JANUARY 2024 MEETING MINUTES

WHEN: January 20, 2024 9- 10:45 AM

WHO: Membership; 23 members in attendance (listed at bottom)

WHERE: Buzz Ware Village Center

Jill Althouse-Wood ran the meeting

Review of Goals of the Retreat (Of which this meeting was a part) In Bold is the part of the goals relating to the AAC Meeting

    1. Set our intentions for our individual creative practices

    2. Set an agenda for collective initiatives for 2024... and beyond.

    3. Define leadership and support roles for the AAC

    4. Hear speakers that will inspire us and help us grow in our practices.

    5. Best of all...an opportunity to socialize and network with other artisans in your community

2. Review of AAC Mission statement

THE ARDENS ARTISAN COLLECTIVE nurtures artist/artisans at all levels (professional/hobby/student) through educational activities and events; uses the arts to enhance community-building within the Ardens; and magnifies the visibility of Arden artisans outside of the Ardens community.

3. Review  of AAC activities in the past 16 months since our inception 9/2022 Arden Fair Kick-off

Sept2022—Arden Fair Booth with raffles to start off funds for our website

        Website ardenartisans.com kicks off

Dec 2022—Small Art Show and Winter Market for December Art Loop at Buzz

Jan/Apr/Sep 2023—Artisan Socials at the Buzz

Feb 2023—Social Media Workshop

Apr/Nov 2023—Afternoon with the Artist in conjunction with ACSM

Sep 2023—Arden Fair Booth with 7 artists participating in a group booth representing the AAC

Dec 2023—Small Art Show for December Art Loop

Jan 2024—Arden Artisan Retreat with Meditation, Journaling, Meeting, and Speakers

4. Financial Report—The financial report is now published on our website. Go to the Members tab and find it in the dropdown. Jeanne Orr has been handling this out of a bank account in her own name. Cookie Ohlson helped her create the report.

5. What initiatives are already scheduled for 2024

Feb/May/Aug/Nov 2024—Afternoon with the Artist with ACSM

Feb 2024—Youth Artist Exhibit at Buzz (Not really our event, but we endorse it.)

Mar/Apr 2024—Curated AAC Earth Day Art Show at Delaware Center for Horticulture curated by Jill Althouse-Wood and Betty O’Regan

Jul/Aug 2024—Curated AAC Show at Baby Grand. Curated by Megan King and Jeanne Orr

6. Jill presented what she sees as the strengths of the group

A. Arden Community. We know how to volunteer and work in groups

B. Legacy of the Arts in the Ardens.

C. Diversity of membership with varied skill set

D.Area organizations (tapped and untapped) with whom we can allign

7. Jill presented what she sees as the challenges of the group

A. Lack of leadership structure and group organization

B. Supportive Framework (Places to meet, Infrastructure, Banking)

C. Diversity of membership with varied skill set and needs (a strength and a weakness)

D.Volunteer wrangling/fatigue

8.  Future Scheduling for 2024 and beyond

A. What additional initiatives do we want to set for 2024 and Beyond

1. What has been successful that we want to do again?

2. Are there things we have done that we want to remove from an agenda?

3. What do we want to add to what we are doing?

B. We did breakout groups and reconvened. The following points came out of the breakout groups.

          1. We all agreed that the website is primary for our group

          2. Stuart Craig invited us to think about our activities in terms of Needs/Approach/Benefit/Competition. Stuart says that most people come in with energy and ideas in the approach category but neglect the other categories—specifically—what need are we fulfilling?

          3. Stuart also mentioned that for each idea or activity we propose, we need a champion or it won’t get done.

          4. Jill reminded the group (more on this later) that we need the infrastructure (Building, location, technology, finance) to support the activities.

          5. Stevie Nolan’s group listed many area places that are interested in displaying/showcasing art: Phi Hair Design, Balance Chiropractic

          6. A call for better communication—social media in particular. Perhaps a Private FB group where members could discourse online

          7. Get rid of requirement that people live in the Ardens to join our group.

C.  Suggested activities that the group was excited about

          1. Artisan Socials

          2. Website with a searchable directory of what each artisan does

          3. Designated Gallery Space

          4. Arden Fair Booth

          5. Spring Show before Mother’s Day

          6. Workshops

          7. Field Trips

          8. Showing outside the Ardens

          9. Walking studio tours of the Ardens

          10. Public Art in the Ardens

D. Public Art: Bethany Rees talked to the group about possibilities for public art and public art funding in the Ardens. She has ideas and contacts, but doesn’t want to represent all artists. She was looking for input. The enthusiasm is here with the group.

E. Questions: What leadership do we need to oversee our plan? What resources, infrastructure do we need to execute the plan? Do we have enough volunteers to carry out our initiatives

9. Jill’s two proposals

A. To bring the AAC under the umbrella of the Arden Gild

B. Vote in a 5 -person steering committee of AAC commit to serving in 2024 with the following objectives

1. Meet Monthly

2. Facilitate the execution of the agenda

3. Recruit members to champion items and in support roles

4. Approve spending and budgetary items

5. Pursue Path to the Arden Club if membership votes for it.

6. Bring details of becoming a Gild to the membership to vote on it for final approval

10. Thoughts on joining the Arden Club

The Arden Club’s Mission: The Arden Club is dedicated to the enjoyment of and the participation of the arts, learning, and other cultural pursuits. Regional in scope, the Club offers educational activities and events run by groups called "Gilds". These operate in their particular fields of interest to provide a varied and rewarding community experience. As part of its mission, the Arden Club preserves and maintains the Gild Hall, a historic building, which is the center for the Arden Club programs.

    1. Joining the Arden Club would address some of our challenges: leadership structure, lack of infrastructure (Banking, space to meet), communication (Club Calendar goes out to a large audience), Larger membership to support the diversity of activities our group members need, larger volunteer base, ability to apply for grants, Funds for programming at the ready.

    2. Other advantages: We could still partner with other organizations within the Ardens. It would give the Arden Club a much needed Visual Arts Arm. And a way to show arts influence/leadership in the region. Link from the Club Website to ours. More eyeballs

    3. Drawbacks: Oversight of a Board who may not agree with us, Have to cook a Gild Dinner (Jill doesn’t see this as an issue. She cooks a dinner anyway.) Cannot raise money for other entities like youth scholarships (bc all money must go to club.) Possible watering down of the brand of Arden Artisans

11.  VOTE:

    1. 7 people volunteered to be on the Steering committee and members in attendance decided that all 7 people who want to serve should be on the steering committee:  Jill Althouse-Wood, Megan King, Linda Toman, Cookie Ohlson, Stevie Nolan, Shay Seaborne, and Rachel Kantner

    2. The Vote to pursue becoming a gild was 17 yes to 6 no. As this was a clear majority we will move in that direction, but come back to membership after we have more details to make the final decision

In attendance: Jill Althouse-Wood, Betty O’Regan, Megan King, Stevie Nolan, Sharon Bousquet, Will Ramirez, Sadie Somerville, Bethany Rees, Shay Seaborne, Annette Hearing, David Gerbec, Bev Hawkins, Lindsey Sherwood, Rachel Kantner, Jeanne Orr, Linda Celestian, Lon Sullivan, Mhairi Craig, Stuart Craig, Cookie Ohlson, Linda Toman, Lee Hoover, Janet Williams