2010 AGM Minutes
Livessence AGM April 10 2010
Start: 12:55
18 members present
10. Art trade
Reports:
Drawing sessions seem to be going well. Our attendance has really increased from this time last year which is very good. Word has gotten out through Artwalk and our various exhibitions, and the videos done of us by Joe and Cindy on Youtube have really elevated our status in the community as an art group to be taken seriously.
For Long Pose sessions the first Saturday of the month, if the attendance drops (less than 6 people) then this will be an indication that the majority of membership do not want them. I am thinking of instituting short pose sessions, once every month or every two months, where the longest pose is ten minutes. I would like to get feedback on this.
Monday evening
Bonnie Sheppard has been instrumental in getting these sessions going and maintaining them! Thank you to Bonnie, I am sure that when you leave to go to New Zealand to ski, that someone will step up and continue the organization. For everyone who is not aware, Monday drawing sessions are longer poses, 630 to 830 pm. These sessions must have a minimum of 6 people to run, dropins welcome.
Models
There is a very delicate balance between artist and model in a drawing session and I’m getting more requests from people who wish to be models. I’d like to think that is because we treat them so well. Some hiccups earlier in the year, but I think with a compassionate/empathic attitude this has been fixed.
Requests
All Livessence members are welcome to contact me to set up private modelling sessions – they are required to pay all costs such as room and model fee which is currently $20/hour. If you wish to take pictures to work upon later, you must negotiate that with the model themselves, usually it is $25 a pic. Some models charge this, others do not, but you need to ask first. Other costs associated with the model is a travel fee of $10 if they come in from Vernon or Penticton.
If you have requests such as costumes, or themes, please send them to me in email juliatrops@gmail.com, and I will do my best to accommodate.
Thank you to everyone who has been coming to drawing sessions and really pushing your boundaries!
1. Artwalk (Sept) – The call went out to the membership for submission of the Artwalk display with a $10 fee per piece submitted. 13 artists with 70 pieces of art submitted to our Artwalk booth in 2009. A hanging committee of 5 volunteers set up the display in the hallway, along the windows on the way to the large gym. We used 30 of the grids which were backed with black vinyl table cloths to block out the sun from hitting the pieces from behind. Plus, a large table displayed our promotional material surrounded by easels of larger pieces. Volunteers signed up to be gallery hosts over the weekend and three pieces sold. All-in-all, with the great exposure, the show was a success.
2. Unlimited Holiday Art Show (Nov) – The decision was made by the executive to apply for Bonnie Anderson’s Artisans of the Okanagan Holiday Art Exhibition and Sale instead of having our own holiday show in the RCA atrium, done in previous years, to take advantage of a larger network and advertising with this particular show. We booked the Galleria and the executive also decided to remove all restrictions with this show meaning no fees, no size limitations and opened it up to non-members for a minimal fee per piece. With a cancelation of another artist’s show in the Galleria, the RCA allowed us to hang a couple of weeks early so the show would be exhibited for longer than the original intended weekend. 27 artists with 119 pieces of art submitted. With a hanging committee of 5, the show took 5 hours to hang and looked fantastic. Volunteers signed up to be gallery hosts over the weekend. The exposure was great and because of this show one piece sold after the weekend.
Looking Ahead – There is the opportunity for possibly 4 shows in 2010 – July 17-18, the month of August in the Galleria, Artwalk in September and Bonnie’s holiday show in November. Because the shows are very closely scheduled this year, the executive has decided to have one call and one theme to umbrella all 4 shows. This way the same show will move from venue to venue. The proposed theme is “Stick Figures” with the premise to engage the public as most people often claim they can only draw stick figures. This will, hopefully, open new creativity in the interpretation from the membership, as well as, intrigue the public with this spin on a simple subject. This group of shows will be juried with a guaranteed acceptance of at least one piece per artist. As a bonus offering, there will be a book published of the artwork in this show for sale at Artwalk and the holiday art show. The call will go out with lots of details towards the end of spring with the submission deadline of June 15th. So over the next few months, be sure to plan your “Stick Figure” artwork and watch for the call!!
Other Opportunities
- Grid Rentals – Livessence owns 40 grids that can be rented out for your personal art shows with a discount rental fee for the Livessence membership. Contact Rebekah at rjwilkin@telus.net.
- Critique Artwork – Looking for an outside opinion on your piece of artwork from artists who know? Critiques offered to FCA members. Or, upcoming, monthly critique nights to be held at Studio 113, RCA. Open to anyone. Contact Anjy at netnob@shaw.ca for more information.
• Re-design of Livessence Brochure, several printings already done
– another revision coming soon in 2010 – to update misc. information
• 2009 Holiday Art Show marketing material designed and printed. Will be used
again for 2010 with required revisions and date changes to be made
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- rack card
- poster
- playbill
• Request for poster to be designed for RCA letting non-member know that Livessence is open for drop ins
So what is drawing session etiquette? Well, what follows is a fairly general list, but one that seems to work very well for Livessence:
- Be prepared. Check the calendar if it is long pose or short pose or costumed pose. Bring the materials you envision you will need. You are welcome to bring oils, acrylic, any dry material, clay etc. The only requirement is that there is no odours ie bring odourless materials. The room can not be opened for air once a session has started.
- You come to class about ten minutes before and get set up so that when drawing session starts, you are ready to go. This is for your benefit, not anyone else’s.
- Use the late door for entering or exiting once the session has started.
- During the set up time, see if you can make contact with the model and tell them of any projects you are working on, to see if they can give you the specific poses you are looking for.
- During the session, the model will usually ask if there is anything specific the artists would like to see – use this time to communicate to the model (if you haven’t already) about your requested pose(s).
- Talking or not talking is up to the people who are there. If the majority are not talking, then consider keeping your chatter to a minimum.
- Bring an ipod or other music device with earplugs. Please try not to sing, or dance.
- Bring all your own materials.
- During break, feel free to talk to other participants, ask about their methods, consider trading materials if it comes up.
- Be respectful of break times.
- Keep personal comments to a model to a minimum or not at all. Consider viewing the model as a member of royalty far above you, and you should be grateful and feel lucky to draw them.
I don’t think there is ever a problem in erring on the side of politeness and respect, in any sort of dealings.
Be polite. Be kind. Just because you are the artist, you are not above the model, they are not your servant.
Remember, the model ALLOWS you to draw them.
Sandra Bradshaw: Introduction of potential workshop in experiential anatomy.
Ralf Rohrlack and Pat higgins have both expressed interest in co-ordinating monday nights when Bonnie Sheppard leaves
Our Board and other volunteer positions:
Note about volunteer positions….. Livessence is a very diverse and active group; it is what makes us dynamic and exciting! If you can consider giving a few hours of your time(a year!!) that would benefit your group tremendously.
Please see the descriptions below to see how you can contribute. Rather than having one person (or two or three) do everything, we want to have small jobs spread across a spectrum of individuals. The time committment is less, and each member is a valued contributor to the whole. If you can not make the Annual General Meeting, and would like to take any of the jobs below please send an email to Christina, our current secretary at livessence.society@gmail dot com.
About the Executive meetings:
Meetings are usually once per month and they last about an hour. Usually held on a Saturday afternoon from 1230 to 130 pm, but this can change depending on the needs of the current executive. Collectively, the executive reviews expenditures, sees what is happening for the year for the membership, encourages growth of the society and benefits for the membership.
At an Executive meeting, required positions are President, Vice, Secretary, Exhibition Chair, Communications Chair, nice to have would be Workshop Chair, and Session Chair depending on time of year and activities. Not all volunteers are required to go to the Executive meeting.
One or two more meetings (in addition to Executive) are held around exhibition times such as Artwalk, Holiday Art Show and Galleria shows. Not all members of the executive are required for these.
Description of positions:
President: Calls meetings, sets agenda, chairs meetings, provides direction as needed (about an hour a month plus executive meeting time.)
Vice President: back up for President in case not available, chairs meetings when President not available, actions items in support of the President (about an hour a month including executive meeting time.)
Treasurer: currently filled by our paid treasurer Sheri Hopp
Secretary: types minutes, gets agenda out to the Executive, takes care of forms as needed, creates and updates membership list in documents as well as email addresses, ensures forms in the binder for sessions (about an hour a month plus executive meeting time)
Exhibitions (some of these positions will not be needed depending on the type of show)
1. Coordinator – acts as Chairman. Applies for the show, makes the plan for the grid placement (if grids are required) This is a crucial position and requires active participation and dedication.
2. Curator: Installs the artwork for the exhibition (about three hours during exhibition time)
3. Grid handyman (transports, sets up and takes down the grids) – should be more than one person, hopefully three or four (about two or three hours during exhibition time)
4. Volunteer coordinator: makes the schedule to have our members man the shows (about two or three hours during exhibition time)
5. Label coordinator: makes the labels for the exhibition (about two or three hours during exhibition time)
6. Registrar – registers artwork coming in, including fees and gives labels to artists for their work, records artwork going out (about two or three hours during exhibition time)
7. Lighting manager – installs and removes lights at the exhibition (if needed) (about an hour during exhibition time)
8. Livessence Boulevard curator – sends emails to members to change work, makes labels (about an hour a month)
Workshops
1. Acts as Chairman. Looks for instructors for workshops, communicates with them re: time/price, passes this info to the Communications coordinator (about an hour a month plus executive meeting time)
Sessions
1. Acts as Chair. Books models and rooms for life drawing sessions (about an hour a month plus executive meeting time)
2. Extra sessions coordinator – looks for other opportunities for life drawing sessions ie ballet or vineyards, gives info to person in #1 (about an hour a month)
3. Trains models as needed (about three hours per model, as needed)
4. Coordinates the public drawing sessions such as Arts and Music Festival in July (formerly Life and Arts in May) as well as Evergreen (Nov)
Communications
1. Acts as Chair. Newsletter – coordinates with the secretary to turn minutes into newsletters (about two or three hours as needed – usually every quarter unless there is a lot of activity)
2. Website liason – updates website with new info such as shows, member information etc, lists our events on websites (list provided) (about two or three hours as needed)
3. Designs graphics for use in Newsletters, website and Vistaprint. (about two hours as needed a few months prior to exhibitions)
4. Vistaprint coordinator – does vistaprint ordering as needed for shows (about two hours as needed a few months prior to exhibitions
President: Tina Siddiqui
Vice President: Dianne Schnieders
Secretary: Christina Leinemann Knittel
Treasurer: Sheri Hopp
Sessions: Julia Trops
Exhibitions: Rebekah Wilkinson
Marketing: Tina Schnellert
Workshops: Sandra Bradshaw
Communications: open
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