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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-07-28 Arts Culture Commission MinutesEdina Art Center Board Meeting Meeting Minutes City of Edina, Minnesota Edina Art Center Studio 14 July 28, 2011 4:30 P.M. I. Call to Order Mr. McCabe called the meeting to order at 4:32 pm II. Roll Call Members Present: Bill McCabe, Ruth Valgemae, Dana Lappin, Hafed Bouassida, Renee Usem, John Swon, Thomas Raeuchle, Kitty O'Dea, Barbara LaValleur, Colin Nelson Members Absent: Maria DePesa, Thea Zerbe Staff Present: Diana Hedges, Phil Johnson, Michael Frey, Sandra Shaughnessy III. Approval of Meeting Agenda Mr. McCabe asked for corrections or additions. No corrections needed and Introductions were added as an addition to the agenda. Agenda was approved by consensus. A. Introductions Kitty O'Dea introduced herself as an Edina resident since 1996, a previous member and student of the Edina Art Center and finds the Art Center to be a great resource. She stated she would like to re-kindle the relationship and become more involved with the organization. Ms. O'Dea's background is in advertising and marketing and public relations and would like to bring that skill set to assist the Edina Art Center. All members present introduced themselves. IV. Adoption of Consent Agenda A. Approval of Minutes The minutes of the Regular Meeting of June 23, 2011 as distributed were approved by consensus. V. Community Comment No members of the community were present, only board & staff. VI. Reports A. Edina Public Art Committee Report Ruth Valgemae reported for the Edina Public Art Committee. An invitation was extended to the board for the "Meet Your Sculptors" reception at The Square at Grandview on August 17, 2011 from 4-6:30pm. The event will feature three artists that have work displayed at the square, Perci Chester, James Gabbert and Judd Nelson. There will be no formal program or P.A. system; however the artists will have tents to display small pieces for sale. Light refreshments of donated cookies will be served by voluntee'rs. The 10 piece Somewhat Dixieland Band will provide entertainment. Sondra Smalley is organizing the event, handling the publicity and will provide Diana Hedges information to be distributed by e-mail to the Art Center mailing list. Information had been sent to the Sun Current. Announcements and invitations will be distributed at all three Grandview Square resident buildings, the Edina Senior Center and the Professional Building. Tom Shirley of Parks & Recreation has been notified and a tent cover will be set up. The Edina Public Art Committee (EPAC) voted on a designing a user friendly map for sculptures on the Promenade and Grandview Square including convenient parking locations. EPAC voted to produce a book featuring EPAC accomplishments. Barbara LaValleur will contact artists involved. If approved, several sample copies of the book will be published. Ms. LaValleur is generously donating her services to assist in the publication of the book Ms. Hedges reminded board members to mark their calendars for Saturday, September 10, 2011 at 2:00pm for the Bicycle Mosaics Dedication. This is a collaborative project with the Bike Edina Task Force. Lois Ring, EPAC Chair will meet with artist Adama Sow, Tim Colby and Diana Hedges on Wednesday, August 10 to discuss placement of mosaics, and installation will occur within two weeks after that date. B. Edina Film Festival John Swon reported on the Edina Film Festival presented by the Edina Art Center. Tradition Capital Bank had pledged support as a sponsor bringing the total of pledges to $9,700 excluding in-kind donations. Only pledges have been secured at this time with no actual monies received due to the start-up of the festival. The biggest challenge for the event continues to be Landmark Cinema with rent set at $700 for a two hour time block for one screen. An additional $150 daily marquee rental fee is required, and Landmark retains all concession proceeds. Tickets would be sold for $10 and Landmark retains 3% of ticket sales. All fees to Landmark are to be pre-paid. Opening night and closing ceremonies have been eliminated in an effort to reduce cost. In addition, a plan to reduce and shorten the number of screening hours had been proposed, and the current schedule of 24 hours of programming could be cut by reducing the number of days films are screened or the number of hours per day. Mr. Swon reiterated one of the major hurdles continues to be potential sponsors understanding the nature of a new film festival. As the event has not occurred before, no actual numbers are available to increase sponsorship. A meeting will be held the week of August 1st by the film committee as they approach the make or break point. A scaled down event might still provide the basic outline of the festival at a reduced cost and offer a baseline for the future. Barbara LaValleur asked for a one paragraph description of what the film festival is for individuals not entirely aware of the festival; where the event is held, films, etc. Kitty O'Dea asked about the objective of the film festival. Mr. Swon replied it has two parts: one was promotional for the Edina Art Center, and the second was to raise awareness and funds for the Art Center. Ms. O'Dea asked if films shown would be art related. Mr. Swon replied that they would be independent in nature with no celebrities. Ms O'Dea stated that in her application meeting with the mayor and city council that attention to the school district would be helpful and could this be tied in with the film festival with an opportunity for showing student films. Mr. Swon stated the festival is scheduled for October 20-23, 2011 and would not coincide with MEA. Mr. McCabe reiterated the need for a GO/NO GO decision from the film festival committee meeting on Wednesday, August 3rd, 2011 with Mr. Swon. C. Members' Juried Show Renee Usem reported on the 27th Annual Members' Juried Show. The event is sponsored by the Edina Art Center Board and Ms. Usem extended a reminder that the expectation is for 100% participation from board members. The opening reception is Thursday evening September 29th, 2011 from 5-8pm. Thanks were extended to committee members who had been meeting every week on Tuesdays from 12:30 to 1:30pm. A special thank you was mentioned to Heather Randall King and Linda Jacobs for their efforts. Ms. Usem distributed the 2011 Juried Show key dates schedule: September 7th, forms and fees due; September 19th, bring-in day; September 22nd, judging day; pick up non-selected pieces if the artists wish to on September 23rd; opening reception on September 29th and pick up day at the end of the show on October 26th. Ms. Usem spoke of a new promotional idea, the BBB or Brown Bag Browse. The BBB's are a new concept to bring additional viewers to meet with artists on Friday afternoons. The concept promotes the mission statement of the Art Center to allow new and seasoned artists to show in a safe and supportive environment and allow new entrants an experience to speak about their work and create dialogue. Mr. Bouassida inquired about why only Fridays for BBB. Ms. Usem mentioned starting slow on this new idea for the Art Center with Board member Dana Lappin volunteering to host the Brown Bag Browse afternoons. Ms. Usem explained that the Juried Show committee is on schedule with all key items; judges have been selected, judges will select 75-90 pieces, hanging space has been determined with the objective to hang on the first floor only of the Art Center with no pieces hung in the lower level. Discussion of the Media Studios as overflow hanging space offered mixed viewpoints. Ms. Usem stated that the team is on track with the call for entries. Ms. LaValleur had offered to take on P.R. for the event and press releases would be sent 10 to 15 organization. The Ways & Means committee had approved solicitation of businesses at The Galleria of in-kind donations with the exception of two businesses. Board members will have specific duties for the reception. Ms. Usem requested specific donations in-kind of live music, three patio flower baskets, a bouquet of flowers for the food table, and a balloon arch. Colin Nelson offered his free services with music for the event with his jazz band. D. Ways & Means Committee Bill McCabe reported for the Ways & Means committee. The Ways & Means committee is a committee of the board and is a coordination of all fundraising activities for the Edina Art Center. A meeting was held July 19, 2011 at 4:30pm at the Art Center as the Juried Show Committee had requested approval to approach some Galleria businesses for merchandise donations and paid promotional space in the Juried Show program. Following discussion of the Juried Show committee plans, all Galleria business with the exceptions of Tiffany (EPAC) and Pittsburgh Blue (Film Festival) were approved for Juried Show contact. In addition, Mr. McCabe reported that the Juried Show committee had asked each Art Center board and Juried Show committee member to identify individuals and businesses that they would contact using the Juried Show solicitation letter presented at the June 23rd, 2011 EAC board meeting. A list of members and prospective donors was distributed, discussed, amended and approved for solicitation. Ms. LaValleur inquired as to how additional names were to be handled. Mr. McCabe replied that names would be sent to Ms. Usem and also verified by e-mail through the Ways & Means committee. E. Membership Dana Lappin reported two dates had been set for visits to clubs identified from the April 2011 Volunteer Recognition dinner. Phil Johnson of the Peggy Kelly Media Studios would speak about the media studios and Ms. Lappin would speak about membership. The first date was August 9th with a presentation to Edina Kiwanis requesting a full hour presentation. Mr. James Bentley of the Kiwanis had joined as a member of EAC. The second date is in September speaking to the Edina Garden Council. Ms. Lappin reiterated the request for board members to add five new members each. Ms. Lappin spoke of service by board members in the hopes of helping the Edina Art Center succeed. Ms. Lappin spoke of the amount of time she was able to spend at the Art Center and see first-hand how the organization operates, and the dedication and hard work is given by employees. Thomas Raeuchle spoke of the need to identify a baseline for membership and identify a percentage of increase in a period of time as a goal during the budget period. Ms. Lappin mentioned that membership had been flat for several years and was now changing under her leadership and direction. Statistics were still being compiled. Mr. Raeuchle asked for the current number of members of the Art Center. D. Hedges replied that it varies due to the expiration and renewal of memberships. D. Lappin added that the database is out of date and cluttered with old entries. D. Hedges said it would be possible to provide an exact number as of a fixed date. August 15th was mentioned as a reference date. A number of approximately 1100 members was mentioned. Ms. LaValleur asked about the process of identification of new members by individual board members. The second item Ms. Lappin discussed was board participation at Openings and the Juried Show and the need for Greeters, Food, Guest Circulation and general mingling. F. EAC By-Laws (Continued) Mr. McCabe stated that there had been no communication form the City on by-laws and that the Art Center was operating under the existing by-laws and the item would remain on the agenda. VII. Correspondence and Petitions Mr. McCabe stated that no correspondence had been received. VIII.Chair and Board Member Comments Ms. O'Dea offered her services to the Membership Chair with her extensive experience in customer acquisition and retention. IX. Staff Comments A. Director's Report Ms. Hedges reported on Gallery events with the next show being Journeys — Healing through Art with the opening reception on Thursday, August 11th, 2011 from 5-8pm. Ms. Hedges presented notes on the by-laws to be discussed at the August 2011 board meeting. Ms. Hedges suggested making revisions to the by-laws with board approval, sending the information to John Keprios, and then having the information presented to City Council. In addition, information is needed regarding the Long Range Planning Committee to present to City Council to make the committee official. Mr. McCabe noted that the by-laws state that the board has a responsibility for long range planning, and the chair may appoint a committee as needed. Mr. Raeuchle recommended that the committee be formally approved by the council and Ms. Hedges was in agreement. Ms. Hedges spoke of board members requesting specific information of board member duties detailed in the by-laws. The fees and charges will also be presented at the August meeting, and board members will vote on the staff recommendations. Mr. Raeuchle asked for the number of class registrations for the current year. Ms. Hedges mentioned 7223 but cautioned that the number was approximate. X. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned by the Chair at 5:43 pm. Xl. The City of Edina wants all residents to be comfortable being part of the public process. If you need assistance in the way of hearing amplification, an interpreter, large-print documents or anything else, please call 952-927-8861 72 hours in advance of the meeting.