Elgin Arts Association^™

The Elgin Arts Association met at 7:00 pm., October 16, 2008 at the Elgin Public Library. EAA President Michael Strange was unable to attend due to a work-related commitment. In his absence, Vice President Greg Silkenson presided over the meeting. For those of you not able to attend, you missed a very enthusiastic meeting! Though the meeting lasted just over an hour, as you’ll see from the following, there was a lot of great discussion!

Greg called the meeting to order and as acting Treasurer, provided the Treasurer’s Report. There is currently $368.11 in the account.

RECENT EVENTS

EAA Weekend of Workshops
The Elgin Arts Association recently hosted a "Weekend of Workshops." Sarah Page, Chair of the Events Committee, gave a report on the event. This was a "pilot program" conducted by the Events Committee. The committee members (Sarah, Ava, Elizabeth and Lynette) all put a lot of effort into the event, which was planned and instrumented with a very short timeframe. Though not all classes offered for the weekend filled, we managed to hold two classes – a polymer clay class instructed by Lynette Hampton, and an adult watercolor class instructed by Elizabeth Sullivan. The polymer clay class "students" were the Events Committee members and one other student (note from Lynette – thanks for your support, ladies!). Scholarships had been awarded for two of the classes; however, one of the scholarship students was taken ill and was unable to attend. The adult watercolor class had six students, and a great time was had by all. It was noted that several events had been held that same weekend which may have affected attendance. Now that the Events Committee the pilot under their belt, they have already begun planning a second Weekend of Workshops to be offered in 2009. The 2009 WOW will likely be held in September.

Artist Day at Design Access
As you may remember, back in August Shirley Kivell provided contact information for Ruth, the owner of Design Access, indicating that they were interested in hosting artists at their business. Elizabeth Sullivan was instrumental in coordinating this effort with Ruth at Design Access. Elizabeth is currently out of town, so Nancy Lou provided a report on the event, with additional information provided by Frank Brabec and Mary Glover. Ten artists from Elgin participated. The exhibits looked FANTASTIC! Though attendance was somewhat low, this was a great publicity opportunity for those who participated. Future plans are for Design Access to host one or two artists each month in the hopes of making this a regular event. The busiest day for them is Tuesday, so the Artist Day will likely be held on a particular Tuesday of each month. We will keep you updated on future plans for this event.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Pearls Art Show – October 23
Cheridah Vaughn gave an update on the Pearls Art Show and encouraged everyone to attend opening night. Pearls Art Show is always a fantastic event, and this year a live auction has been added, with auctioneer Melissa Rackel. Speaking of the auction, if you’d like to donate an item, be sure to act quickly. Donated items can be delivered BY TUESDAY to Kingfisher Art & Music. The auction supports the Pearls scholarship fund, and your support (through donations or through bidding on items) is appreciated. The Pearls Art Show coordinators would appreciate volunteers to help serve refreshments. For volunteer opportunities, contact Cheridah at cheridah@mail.utexas.edu or call 281-3805. Note: We received a message from Cheridah regarding food for the artist reception for the Pearls Art Show. This year’s hors de oeuvres will be "pot luck" style. If you’d like to bring light finger food to share, the show coordinators would appreciate it!

Hogeye Festival – October 25
Great news! Events Committee member Ava Barker informed us that Mark and Ernie, owners of the Owen Bogart Building (previously Bremond House Gallery), have agreed to allow us to use the building to host indoor artist spaces during the Hogeye Festival! This opportunity will be available to ALL artists. The building will be available Friday evening for artists to set up. The question was raised regarding the cost to participate. For EAA members, a small donation of $10 would be appreciated. Artists who are not yet members can participate for $25 and will be provided with a membership form. The $25 will be applied to membership for 2009. These donations and new memberships will help the association fund new opportunities for the upcoming year. Remember – EAA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. As such, donations are tax deductible. (Want to participate? Email lynette@lynettehampton.com for more info. Participation information will be provided in a separate email Sunday, October 19. We realize this is short notice - the opportunity was just recently presented. Watch your email for information on how to participate.)

Art Walk – November 8
Be sure to reserve your spot for the November 8 Art Walk! To participate, email your information, including location preference, to lynette@elginartwalk.com.

Holiday by the Tracks – December 6
Lynette met with Barry Perez earlier in the day to discuss the details for the Artist Showcase at this year’s Holiday by the Tracks. The Artist Showcase will be at Memorial Park on Saturday December 6. Barry will be the point of contact for participating artists. Artists will have the option of participating from 10:00 am-5:00 pm, or from 10:00 am-8:00 pm. Setup will be from 7:00 am – 9:30 am. All booths will need to be set up by 9:30 am. The booth fee this year is $35, payable to the Elgin Main Street Board. Lynette encouraged everyone to participate in order to make this a fantastic show. (Participation info will be sent in a separate email in the next few days.)

CANDIDATES EAA BOARD POSITIONS
Greg turned the floor over to Nancy Lou Webster for the next agenda item, announcing candidates for election to the Board for the 2009-2010 terms of President and Secretary, and filling the vacancy of the 2008-2009 Treasurer’s term. (Thanks to all of our Nominating Committee members - Nancy Lou, Ava Barker and Elizabeth Sullivan.) Nancy Lou announced that the committee puts forth the following candidates for the November election:

Treasurer: Elizabeth Sullivan
Secretary: Sarah Page
President: Lynette Hampton

With regard to her nomination for Secretary, Sarah Page commented that the current secretary would be a hard act to follow, but she’ll be dedicated, will pick up the ball and put her "own touch" to the association communications. (Note from Lynette – Thanks, Sarah! We know you’ll do a GREAT job!)

Nancy Lou mentioned that a candidate for President should be prepared to state their goals for the upcoming term and had asked that Lynette do so. Lynette mentioned some preliminary goals, and some long-term goals. These goals include establishing strong relationships among ALL artists in the community – by working together we can accomplish many great things and bring arts to the forefront in Elgin. Lynette is also committed to working with city officials to garner more support for the arts. She would like to see the association become more involved in the community – one way to accomplish this goal would be through establishing a Mentor Program. Through the program, volunteer artists would spend time with a promising art student or an "at-risk" student to help encourage their creativity. She would like to see artists work with the school districts to provide presentations to art classes. She would like to see an EAA "official" newsletter – this was a plan during the first year of the association that didn’t materialize. She would like to see EAA establish a scholarship fund, with one scholarship awarded to a graduating high school student and one awarded to an adult wishing to continue their education in the arts. Funds could be raised in 2009, with the first scholarships awarded in 2010. Lynette would also like to work with art supply stores to obtain discounts for EAA members. Another idea is to work with area art groups to have a collaborative BEST (Bastrop, Elgin, Smithville, Taylor) Art Show, gallery trail, or studio trail. And wouldn’t it be GREAT if we had a non-profit gallery/arts center? Lynette said all of these things could be accomplished, but they won’t happen overnight, and they won’t happen without work. We will need volunteers to make these things happen – no one person can do it alone. Lynette finished by saying that, if elected, the agenda for the January meeting will be dedicated to goal setting, brainstorming and planning for the upcoming year.

With the presidential candidate goals stated, Nancy Lou mentioned that she and Lynette had met earlier that day with Dennis Sheehan, Economic Development Director for the City of Elgin. Their discussion focused on reviving the concept of using art as an economic development tool for the downtown historic district. Lynette stressed to Mr. Sheehan that Elgin has a valuable resource - the artists in our town. Several ideas were discussed regarding opportunities to fill some of the empty buildings, including a possible artist co-op gallery, a non-profit arts center and recruiting an art supply business. Lynette asked Mr. Sheehan what we could do to get this rolling. Mr. Sheehan asked Lynette to gather some information regarding the number of artists interested in a co-op gallery, and where artists purchase their supplies. The artist info will then be used to formulate incentives that the city might be able to offer; the information on where they shop for supplies would be used to assist in recruiting an art supplier to our community. (Watch your email for an "Artist Questionnaire" to be sent in the next couple of days.)

Greg asked attendees if there was any other business. Frank Brabec reminded everyone that there is space available for individual artists on the EAA website (www.elginartsassociation.com). To date, only 8 artists are represented on the website. Artist listing on the website is a benefit of EAA membership. To participate, email an artist bio and a couple of photos (jpg files set to 72 dpi) to dwarner@embella.com. Please put "EAA Artist for Website" in the subject line. Though Dave and Deborah have relocated far away from our little town, Dave still volunteers his time to maintain the website for us. (Thanks, Dave!) If you have any questions about submitting your info, you may contact Dave or send an email to Lynette at lynette@lynettehampton.com.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:15 pm.

The next meeting of the Elgin Arts Association will be 7:00 pm, Tuesday, November 18 at the community room of the First National Bank on Highway 290. Elections will be conducted, so everyone is encouraged to attend. Please remember that nominations may be made from the floor at the November meeting, and that you must obtain an individual’s permission to nominate them. Membership must be current in order to vote. Membership is current through December 31, 2008 for those who joined the association when it was formed. If you are unsure of your membership status, please email lynette@lynettehampton.com. Not yet a member? Request a membership form by email, or you can download the form from the Elgin Arts Association website at: http://www.elginartsassociation.com/join/join.htm.

Dues paid between now and December 31 will provide membership through December 31, 2009. Yes – that’s over 2 months free! Support the arts in Elgin!

A notice will be sent in advance of the meeting. We hope to see everyone November 18!