Board Minutes Mar 2023

Board Meeting  March 14, 2023   9:30 am CST   Zoom/Gallery
Our Mission is to develop, promote, and encourage an interest in the arts
Board members present included Kristi Kuder, Judi Celaschi, Shanna Cramer, Sue Kalseim, Ann Smith, Kathrine McDowell and Mary Jo Wentz.  An additional attendee was Debbie Ness.

The agenda was reviewed and the task to clean and organize the Gallery basement was added.  Mary Jo moved to approve minutes; seconded by Ann.  Motion carried.

The Financial Report was presented by Debbie.  It was recommended that a budget or spending statement be created going forward.    Mary Jo moved to approve the financial report; seconded by Judi. Motion carried.
     
Old Business 
Committee Updates 

• Art & Craft Affair:  Debbie reported that registration is open.  She will be sending out a postcard to past vendors in near future.
• Building:  no update
• Roof update:  no update
• Fundraising-grants:
  • The grant from Minnesota Arts for $21,500 was approved.  This grant will cover the expenses for Leadership Retreat, and two paid positions which are for communications and a volunteer coordinator.
  • The Blandin Grant will support the hiring of a program manager.
  • The proposal submitted for an LRAC grant to cover summer workshops is pending.
  • The Department of Transformation grant for the Unity project is also pending. 
• Gallery: the cleaning of the Gallery is scheduled for April 26, including the organization of the basement.  New artwork will be received on April 27.  The Gallery will open on May 6 from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.
• Marketing: Kristi, Shanna and Kathleen will meet next week to plan a seasonal event brochure.
• Membership:  a communication reminder will be sent out to the members.
• Plein Air:  registration is open.   Shanna requested that the awards be reviewed and approved. 
  •  The Glendalough Board will promote the Plein Air event in their communications, however unable to financially support an award.
• Studio Tour:  registration is open.    
• Workshops:  A standard fee for workshops has been established; $25 for a half-day workshop for non-members; $20 for members, and $40 for a full-day workshop for non-members; $35 for members.   Funding from grants will cover the difference for instructors requiring a higher fee.

• Technology Update:  Tom Kuder received approval from Google this week enabling the implementation of Google Workspace.  He will proceed with the transfer of data from Asana to Google Workspace.  
  • Debbie will submit a proposal to the Board to compensate Tom Kuder’s past, and potentially future, time spent on the technology upgrades for AOTL.  
  • AOTL has received a donation of an office printer.  Debbie will provide an acknowledgment statement that the donor can use as a tax write-off.
• Art Center Name:  A motion was made to name the new center the ‘Creative Art Center’.  
  • As a fundraising initiative, a Call for Art’ communication will be sent out to the membership.  This is a request for artwork to be used as gifts for donors.
  • A Board brainstorming session on fundraising is scheduled for March 23, 6:30 pm CST.
• Endowment: Ann has outlined the endowment opportunities which would provide ongoing financial growth for AOTL.  The decision on whom to work with is still pending.
• Student Art Exhibit:  Because of the inability to get a date commitment from the Battle Lake School, it was decided to postpone the student art exhibit for this year.  However, Mary Jo will discuss with the Underwood art director the opportunity for a future regional student art exhibit.
• Legal Counsel:  Ann is arranging a meeting with Jean Urban, a non-profit lawyer.
• Railroad Park:   Kristi and Debbie will meet with the city to discuss utilization and maintenance options under the current lease, which will expire in 2024.

New Business 

• Board members:  Through the recent membership survey, some members expressed interest in serving on the AOTL Board.  Because AOTL is a working board, it was recommended that a questionnaire outlining a Board member’s role and a question in what capacity they feel they would most likely be serving to be sent out.   Debbie and Shanna to create and send out the questionnaire.
• Art in businesses:  Mary Jo reported that the Battle Lake Inn is interested in hanging artwork.  Mary Jo will pursue further to see if they are interested in purchasing artwork for their rooms.
• Art Donations:  Sue made a motion to accept Lucy and John Norman’s artwork as a donation to AOTL; seconded by Kathrine.   Procedures are to be drafted outlining the acceptance and processing of any future donations.
• Leadership Retreat:  Kristi will contact Kathryn Stein to conduct two sessions.  Sue and Mary Jo will organize the retreat for May 17 at Glendalough Park.
• Membership Meeting:  Scheduled for May 16, it is recommended to hold the annual membership meeting at the Church and have it catered.  Ann, Kathrine and Shanna to make the arrangements.

Mary Jo moved to adjourn the meeting; seconded by Sue.    The next official Board meeting will be on April 11.