February 1, 2010 MINUTES & FOLLOW-UP ACTIONS

WEA Minutes & Follow-up Actions: February 1, 2010 . These minutes will be posted on the website. http://westendarts.blogspot.com/ as well as emailed to our regular mailing list. Please review to determine if you’ve made a commitment to the larger group.
February 1, 2010
Padgetts, 7 P.M.
Next Meeting, Thursday, March 4, 2010,
DeGidio's Restaurant
www.degidios.com
425 7th Street West
Saint Paul, MN 55102
(651) 291-7105

Attendees: Sarah Prentice, Lia Rivamonte, Mattt Brown, Makea McCoy,
Halle O’Falvey, Michael Padgett, Steve Murray, Deb Fisher, Sheila Dickinson, Kim Berry, Maryellen Murphy, Paulette Myers-Rich, David Rich, Nance Derby, John Davidson, Marty Hicks, Rachel Gorski, Jason Gorski, Deborah Padgett .

westendarts@fortroadfederation.org
website: http://westendarts.blogspot.com/

First order of business was discussion of attempts to hold an Iron Pour exhibit at Dave Thune’s Gallery. Matt, Nance, Jason and David Rich will decide together who will call David Thune to find out if this opportunity exists. Will report back to larger group.

Second, June 19 Art Sale to be held in the Federation Yard. Halle O’Falvey will display quilts on the line to create a line of demarcation for the exhibit. There will be booths available. Halle is the point person. Contact her at: halle.ofalvey@yahoo.com The show will be first come, first serve due to limited space. WEA owns a pop-up canopy that can be put to use at this exhibit. The exhibit coincides with the West End Gardeners show.

Third order of business: Art in the Gardens: Troubadours, Spoken Word, Plein d’aire painters wanted. Attendees were asked who might be our representative to attend West End Gardeners meetings. Deborah mentioned that Kent Petersen said he would connect with her and with Nance shortly about WEA involvement in Garden Show, Deborah said she expected to attend future meetings or West End Gardeners since she and Michael’s property will be a participant in the show.

There was discussion about having a plaquard created to denote the presence of artists in the garden and make visitors aware of our existence and purpose. Marty Hicks offered to come up with a concept and maybe make some markers. Will report back. 12 to 15 gardens are featured in this show.

We then discussed an exhibit opportunity at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church. Mary Esch established contact with Tami Wold who requested the show and has turned the opportunity over to Nance and/or Deb to pursue. Michael and Deborah offered to check it out, meet with Tami, look at the space and come back to group with a proposal. {Michael and Deb have a meeting scheduled with Tami Wold on Monday, February 8 at 9:30 AM. She seems to still be enthusiastic about a WEA show} There was some discussion introduced by Lia about the inclusive/exclusive nature of exhibits WEA pursues. There are varying points of view on this which were discussed. Lia thought further about what she had wanted to say and sent an email to Nance, Deb, Paulette & David on Tuesday morning. I add the contents of that email as an addendum to these minutes*.

The WEA Guidelines have been finalized and accepted by the Federation. Rachel and Nance will post on web.

Grants information was discussed. There are upcoming opportunities. Paulette mentioned the Legacy $ available from the State Arts Board. Check their website for further information.

Lia Rivamonte raised some questions about our status as a 501C. We are a committee of the Federation which is our parent or umbrella 501C. She also suggested maybe someone would want to pursue further opportunities for exhibits at Mississippi Market, perhaps with a theme of “Sustenance”. Kim and Mary Ellen expressed some interest in reconnecting with Mississippi Market and will contact Mary Esch to learn who the contact person is.

Other exhibit opportunities were mentioned, among them, The Day by Day Café, contact person there: Jeanie.
The W7th Business Association meets at 11 AM, Feb 4… Seems there will be some discussion of Public Art. Held at United Family Medical. Halle will attend and report back. Nance has some information on the mission…

The above concludes the formal business of the meeting/salon. A full-scale party ensued with the final participants leaving the premises in a magical, moonlit snowfall.

FOLLOW UP ACTIVITIES IN RESPONSE TO FEB. 1 MEETING ARE:
1. Rachel Gorski is prepared to upload approved guidelines to blog for easy access for all WEA participants: This document, which was carefully drafted and refined by numerous volunteer contributors and reviewers, and approved by the Fort Road Federation, describes in detail:
* WEA's mission
* Group membership (open to everyone) and coordinator/assistant roles
* The process of proposing and producing a show, and the roles to be performed by everyone involved in the show
* Communication standards (e-mail, Web sites, etc.)
* Basic etiquette within the group, at group events, and at any event where you represent the group
2. The Padgetts met with Tami Wold, Curator for Gloria Dei Lutheran Church Gallery. They will submit a proposal based on WEA Guidelines via email to WEA members. Because Gloria Dei would like the show to open mid-April and run through May, 2010, there will not be a chance to discuss the proposal at a monthly meeting. There is a necessity to move quickly to accomplish inclusion in church calendar. We will try to accomplish all this business via email communication.

3. Padgetts attended West End Gardeners meeting on February 10. Gathered information on needed publicity, deadlines, contact persons for sale at Federation and garden artists, troubadors, etc. MARY ESCH has graciously offered to coordinate artists in the gardens and appropriate publicity. She is in touch with the appropriate parties and will send an email via Coordinator and Co-Coordinator to recruit interested parties. The deadline for inclusion in the catalogue is the END OF FEBRUARY (THAT’S THIS MONTH) so, once again, this will have to be accomplished via email communication rather than at a meeting. As discussed at our Feb 1 meeting, Halle O’Falvey will work with West End Gardeners on the plant and art sale. Marty Hicks will propose a plaquard pointing to the artists in the gardens.

• Addendum:
Hi All:

First, a huge thanks to the Padgetts whose gracious hospitality was much appreciated and thanks to Nance for continuing to coordinate and facilitate these meetings. It was really a fun time and I learn more about everybody and the neighborhood every time we meet.

I don't seem to have the whole email list but this message is intended for everyone (West End Arts). I've been thinking about what I said last night and want to lend some clarity to my ideas about the exclusive vs. inclusivity of exhibition opportunities regarding the group as well as grants and any other opportunities available to groups or individuals who identify as a member of West End Arts. (It may just be that the guidelines eliminate the need to say any of this--if so, sorry.)

Exhibition Opportunities: Re: Miss. Mkt.: whomever wishes to show there be it a group or individuals should take it upon themselves to make contact with Miss. Mkt. Whether it is set up as a 4-wk showing or whatever time is allotted, it should be one of a variety of chances to get exposure and possibly sell work for members of the group (whether it is exclusively West End Arts or not is up to the Co-op.) If there are funds to print PR and Marketing materials from the West End coffers, all the better. Otherwise, it is up to the individual artist or artists to communicate, curate, market, install and take down the work. If there are funds to help with reception costs ($40-$50), WEA should help. WEA should agree to support the artists(s) by spreading the word via email marketing, social networking, the Federation and attend the reception. If it is a show in which there is a general Call for Artists that includes the whole WEA, i.e. posted on the website, emailed out, etc. then a WEA Team should be appointed (or self-appointed). This team will recruit volunteers for further support and take care of PR and marketing, help install, arrange the reception and de-install the work.

If in the case of a venue like Gloria Dei, Deborah and Michael, who stepped up to the plate, should be able to do a show under the auspices of WEA in a way they feel most comfortable. However, the mission of WEA must be considered and if only a few artists are going to be involved I would argue that there should still be a public Call for Artists with the understanding that only 2 or 3 will be selected to exhibit along with Deborah and Michael and that this work will be selected with criteria created by the volunteer coordinators (they are the ones who volunteered their time and energy, after all). I really don't think that it should be a done deal who will participate if it's under the auspices of WEA. It would make WEA seem like an exclusive group that does not offer opportunities to the entire community of artists.

If there isn't already one, I suggest that an Exhibition Guidelines be created for those who undertake the coordination of a show. There would be a few differences between a general Call for Artists show and one that an individual would need to help him or her with this planning but it would be helpful.I would be glad to help out with this.

The only other thing I would add is: I think it would be a good idea before every meeting to state WEA's mission. I think there is a tendency for some artists to get hung up on the idea of selling work. This, of course, is an important goal for many of us but it should not be considered the main goal for WEA as a group.It is only one reason to come together. There are lots of others. Let us remind one another why WEA exists and keep in mind the larger vision.

If there are grant opportunities for WEA participants, they should be listed on the website; if there are exhibition opportunities down the road, they should be listed, if there are shows coming up involving West enders, there should place where these things are prominently placed on the blog (or re-iterate that people are welcome to announce their stuff. So that no one person is stuck with the job of updating the blog site, make sure to invite people to participate in this. Another suggestion: publish the meeting agenda.

Best,
Lia