homeless situation in our area. Peg will try to arrange for her to give
a tour of the shelters and get a list of pertinent statistics. Janet
Normile suggested a book Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich. The
Glass Castle is another book on the subject that is currently on the
bestseller list. The film Pursuit of Happyness is also concerned with
the theme of homelessness. Janet will look into getting the mental
health players to perform for an event.
Betsy suggested that we all become homeless and sleep
on State Street for a night. Janet reminded us that there are homeless
people in the area who would be willing to talk about their experiences.
This is a consciousness raising show, so works that push the limits of
art are appropriate. The committee will e-mail information about the
show once they have met.
Artist membership committee Betsy Williams
reports that Nancy Ryan is interested in applying for membership. She is
in the process of getting her slides together. We have three half-
membership openings. The committee will notify supporting members and
other artists of these openings.
Office organization Nancy Ewing will try to
revive the efforts to provide artist information to the viewing public.
For the time being, artists are asked to provide current information
about their work and themselves for a single binder. It can be left in
Nancy's cubby in the office. All information should fit in a standard
binder and can include resume, bio, artist statement, photos, etc. If
response is good, she would like to go to a system where every artist
would have their own 1-inch binder that they could fill with information
and maintain themselves. If anyone notices that supplies are low in the
office, please let Nancy know.
Work/duty schedule - Barbara Bernstein will be
taking over the scheduling duties from Bob Johnston. Barbara has
proposed a new system whereby, if there is an open date with no sitter,
it will be assigned to the person who has sat the least and they will
need to sit or pay another member to sit. The rate will be $10.00 an
hour. Barbara will write up a proposal for next months agenda, to be
discussed and voted on at that point. As things stand right now, members
would sit 8 times per year if duties are divided equally. Nancy asked
for a clarification of the requirements for sitting with regard to
membership level. Janet reported that the by-laws state that each member
is required to staff the gallery an equal share of times regardless of
their membership level.
Education/Artist Revitalization Third Thursday
in June will be tied to Susan Kendrot and Betsy Williams show with an
open studio theme. Discussion will be around the workspace, both
physical and mental. There will be a panel of artists to get the
discussion going. For the next show, bring works in progress, unfinished
pieces and unframed pieces for the members gallery. You should consider
including a photo of your own studio to be displayed with your work.
Bring work on Monday or Tuesday June 11th or 12th. Betsy and Susan could
use an old sink to use as a studio sink.
Fundraising Geof has still not received any
responses to his list of fundraising ideas. If you have some input on
this subject, please e-mail him at ggould@binghamton.edu. The list is
attached.
Kitchen Carolyn reported that we will be
serving lemonade and iced tea through the summer. A larger container,
preferably with a spigot is needed to dispense drinks.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:42pm.
Cooperative Gallery 213 - Minutes of May 5, 2007
Present: Janet Normile, Geof Gould, Joe Trapper, Nancy
Ewing, Cyrena Summers, Carolyn Gilligan
President Joe Trapper called the meeting to order at
7:10pm by offering congratulations to Carolyn Gilligan and Bob Johnston
for another wonderful exhibit.
Next, the minutes for the April meeting were approved
with no corrections.
Geof Gould gave a treasurers report. A sincere thank
you was offered to Jane Normile for all her hard work on this
fundraiser.
A discussion of the upcoming show about homelessness
followed. Peg Johnston has contacted the coalition on homelessness and
they were happy to take the August slot for the show. Their purpose in
wanting to have this show is to raise the awareness of the issue in our
area. They are hoping that a show at the gallery will call attention to
the topic. Cyrena has expressed an interest helping to organize this
show, but because of family obligations she will need help to do it. If
anyone can help with it, please let her know. If nothing else a
committee will be needed. Because there is no First Friday in August,
some other events in the gallery may be needed to bring an audience in
to it. Everyone in the gallery should now be thinking about what they
can contribute to this topic. The homeless coalition meets the third
Wednesday of every month at the YWCA.
The planter is gone from in front of the gallery and
before we think about ordering flowers through Gorgeous Washington, we
need to know if it will be returned. Joe will contact Peg to find out if
she knows whether the city removed them and if they would be returned.
First Night would like to know if the gallery would
like to be opened that night if we would like to be a venue. We have no
show up at that time, so it doesn't look likely that we would want to
participate.
There will be a poetry reading at the gallery on
Sunday, May 13th.
Geof is still looking for responses to his lists of
suggestions for fundraising and for rewards for supporting members.
Please take a look at the attached lists and send your thoughts to him.
We still need information on each artist for a book in
the office and Janet made some suggestions about having a flyer for each
artist to be handed out to anyone who inquires. Nancy Ewing says that
the office organization committee will look into this once again.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:07pm
Cooperative Gallery 213 - Minutes of April 2, 2007
Present: Normile, P. Johnston, Trapper, Kendrot, Gould, Salton,
Harford, Williams, Colgan, Arnold, Gilligan, Gorman, Griffin, Ewing
The meeting was called to order by President Joe Trapper who extended
congratulations on behalf of all the membership to Judy Salton and Mary
Rose Griffin on their current show.
In his treasure’s report Geof Gould says that he paid an insurance
premium. Second quarter dues are due now. He will be sending out
reminders to those who have not yet paid them.
Joe brought up the reinstatement of the Members’ Gallery Committee
(otherwise known as the "hanging" committee). Hanging the members’
gallery is still the responsibility of the exhibiting artist. The
committee would be available if help was needed. They would also
coordinate the hanging of special shows. After some discussion, about
whether the committee was actually needed, Peg Johnston made a motion to
withdraw the motion to have a hanging committee. Janet Normile seconded
the motion and it passed by vote.
Joe proposed that we have a theme of homelessness during the June
show, which is Betsy Williams’ and Susan Kendrot’s show. Their show will
involve setting the gallery up as a studio. Judy moved that we use the
gallery space in August instead of the "Hot" theme chosen at the annual
meeting. This show would be opened up to the supporting membership.
Members struggled with the theme, wanting it to be broader. Joe will
present the proposal to use August for the special show to the coalition
on homelessness and get their response. August doesn’t have a First
Friday in our schedule, so they may not find that acceptable. Betsy
seconded the motion. It was passed with one nay vote.
Carolyn Gilligan’s show will have a theme of motion. The members’
gallery will feature this theme. Betsy suggested that the theme for her
show could be "works in progress." Joann Arnold has a show opening at
Orazio Salati’s gallery this month.
Supporting membership committee – Geof reported that we have not
gotten any new supporting members for several months. The committee is
still working on follow-ups for membership renewal. Betsy suggested that
we need a comprehensive e-mail list of people who have shown an interest
in the gallery, including buyers, supporting members, and people who
sign the guest books, etc.
Office organization committee – The committee has not met, but Nancy
Ewing reported that she has put the documents that she has, on the
computer under "my documents". When you turn the computer on , it will
give you two choices to sign in. Choose "gallery members". Then click on
"start", which will give you a menu that includes "my documents". All
members should take a look at the computer and the information on it
when they have the opportunity. She has set up folders for each
committee and for each officer. She has tried to put documents for them
in the appropriate folders. All the minutes are in a folder for
"minutes" titled by date. Any member should feel free to set up a folder
for him or herself. It would be helpful if documents for a particular
member are put in a folder for that member, rather than under "my
documents" so that everyone doesn't have to wade through them to find
the documents of interest to the entire membership. In other words, if
you make labels for your work or type up a statement for your show,
please file it in your own folder.
Nancy will also transfer any information she has about the artists'
membership committee to that folder. Geof's supporting membership and
fundraising documents from the last meeting are in the respective
folders. She has also made a sign for the desk reminding all to keep
food and drink off the desk and away from the computer.
Artist membership – no report from the committee. Bob Johnston will
be joining Karen Fedczuk, Alexandra Davis and Kate Niles in their group.
Danette Matteo has left the gallery. This leaves a half membership
opening. Nancy Ryan has expressed an interest in joining and Susan
Kendrot will get an application to her.
Bob has compiled a list of members who have staffed in the last 33
weeks and the number of times they have done so. If everyone shares
equally in staffing the gallery, each member should have staffed the
gallery 3.8 times in this period.
Marketing – Bill Gorman reports that a press release has gone out
about the bus trip and it has been put on the BCAC calendar. Peg is
contributing to the newspaper "The Bridge" and will take suggestions for
articles. She has put ads for the gallery in it as part of her pledge to
them to contribute.
Gallery maintenance – Steve Harford painted the door taupe and Joe
repaired a section of the floor. Steve is looking into new lighting for
the gallery. He will look at Anam Cara Gallery and Orazio Salati’s
gallery for ideas. Steve will get the necessary information about
lighting options to present to the membership
Education committee – Karen reported that the next three Third
Thursdays will be as follows:
- April 19 – create art in motion, a tie in to Carolyn’s show
- May 17 - art in the 21st century, a tie in to Karen’s group show
- June 21 - the artist’s studio and the creative process, a tie in
to Betsy and Susan’s show
Janet reported that the bus trip has no reservations
to date. The committee must know two weeks before the trip whether they
will be able to fill the bus. They need at least 30 people to run the
trip, but they hope to fill the bus. Spouses of members will pay a
member price for a ticket. The deadline for a decision on whether to run
the trip is April 22nd. If you are planning to go on the bus trip,
please let the committee know as soon as possible. Janet will hold
checks until a decision is made.
Finance and fundraising – Janet mentioned that Geof’s
list of fundraising ideas that was sent out with the minutes in February
has gotten little response. It is important that members let the
committee know which ideas they prefer, because all members need to
support them in order for them to be successful. Please read the list
and send your responses to him (ggould@binghamton.edu).
The list is included at the end of the minutes.
Kitchen/refreshments – no report.
By-laws – Janet reports that the committee has not
been getting input from members about the mission of the gallery. They
need this to prepare information for the website. The committee is
looking at the various editions of the by-laws and trying to bring them
up to date. Responsibilities of membership and voting are two areas that
need to be clarified. Please give some thought to what your expectations
of the gallery and its mission are and send them along to Janet (jnormile@stny.rr.com)
or Susan (rkendrot2@pronetisp.net).
The meeting was adjourned at 9:10pm.
Fundraising ideas for consideration – 2007
The following list of ideas for raising money should be viewed as
options for discussion by the membership and approved, deferred or
dismissed. We should not overextend our members, but we should try some
new approaches to see what works.
Some of the options that are approved will be the responsibility of
existing committees and other options will need to be assigned to new
committees or to individual gallery members. The list represents many
options. A limited number should be selected each year and others
reserved for future years. New options are always welcome for review. It
would be good to see committees working together where feasible. For
example, fund raising and marketing committees might find common ground.
Some ideas for raising money follow:
- Repeat the Marche des Arts next
fall, but begin serious planning by mid-May and solidify a plan of
action no later than early July. Solicit art and other objects at
least a month before the event. Any concerns about repeating the same
format two years in a row should be resolved, but given its success in
2006, it may be a good program to repeat at least once more.
- Conduct the bus trip to NYC (change
the date if possible because of Aubrey’s April wedding) and assess its
value at the conclusion. Develop a brief paper survey for riders to
record their level of satisfaction, concerns, and suggestions for
future trips that would interest them. Or list the trips noted in
items 3 and 4, below, and ask if either would interest those who went
to NYC.
- Add a late summer bus trip to see
any major new art shows in NYC or to visit Kykuit, the Rockefeller
home in Sleepy Hollow, with Picasso tapestries and other fine art, as
well as sculpture and floral gardens.
- Consider a bus trip to Philadelphia
to see the Metropolitan and/or Rodin galleries or a trip farther south
to Chadds Ford, Pa., to see the Wyeth Museum and Longwood Gardens.
Would a stop at New Hope be feasible?
- Consider a music performance with
admission fee and a special art exhibit at the gallery. What would be
"special" needs discussion.
- Seek funding for refreshments at
selected shows, including the student show, from individual patrons or
businesses.
- Consider creating an invitational
art show, similar to the Scranton Artists for Art gallery’s "Small
Art, Big Deal." The donation of many small pieces of art is sought;
either all proceeds go to the gallery or 50% goes to an artist who
prefers not to donate !00% of a sale. Size can be from 6x4 up to
whatever we decide.
- Consider a long-term development
project to involve businesses or professionals (e.g. doctors,
dentists, lawyers, educators) in various ways of underwriting special
programs, including Third Thursday speakers or film rentals, etc.
- Rent the gallery for special events
as we occasionally have done in the past. A price structure that
reflects the benefits accrued by the renter should be created.
- Should we seek contributions from
educational groups for which we run programs (e.g. BU’s Catalysts for
Intellectual Capital to whom I am speaking in the spring) or invite
them free of charge as part of our educational mission? Either way, we
should take time to promote the gallery and the value of purchasing
art or lending support to art and artists in other ways.
- Seek grants for special events,
artist development, art educational programs and research resulting in
talks or demonstrations, etc. The Hoyt Foundation and the Klee
Foundation, locally, are among those to pursue.
- Consider creation of a category of
membership called Patron of the Gallery and charge $500 or more
annually (Note: this is a longer term future option). To justify the
cost, both special purposes and special perks would be required and
delivery of perks and services would have to be done at a very high
level. Both individuals and businesses (represented by one or more
individuals) could be Patrons. They should be offered the following:
- Access to gallery shows at hours
we’re normally closed upon request. There would need to be some
limits to this, of course, but we need to link a special service for
Patrons to the opportunity to extend gallery hours.
- A piece of art, chosen by the
Patron from a group we offer, annually. We could create special
posters, such as the one Mark Epstein created, and frame them. Or,
we could offer a variety of two and three dimensional art objects
created by gallery members. The artist would need to be reimbursed
by the gallery from Patron income. Therefore, we’d have to keep the
cost of an object to the gallery under, say, $200. We can refine
this notion as we go.
- First priority for tickets to
special events, such as the Marche, would go to Patrons. We would
need a critical mass of Patrons to make the perks and services
affordable, but we can’t yet know what that number might be.
- Discounts on the price of art
objects on display by regular (and perhaps supporting) gallery
members, and where requested, delivery of the art to the home or
office of the Patron. We might also include a hanging service, but
should charge a fee for that.
- Copies of any gallery publications
we might create, whether a periodic newsletter of something else.
- Inclusion of Patrons in an annual
written survey of gallery services, followed with a written summary
of survey results to include any proposed actions, either immediate
or for future consideration.
- An annual dinner during normally
closed hours to view an exhibit with background musical
entertainment to express appreciation for their support.
- Create a sale page on the website.
Paypal is easy to get and run. We could feature a few things, and
change them every quarter. Some of the things could be photos, and
Mark’s poster, for instance. We should become more aggressive about
our webpage offerings, but that requires more members willing to tend
the site.
- Add a Starving Artists Dinner and
sell $5 tickets for a spaghetti dinner. Sell more tickets than we have
room for, as some people may not attend. Include a raffle or something
along those lines (being careful to remain legal) with it for the
gamblers. Possibly conduct an auction along with it.
- Sell a picnic lunch in connection
with a trip to a park, or any summer time activity. People will stop
by, get a fabulous picnic lunch (no spoilables?…) with a very classy
artistic box etc. Get reservations so you don’t waste food.
- Lessons with Ada. or any other
artist. Offer well thought out learning experiences that people would
pay for. Split fees between the gallery and the artist.
- Where’s the cookbook? Also possible,
is a perpetual calendar, or anniversary calendar with our gallery
members’ images. In other words it would never go out of date. If we
do a cookbook, can we do an apron?
- Consider a six-month pictorial
calendar to lessen waste of unsold calendars, to keep cost lower, and
to keep program material on it more accurate.
- Develop marketing materials with the
Night Eagle café to highlight them and us together.
- A Valentines Day "Love Fest" at
which "fun cards, T-shirts, jewelry and other reasonably priced items"
would be sold.
- "Chili Bowl" fundraisers, combining
food with a show. We have done that with soup; would chili this time
of year be attractive?
Cooperative Gallery 213 - Minutes of March 5, 2007
Present: Joe, Janet, Steve, Geof, Susan,
Martha, Judy, Karen F.
Joe began the meeting with the introduction
of Maria Colleyacme, Outreach Coordinator of Residential Services for
Binghamton YWCA; Karen Foley, Youth Services Specialist, Broome County
Youth Bureau, and Beth Saxton, Executive director of the Broome County
Youth Bureau.
All of these women represent their
organizations in The Homeless Coalition. They briefly outlined the
purpose of the coalition and their hope to involve the arts community in
raising public awareness of the homeless problem in Broome County.
Discussion by members included the ideas of a theme show in the members'
gallery regarding the topic, photo-journalist exhibit, an installation
within or outside the gallery, inviting other galleries to share in a
joint venture within their own or public space, as part of First Friday
events, special programs at the gallery involving theater and role play.
Topic was tabled for further discussion. The Homeless Coalition meets
the 3rd Thurs. of every month at 10AM at the YWCA. Contact Maria at
772-0340 ext.241 for further info.
Congratulations were extended to Bill for
his work on the Bess Greenberg Show.
Vote was taken and passed unanimously on
Nancy's proposal regarding meeting procedures. It was noted that face to
face discussion should always be a part of any dialog and should be
scheduled on the agenda.
Vote was taken on Mark's proposal to feature
mini shows in the members' gallery and was defeated by a majority of 16
votes to 6.
Treasurer's Report:
Geof reported that the Gallery is in good shape.
Committee Reports:
Bylaws Committee:
Susan reported that responses to request for input about members'
expectations of the gallery are being received and will be used to
review our current mission statement. As part of that review, Janet
requested that members e-mail Susan in regard to how they wish the
gallery to be viewed by the community, i.e. serious, fun, innovative ,
homey, inviting, professional, educational etc. (please do if you can).
Education Committee:
Karen proposed that the committee elect a chairperson and a meeting will
be set to do that. Karen reported that the Bus trip to NYC is set for
May 5, 2007. It will leave from Binghamton Plaza and drop off at the Met
Museum of Art. More information forthcoming.
Maintenance Committee:
Joe repaired donation box.
Other Business:
Geof asked to hang a work of a BU art
student winner of an "Outsider Show" in lieu of his own piece in the
members gallery as a way to encourage BU students to participate and
visit our gallery. No objections were made by those present.
Liz Cohen of the Binghamton Press expressed
interest in a poetry reading at the gallery. Judy said that it would fit
nicely with her show and will contact Liz.
Joe suggested that the hanging committee for
members' gallery be resurrected and its duties expanded. Discussion
tabled and topic to be added to next agenda.
A Lighting Committee is to be formed to
explore new lighting system for the gallery. Anyone who has input,
interest, contact Steve.
Maryrose's
and Judy's show opens March 23. They are requesting help with adjusting
the lighting on March 22. Contact them if you can help. Maryrose's theme
involves moonlight and orbs. Anyone wanting to also address that theme
is invited to do so as part of the Members' Gallery. Please have all
work for members' show in by Tues., March 20.
Caroline's show theme is Motion and anyone
wanting to also address that theme is invited to do so as part of the
Members' Gallery (April)
Next Meeting is April 2, 2007 at 7PM.
Meeting adjourned at 8:30PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Kendrot
