November 3, 2013 Meeting Notes

Present
Kristin Osgood Lamelas 

Eva Preston
Cathy Demarco
Ebony Collier
Debbie Miller
Emily Schnellbacher 

WCA PHILADELPHIA | Re-organization Meeting Minutes" November 3, 2013!
2-3:30 PM"

Location:
Moore College of Art & Design, Faculty Dining Room " 20th & the Parkway"
Philadelphia, PA 19103"
Current State of the Chapter
Introductions.

Kristin Osgood Lamelas called the meeting to order at 2PM and thanked everyone for coming. She introduced herself as a West Deptford High School high school graphic design and photography teacher with a one year old baby who, although she doesn’t have much time or space to make art right now, didn’t want to see the chapter die. Kristin earned her MFA from MCAD in 2011. She attended one WCA meeting prior to having her baby. She set up meetings for the WCA- Phila at MCAD through Belena Chapp. Everyone agreed that we wanted to revive the WCA and that’s why we were all present. "
Emily Schnellbacher heard about WCA years ago through the rag doll project and always wanted to get involved. She is originally from Indiana but now lives in Philadelphia and is a recent MFA graduate of PAFA who works with fabric and installation art. She has a studio in her home. Emily volunteered to be secretary for the WCA as soon as she joins. (yay!)"
Eva Preston has been active with WCA for the past year, going on two years, however she has also been in “babyland” with her 2 year old grandbaby. Preston gave insight into the ups and downs of the chapter during her time there and concluded that we need more food and fun! She offered to be the VP of Fun. :) She is an active member of the Dumpster Divers and she works with paper and recycled materials in her paintings, masks, purses and prints. She recently showed at the Philadelphia International Airport and entered the China show through WCA. She sent a digital file of a piece that will be printed and displayed if chosen."
Cathy DeMarco is a film and media high school teacher in Vineland, NJ. She has a studio space in Hammonton, NJ and has been making lots of work. In fact, she has recently begun producing a series of hand painted scarves. Preston mentioned a show that Cathy should enter and Cathy noted it. (I obviously didn’t, sorry!) DeMarco mentioned she wanted to network and show more and branch out of Hammonton. DeMarco volunteered to run for the Membership & Publicity Committee."
Ebony Collier also lives in Philadelphia. She is a current member of WCA and was sad to hear that it was about to dismantle. She is an artist who works in acrylic and makes abstract paintings. Collier mentioned that she began an interview with Manufactured Dissent (an artist interview blog) and never submitted it. (Neither did Kristin Lamelas) Perhaps we should follow up on this! "

We decided that since many members were Philadelphia based it would be best to hold meeting in the city, possibly at different places like cafes or bowling alleys (although Hammonton is accessible by train if we decided to do studio visits there).!
Debbie Miller also has a studio in Hammonton and is friends with Cathy DeMarco. She works as a graphic designer by trade but is a painter by passion. She is interested in networking and finding out more about the WCA. Debbie volunteered to run for the New Media and Design Committee."
We spoke with Laura Petrovich- Cheney on the phone. She said one of the best events she did with WCA was the juried show at Holy Family College. It was curated by Karen Love Cooler. Laura helped hang the show. She also mentioned Eve Washington and a group show with the Maryland and Virginia chapters."
She said there was a studio visit arranged with Diane Rykus that everyone was excited about. She was going to do an encaustic demo and have a pot luck dinner. However Hurricane Sandy forced the cancellation of this event and it hasn’t been rescheduled. This is something we could revive. Kristin also asked Laura if she would be open to a studio visit and Laura was agreeable to this idea."
Laura has an upcoming show in New Hope, PA called Works in Wood. We wish her luck!"

Membership
Everyone needs to join or renew their membership by December 31, 2013. If you join now, your membership will be good until December 31, 2014. As a member, you will enjoy many benefits, such as having access to The Art List (a $27. value) which is an exclusive list of exhibition opportunites, Fractured Atlas (health insurance), the Artblog.org (artist registry group WCA group listing) and The Sandler Art Database (put your work on a database). Also, your website can be linked to the national WCA
site and you will have the opportunities to exhibit in shows nationally and internationally! "
We decided that the Blog, Facebook and Twitter should be used to promote members. Member spotlight, promote member shows. "
Mailchimp goes out to members only- so any exclusive shows should be posted there and not on the blog, twitter or Facebook. Minutes and meeting reminders could also go out via mail chimp if that is agreed upon. "

2013-14 Calendar Dates
November 3, 2013"
December 8, 2013"
January (TBD- perhaps a cafe)"
February 9, 2014"
March 9, 2014"
April 6, 2014"
May 4, 2014"
June 8, 2014"
*Future meeting dates should not conflict with Moore’s calendar and should be submitted in a formal letter with at least 6 months worth of dates to Belena Chapp- our contact at Moore).!
Monthly Meeting Topics

(TBD)"

Possible Venues and Media to Explore

• Debbie Miller mentioned Trenton Art Works and Art All Night. We could submit a proposal for a group WCA show."
  
• Eva Mentioned galleries on Avenue of the Arts, bookstores, the Perelman Center and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. (We were all very excited about the prospect of showing at the PMA and highly encourage Eva to pursue this lead!)"
  
• Cathy DeMarco mentioned the open calls at Philadelphia City Hall."
  
• University of Penn and Holy Family College has worked with WCA in the past.
  Bonnie has contact info."
  
• Eva Preston mentioned approaching women’s magazines to be published in such as
  Cosmopolitan and Moore. Debbie said More is another magazine that could work."
  
• Emily suggested we approach the ArtBlog and the City Paper with any shows we
  organize or news we want to share since they are more connected to the Philadelphia
  art scene. "
  
• Cathy DeMarco mentioned Vagina Monologues in February and there would
  probably be lots of opportunities around this time for women to exhibit as it is close to
  women’s month."
  
• Eva Preston mentioned the United Nations International House- possibly a show
  opportunity in March."
  
• Kristin encouraged all members to post any leads or ideas on the Facebook page
  so we can all see it."
  
• Manufactured Dissent- blog interviews"
  
• GYST- software for organizing artwork, shows, contacts and mailing lists."
  

Guest Speakers
• Kristin Lamelas mentioned possibly inviting Sharon Louden for a book signing of her book Living and Sustaining a Creative Life. More info here: http://
 www.sharonlouden.com/book_projects.shtml" 
Event Ideas for Meetings

• Eva Preston suggested a Material swap- bring in art materials to share. You could post your wish list of FB or the blog."
  
• 10x10 Bring in 10 of something, make a piece using the materials everyone brings in"
  
• Visit to the Sculpture Gym in Fishtown http://philadelphiasculpturegym.com/artwork/ " 2195764_Location.html"
  Special note: 
  December 5th at Moore there will be a Studio Conversation with Asuko Goto, Sreshta Rit Premnath and Jose Ruiz in the Stewart Auditorium from 6:30-8:00 PM."
  Homework (for the next meeting December 8th at Moore)!
  
  1. Potluck. Bring food/ drinks and get ready to party!"
     
  2. Member Spotlight biography (please write a paragraph or two with photos of you
     and your work for the blog- they can either be posted as I receive them (krisosgood.com) or we can pull names out of a hat and post one a month on the blog, FB and twitter and send out Mailchimp if ok with everyone) "
     
  3. Please bring in a piece of work or a photo of your work (or show us on the website) so we can get to know you and your work."
     
  4. Bring leads or ideas for show ideas and/ or leads to venues we can show at."
     
  5. In honor of the holiday season, bring a re-gift gift. Don’t buy anything! Find
     

something that you were given as a gift that you want to regift. "
• Kristin is going to print copies of our brochure for all of us so we can promote the

WCA wherever we are and try to build membership. "

2013-14 Elections (voting will take place at December 8, 2013 meeting)"

Executive Board!

A travel stipend is available each year to the member who represents our chapter at Chapter Council at National Conference in February (alternates between New York '13 and Los Angeles '14.)!
President Elect- Kristin Osgood Lamelas
Participate in chapter leadership, apprentice and train with the current board for a position 2013-2014. Organize and oversee meetings, check in with all members and committees. Leads meetings, sets agenda, maintains and regularly updates the Blog, the Facebook Page and sends out Twitter announcements."
Vice President Elect (aka VP of Fun)- Eva Preston"
Come up with fun ideas for our meetings to keep members involved. Not responsible for any type of computer related things. Community outreach as needed (talks to other chapters, contact for exhibitions: U Penn, Moore, Campus Philly, Plastic Club, Holy Family, Girls Gotta Run, etc. ): Bonnie can help you get our contacts there as our plans evolve. NY and DC chapters are open to joint exhibitions."
Treasurer- Virginia Maksymowicz"

Secretary Elect- Emily Schnellbacher
Takes notes during meetings, sends out minutes (to all members- Mailchimp), posts minutes on blog (should we? no- we decided meeting info should only go to members), update social media as needed."

Officers

New Media and Design Committee Head Elect- Debbie Miller
Film an exhibition opening, photograph a studio tour, create postcards or brochures ex. Performances at "Plastic" at the Plastic Club were filmed and photographed."
Membership and Publicity Committee Head Elect- Cathy DeMarco
Write a press release, interview members for blog posts, welcome new members on Facebook, send out membership cards, or attend networking events and give out brochures. Updates the Blog, the Facebook Page and sends out Twitter announcements as needed."
Exhibitions Committee- all members
Curate an exhibition, find new venues, or help hang exhibitions. Needed: a chair for each exhibition to help weigh out the responsibility ex. Gender Games at International House Philadelphia Helpful: At the Campus Philly mixer, Moore has offered us interns.

Contact Belena. Campus Philly can also get us interns. Generosity.org can offer us Skill Based Volunteers (adults). Again, I can give you all the contacts"
Programming- all members!

Plan or host a studio visit, workshop, performance or speaker ex. Rachel Lloyd "Girls Like Us" talk and book signing at F&N Gallery"

 I found these job descriptions on the blog. These are other ways to divide the work. Does any one of these appeal to you more? Perhaps they should be separated as below. Suggestions?

Membership Committee:"

Recruits new members, maintains a list of current members, and sends welcome letters/membership cards to new members. Some computer skills would be beneficial."

Web Committee: maintains and regularly updates the Blog, the Facebook Page and sends out Twitter announcements. Works closely with Exhibitions and Publicity Committees. Computer skills necessary.

Publicity Committee: writes press releases, maintains a contact list, and promotes Chapter events. Works closely with Web and Exhibitions Committees.

Exhibitions Committee: identifies exhibition possibilities and coordinates shows. Works closely with Web, Publicity and Fundraising Committees.

Fundraising Committee: identifies and pursues sources of income to support specific activities. Works closely with Exhibitions Committee and Executive Officers.

Don't forget to include your committee leadership on your resumes and CVs. We appreciate your commitment to keeping our organization the active and thriving group it is today!"