Board Minutes July 17, 2024

Board Meeting – July 17, 2024, 9:00 am – Creative Art Center
Our Mission is to develop, promote, and encourage an interest in the arts.
Board Members present: Kristi Kuder, Ann Smith, Judi Celaschi, Shari Prigge, Sheryl Olson, and ex-officio member Debbie Ness.    Absent were David Beddow and Vaness Sellner.

​The agenda was reviewed with the introduction of the performance committee added.

Minutes:  Ann moved to approve the June board meeting minutes; Sheryl seconded.  The motion passed. 

Financial report:  Ann and Debbie reviewed the financial report with the Board.  Judi moved to approve the financial report; Shari seconded.  The motion passed.

Administrative Report:  no update

Old Business: no update

New Business:
Business Manager:  A committee including Debbie, Cheryl, Vanessa, and Kristi will meet and report back to the Board with recommendations for hiring a business manager.  A Grant from Western Center has been submitted for funding the position and is pending approval.  The Board recommended advertising immediately for the position.

Phone System:  Ann researched upgrading the phone/internet system with Arvig, including adding a line for CAC and answering service.  A 3-year contract will have a small savings. Ann will get a second quote from Park Region.  Shari made a motion to move forward with expanding the phone system; Sheryl seconded.  Motion passed.

CAC Open House is scheduled for July 26 from 3:30-7:00 pm.  The committee has established activities for the day and is recruiting volunteers.

Member/Volunteer Recognition:  An event is scheduled for Wednesday, Aug 21 from 5:30-7:30. Sue will research potential venues.  

Youth Board:  Kristi presented the idea of establishing a Youth Board.  The benefits would be having student resources to support special events and potentially become AOTL members.

Committee Updates:  
Gallery:  
Sue is contacting members who said they would like to volunteer and determine where we could use them.
The Gallery will receive a refresh July 29-31.  There are now three venues for displaying and selling member art:  AOTL Gallery, CAC and Good Samaritan.  Members can display 2-3 pieces depending on size in the Gallery, and one to two additional pieces at CAC and/or Good Samaritan.  New artwork is requested by July 22.  

CAC
There has been enough interest in ceramics to indicate we could make the ceramic studio a maker space.  
Community Zentangle 2-day workshop is Aug 2 and 3.  Events

Studio tour:  The sign for the Hwy 210 corner will be put out today.  Brochures continue to be distributed throughout the town.  Press releases were submitted to area newspapers.   Artists scheduled for CAC will be set up on Thursday.

Art & Craft Affair:   Sixty-two have registered for booths.   Volunteers have been secured for setup.

Prairie Lakes Plein Ari (PLPA):   23 have registered.  The deadline to register was July 16.  Open class is still available.

Phelps Mill:  an events coordinator and purpose of the booth needs to be established before next year.

Wenonga Days:   AOTL will participate in the parade.  Debbie will make a sign for the car.

Fundraising and Grants: 
The Western Central grant for $2, 000 was received.  Activities for “The Great BL Turnover” are scheduled for one week, September 14-21.  This includes the Unity Project for the community.  
The Cabin Fever Reliever for $20,000 was granted for events scheduled for February 2025.
The Shavlik grant for $50,000 designated for the digital studio and video workshops, is still pending.
The Fundraising Committee consisting of Kristi, Sue, Ann and Shari will schedule a meeting to discuss needs and establish plans.

Marketing:   Makenna and Shanna have been working on the stART campaign.  Kristi also participated on a Springboard of the Arts panel at a recent state meeting and was able to promote the Creative Art Center and Art of the Lakes.

Membership:  there are 153 paid active members and 50 inactive.

Education:   
Shari reported on scheduled workshops.  The deadline to register for workshops is 48 hours in advance.  
It was recommended that a standard message be added to the workshop confirmation email that they could save on the fees when taking multiple classes if they became an AOTL member and add the link to the website to join and to all the events.

​Performances:  the new committee includes Lisa Olson, Brian Wynekin and Ann Hermes.   

Shari moved to adjourn. The next Board Meeting will be on August 21, 2024.