Tonight we discussed an agenda for the next several months worth of meetings.
Nov 12th 10 am trip to Noyse Musem in New Jersey email wca-philly@yahoo.com if you are interested in attending
We are planning a holiday party in December 10th ath Angela Victor's house, friends and family welcom . More information will follow.
The January 10th meeting will be an open crit of slides or work. Bring in 5 slides or 3 pieces of art to the new location at Moore College of Art.
** Collagraph Workshop** January 6th and 7th with Michelle Wilson. Moore information will follow.
February 14th meeting will be creating and exchanging Artist Trading Cards.
February 17th is the WCA conference in New York. For more information follow this link WCA where you can purchase tickets, view the schedule and find a list of hotels as well.
**DUES REMINDER** They are due in January for 2007 Three easy ways to pay:
1. pay pal online at the National WCA site.
2. Download form from website and send it via mail.
3. Bring to a meeting.
The March 14th meeting we will be working on artist statements, resumes, and personal biographies. So bring yours for an update.
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Please note: this page has moved to www.wcaphiladelphia.org. The WCA is a national organization whose mission is to create community through art, education, and social activism, while recognizing the contribution of women in the arts. The Philadelphia Chapter provides a support network for women artists in Philadelphia and surrounding communities. We meet at member studios to network, learn, discuss art and plan shows. All are welcome! Contact us at wcaphiladelphia@gmail.com.
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10 comments:
Hi Sonia,
Looks great!
Thanks for your hard work to get this up and running.
Just wanted to note, the Feb. meeting will be the artcard share, and I think the date was the 13th?
Looking forward to lots more commentary - this should work really well!
Alison
Thanks Alison, I just edited the post to include the Feb meeting.
Sonia
Sonia,
The blog is FABULOUS!
Since the InLiquid site can be updated only on a monthly basis, this will be a way to get info out FAST.
Thanks so much for doing this.
I'm sending out an email with some of the same info, but encouraging members to check in here.
Alison and Sonia:
In regards to Alison's impression of the February meeting: the 14th is correct (that's the Wednesday).
In terms of the national conference in New York City:
It is the College Art Association that runs from February 13th through the 17th. There are some CAA/WCA cosponsored panels during that time. However, the main WCA conference is only one day this year, on Saturday, February 17th. It appears there will be a series of short (1-hour) panels followed by the reception and ceremony for the honorees.
Hi Sonia!
I'm so happy that you're loving the WCA. I knew that you would. It's great to have this blog. We desperately needed one.
I hope to come to the holiday party. I'm in major WCA withdrawal.
Curious about the trading cards...how many are we making? I would love to participate.
Best,
Bonnie
Wow, thanks for all your comments. Virginia, I changed the conference date on the post to Feb 17th, thanks for clarifying. Jane, the trip to Noyes was great and I highly recommend to anyone...interesting exhibits and beautiful space. Bonnie, hope to see you at the party and will have more info on trading cards later.
Sending the info to me is fine, or if you would like to be a contributer send me an e-mail and I will set you up as a "team member" so you can post directly to the blog. Dress Project photos look great, added some much needed pizazz to blog.
Debbie brings up important issues in her email of November 12. (If you haven't read it, please do.) Thanks for opening up the dialogue!
These are my impressions and it would be good if some others could either weigh in:
• We've tried different meeting times and, for awhile at least, the Wednesday nights seemed to be the best. However, I don't think low participation is just a matter of times: our strategic planning meeting (when ideas for the next six months were laid out) was scheduled for a Sunday afternoon because feedback had indicated that this would be a convenient time. Of our 32 chapter members, however, there were only about five in attendance.
I'll point out that for most of the year I can't make the midweek meetings either because I teach out in Lancaster, but that doesn't mean I haven't tried to stay involved. There are lots of other ways to participate long-distance (making posters, doing pr work for shows, etc).
• Of course, it's hard to participate when those who can't attend the meetings don't know what is going on. Email communication has been dismal the past couple of years. Not only have notices arrived at the last minute, but many bits of information have fallen through the cracks. For example, our last exhibit at Highwire could have been much better had there been proper explanations and calls for participation ahead of time. Another example: awhile back, I was ready with two works for an exhibit but was never notified about the drop-off time and date.
Some of the problems have been due to the fact that not all of our active members have computers in their home. Marie Elcin has been gracious enough to use the little spare time she has (between being a mother and working her job in Center City) to squeeze in trips to the library to send out announcements! Thank you, Marie!!
How to improve communication was the major topic of discussion at last week's meeting. For this reason, I have high hopes for the blog that Sonia has spearheaded. Although we've had a website through In-Liquid, there is too much of a time lag in posting to make it useful for upcoming events. MEMBERS WHO CANNOT ATTEND MEETINGS AND WHO WANT TO STAY INVOLVED SHOULD CHECK IN HERE REGULARLY.
Such problems aside, however, it is important to remember, however, that communication needs to go TWO WAYS. There have been numerous times in the past when Michelle Wilson and Alison have sent out email requests (what is the best date for a meeting? what suggestions do folks have for upcoming events? what dates can people sign up to sit exhibits? etc.) and the majority of members have not responded.
• Having a regular meeting place at Moore should also solve some of the other problems Debbie points out. Thanks to Angela Victor we had been able to meet at Highwire for the last two years. However, ALL of the burden for ensuring access to the space lay with Angela. At Moore, the onus will no longer have to be on one member.
• I agree with Debbie that meetings should start on time; those who arrive late can join in at that time. But let's remember that it is better to be there late than not to partcipate at all! This means, however, that the leadership needs to take responsibility for being on time AND HAVING AN AGENDA READY TO GO. The past few meetings I attended had no agenda . . . For this reason, we have planned topics for upcoming meetings so that members will know what is going to happen.
• The only way to open the decision-making process and for the chapter to function more smoothly is for more members to be willing to assume leadership roles. In the past seven years, perhaps seven or eight members have traded elected offices and/or have taken on specific projects for the other twenty four. They are getting burned out and this has been part of the problem!
I'm a little worried that the tone here is getting into a blaming game. I think there were just a number of instances when folks weren't getting the e-mails we sent out, which is part of the problem with e-mail! I think the blog is the perfect place for keeping up the conversations - as long as we remember to keep it civilized!
For those of us who are getting burned out (and also dealing with life changes, like going back to school), we could really use some show of enthusiasm from the rest of the group to keep us all going. It's hard to be a cheerleader when no one's playing the game. Virginia is great in saying: This is your organization, make it what you want it to be!
For instance, we need momentum for planning upcoming shows and projects. And thank you Diana for the great write-up from the magazine!
Hi,
Virginia, thanks for posting your replies. It was the only reply I'd seen, and I have thought a lot about what you have written. For clarification, I am reposting the original message here. I originally hesitated to publish it, since the blog is not friends-only, and I consider this the group's 'private business'. However, I feel it does help in relation to your response.
In response to the later comments, I believe it is possible to discuss the past in terms of things we'd like to change in the future without the conversation deteriorating into insults. I agree that keeping things civilized will help us keep the dialogue open.
Main points of the original message, many of which have been addressed in Virginia's reply:
1. I mentioned months ago that the meeting times are inconvenient. Although this is the Philadelphia Chapter, some members travel over an hour just to attend a meeting. I am one of these people, but a cursory glance at our membership will reveal others.
2. In the past, I have experienced major communication issues upon arrival for a designated meeting which compounded the issue of simply attending. The issues I refer to here are probably hammered out by now but include: no one being present at 6:30, and no answer on the cell phone of the person running the meeting or anyone else involved (upon calling to find out what's going on), doors being locked so you can't get into the meeting place, no one around, no meeting at all upon arrival, meetings that had no clear content: for example a meeting just for the sake of holding a meeting, no clearly established list of topics to cover, no clearly established time or organization to hanging shows, being chided by a fellow member for arriving at 6:35 when in the past meetings did not begin until 6:45 (which incidentally was a useful cushion for commuters), and other inconvenieces which prompted me to consider whether or not I should attend, even when my schedule permitted.
3. People who do not attend the meetings have had no idea what is going on. This is not a new issue. As recently as the past few weeks, I was asked about a trip that I didn't even know was being held, and directed to a flyer which I had not yet received. I see how the new blog can be a useful tool, but I am again suggesting more extensive use of email. I appreciate the emails that have gone out, and thank Virginia, Allison, Marie, and anyone else for their efforts. If not for these recent attempts, members unable to attend would still be in the dark.
4. What I am suggesting is that decisions are made with an active attempt to include all of the members. If everyone has an equal voice, it would make sense to attempt to include all of the current paid members in the decision making process. I am proposing that this process be opened via email. Many decisions are made far enough in advance that a week's deadline for an email response is not unreasonable.
Just the one change of including everyone in the decision making process might help achieve the goal of participation and enthusiasm.
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