GUILD BOARD MEETING
OCTOBER 9, 2013
President Rod Passmore called the meeting to order at 9:30 am on Wednesday, October 9, 2013.
ATTENDEES:
Rod Passmore, Susan Kolman, Jack Brock, Cathy and Hank Short, Shelley Mowry, Diane Leonte, Linda Hefter, Reta Severtson, Pat Kilburn, Richard Borgmann, Sue Snyder, Judy Pykare,Jerry Bryan and Dave Newark were present.Mark Scarp, Liaison to the Heard was also present.CarolGunn was absent.
PRESIDENT’SREMARKS:
The Director of the Heard, James Pepper Henry stopped by prior to the meeting to say he would not be able to attend as he was on his way to a meeting of the Consortium of Native American Art Museums in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Rod thanked DianeLeonte, Mary Endorfand Jaclyn Roessel for the wonderful EducationExchange that washeldonMonday, October7th.It started the new season off for Las Guias members and is in place of Tune-up.Eighty-two people attended and enjoyed the presentations by Museum staff reviewing upcoming exhibits.It also included a panel with young Native American artists, Thomas“Breeze” Marcos, Andrea Preston and Jacob Medors, who talked about their craft, the Heard Museum and the future of both.It was a great day and enjoyed by all who attended.
Rod informed us of the changes in off-site storage and the fact that almost all of our things have been brought to the new storage area located in between MonteVista and Security.This will make it easier to keep track of our properties and will substantiallyreducethe amount of money spent on storage. Joey Stillman of Accounting will be working further with us to help on thisissue.All that remains is one storage unit that has some things that are part of the Library Book Sale.The consolidation of Guild equipment will save approximately $12,000 a year.Rod thanked Cathy and Hank Short for their assistance.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
A motion was made by Jack Brock and seconded by Dave Newark to approve the minutes from the September 11, 2013 Guild BoardMeeting.It wasapproved byall.
TREASURER’S REPORT:
Treasurer Jack Brock reported that the Treasurer’s accountstotaled $104,598 as of September 30, 2013. Of this, $31,691 is available cash.The Special Funds includes $186 in Unrestricted Funds, $11,000 in Special Events, $14,257 in the Student Workshop Fund, and $21,195 in Scholarship and Grants. Notecards has $26,133, Library Book Sale has $0, and Student Art has $139.The American Indian Student Art Workshop Endowment has $220,395.
Jack requested that the $186 in the unrestricted fund be moved to Hospitality.It was movedby Reta Severtson and seconded by Pat Kilburn.It was approved.
Jack proposed a change to Guild policy for Student Art.He asked that the net revenue from each year’s Student Art Show shall be transferred to the American Indian Scholarship Fund.In the event that the Show’s net revenue is negative, the balance shall be made up from the Guild’s general operating account.It was so moved by Judy Pykare and seconded by Pat Kilburn.Itwas approved.
Jack reviewed the proposed change to Guild Policy that will no longer have a specific monetary amount for travel expenses for Guild guest speakers ( previously it was $50).The travel allowances will bea specific part of the budgeting process in the future. It wasso moved by Pat Kilburn and seconded by Judy Pykare and approved by a majority.
GUILDLIAISON:
Mark Scarp, Guild Liaison for Ashley LaGravinese, reported that Ashley had a baby girl, Cadence June, born on October 7, 2013.Both aredoing very well.A card was signed by the Board and will be sent to Ashley.Mark notes that Allison Lester is also due the end of December.
Mark reported that there will be a reception for newmembers on Saturday, October 26th.Guild presence would be very welcome.He mentioned that discounted memberships are available in certain circumstances.He noted that the Star Wars movie in Navajo was presented Sunday, October 6th with an excellent response including five television stations present and many audience members arriving in costume.
The ThanksgivingHarvest Festivalis scheduled on November 28th.Itis $70for members and $85 for non-members which does not include admission to the Heard Museum.
Reta Severtson noted that the Summer Sundays with free admission are very popular and in need of more volunteers throughout the day.AGuild presencewould be a plus as a way to encourage new membership of those in attendance on those days.
Mark noted that the attendance on September 28, which was a free dayin honor of the Smithsonian and also the opening of the Georgia O’Keefeexhibit, was a big success.
LIBRARY BOOK SALE:
Ann Marshall, Carlos Rojas, John Bulla, Rod Passmore, Susan Kolman, Christy Vezolles, and Anita Hicks met to go over plans for the Library Book Sale as was discussed at the September Board meeting.It was determined that the sale dates will be December 3-8, 2014.The sale will be held in Steele Auditorium and will be chaired by Louise Wakem and Donita Beckham.A motion was made by Reta Severtson and seconded byRichard Borgmann that the LibraryBook Sale be added tothe Guildcalendar.The function will remain as a part of Museum Services and be under Coordinator Shelley Mowry.The budget as presented last month was approved by an email vote after it was determined that no changes needed to be made. Jack Brock moved that up to $10,000 be released from the Special Events Fund for the Library BookSale.It was seconded by Richard Borgmann and approved.
LONG RANGE PLANNING:
Dave Newark, Long Range Planning Chair, presented an over view of his report on future plans for the growth of the Guild and the Museum.Some of the facts are:
- Heard membership is 5800.60% live in the Metro Phoenix area.Bygenerations, 56 % are born from 1945 and earlier; 37% are Baby Boomers born from1946-1960; 6.5% are born from 1961-80; 0.5% areborn from 1981-2000.
- Guild membership is 500.Of this, 72% are active, 20% are Las Guias, and 90%haveinternet access.
Discussion followed and it was decided that we should concentrate on several areas.
- We need to enhance our materials such asourMission Statement, job descriptions and other marketing avenues in order to recruit people especially younger generations.
- We need to work as a Board and the Guild to find out how to bring inactive members to functions, to have a presence at Museum activities to sign up members, and to find ways to bring in Boomers and grandkids.
- We need to look into ways of attracting new groups of volunteers using technology.
- We would like to work on ways to draw new audiences possibly with special offers or coupons. Dave will work on more ideas and suggestions as we undertake this taskas a year-long project to grow our membership base and attract the next generations.
STUDENT ART SHOW AND SALE:
Sue Snyder, Chairman of the 2014 SASS discussed several suggestions from her committeethat are designed to improve the project and itsfinances thisyear.Mailing costs will be reduced because the large packet usuallymailed to the schools will be available online this year.A card with “save the date” will be mailed out to a streamlined mailing list by the end of October.Storage costs also will be substantially reduced due to onsite storage becoming available thru the Museum at no cost to us.After discussion by the Board, it was decided that we will continue to pay the students 80% of the sales price of their items, whether it be on Silent Auction items or on the last day markdowns.Itwas further decided that on the last day of sales Monday, April 7th, all items will be reduced to 30% off instead of the previous20%.Every effort to follow the guidelines of returning unsold merchandise only if postage is sent on submission will be tried.If no provisions are made at Receiving, Sue will contact the schools to make arrangements.
It was also suggested by Board members that the donation letter be sent by email blasts as well as written requests to members of the Guild and the Museum.A discussion also followed as to changing the practice of charging Museum admission for those wishing to attend the SASS.This means that non-members need to pay a fee of $36 for a couple to come to the show.In the past, people were allowed to enter and exit thru Monte Vista without paying the admissionfee.The committee feels that this lowers attendance.Rod and the Board will look into this.
The Opening Night and Silent Auction held on Friday, April 4th will coincide with the Opening of the Allan Houser Exhibit.
COORDINATOR REPORTS: Community Programs-Pat Kilburn Indian Fair and Market
Sale of tickets started on Oct. 1stattheAdmissionDesk.Brochure due to printer Nov.1st. Steering committeewillmeetOct9th.Recruiting will happen at the Oct Jobs Fair/Guild meeting.GeneralFair chairs willmeet Nov 13th with campus layout beingthe main topic.
Notecards
New venues are being contacted and we have six new customers from the Trade Show. New notecards will be available at the Oct meeting and the poster will be unveiled at the Nov Guild meeting.
Thenotecard chairman hasrequested that the Guild Treasurer transfer $25,000 from the Notecards operating account to the American Indian Scholarship and Grants Fund.
StudentScholarships
There have been six $1500 scholarships paid to date.One has been declined and three studentshave been unavailable by email, phoneor letter.The committee is working to process four students from the waitinglist.Communication has been a problem with contact numbers changing over the summer.We will also work thru Deb Krol to publicize the scholarship program to various American Indian publications.
The following wording will be added to the SASS application:
Eligible Applicants are American Indian high school seniors who can show proof of Tribal enrollment or certificate of Indian blood (CIB) by enclosing a copy of either one with their application.They must have applied to a college….
Education—Diane Leonte
Diane reported that the new Las Guias class began on October 1st with 13 class members.Recruitment was not aggressive this year and it is hoped that the two new Short Courses will present additional opportunities to promoterecruitment.
Diane reported that many Las Guias members are not in agreement with the decision of the Board to not give those members who graduated prior to 2013 the additional 186 credit hours. The Board revisited their decisions and decided that it would stand as voted upon.
Museum Services—ShelleyMowry Shop/Gloria Johnson
A special Shop Sale will be held October 11-13 at Centraland North.
Shop volunteers are happy that they do not need to check in thru Security.A computer is needed at both places for check in and for scheduling.
The newGeorgia O’Keeffe shop is up and running.Itis staffed by paid workers.
Since volunteers are still making their way back to Arizona, additional workers areneeded. A Tune-Up will be held in November and will give out updated information to Shop workers.
A discussion was held by the Board concerning the shortage of volunteers at the shop and it was decided that Susan Kolman and Shelley Mowry would review policies and procedures at both shops and bring itto the Board for consideration.
Library
The dedicated efforts of six library volunteers, three contract workers and numerous museum staff members is keeping the Masterworks project chugging along.To date, the grant project has received verbal commitment from over 50% of the artists.For a look at what is already available online, the library encourages you to check out the Digital Library at heard.org/digitallibrary to see the latest! Many donations both large and small continue to arrive.Many volunteer hours are required to inventory and acknowledge these valuable gifts.
Information/Joan Jasso
The information desk has a new chairman thanks to Joan Jasso.Thank you to Patricia Watkinson who has done an admirable and fine job for the last two and a half years.Pat, Richard Borgmann andJoan will work together to insure a seamless transition.
Programs—Reta Severtson Field Trips-Shelley Mowry
Shelley reports the New Mexico Pueblos trip is from Nov 1-6 and there will be a spring trip to Copper Canyon with the South of the Border tour company.She will be at the Job Fair to advertise both trips. Guild Programs-David Rothberg
Jack Lassiter with be at the Oct16th meeting with Yarns and Facts of Arizona History. Holiday Gathering-Reta Severtson
Reta invites everyone to a Jingle Bell BrunchonDec4th at 9:30. A potluck brunchwill be served starting at 10am. Pat Kilburn has arranged music and will kick off the Indian Fair and Market.LucilleShanahan will recognize long time members ’contributions.
Hospitality-Sheila Morris
Sheila will be at the Job Fair looking to sign on an assistant for her committee.Student Art will provide refreshments for the Oct meeting.
Spring Luncheon-Sara Lieberman
The Spring Luncheon is scheduled for May 7, 2014 at the Scottsdale Resort and Conference Center.A larger room has been reserved.The contractis signed and a deposit has been paid.Last year’schair, Mary Endorf and Sara are meeting this week.Reta will be at the Job Fair signing up workers.
Staff Appreciation Luncheon-LucilleShanahan
The luncheon is scheduled for Friday Nov. 9 from 11:30am to 1:30 in the Monte Vista Room.The theme is La Tertulia, which is a gathering of friends, foodand music.Lucille sent invitations to the Board.She will beat the Job Fair.
Heard Guild Explorers-Judie Carpenter
Committee members areFran Dickman, Jackie Kemmer,Donita Beckham, Shelley Mowry, Susan Kolman, Rod Passmore, Barbara Kahout and Reta Severtson.
On September 16th, the group visitedtheKing and Faust Galleries in Old Scottsdale, followed by lunch at ArcadiaFarms.It was organized by Jackie Kemmer and was well attended and lots of fun.On October 10th Laura Cardinal from the Heard Shop will do a jewelry presentation in Encanto.OnOctober28ththe group will visit the Basha Museum in Chandler.The trip is full and reservations are being taken for a return trip in thespring.
Hospitality-Cathy Short and Sandra Straub
Cathy will be at the Job Fair signing up workers for Spanish Market, the Weaver’s Market and the Katsina Carver’s Market.They are especially concerned that the Spanish Market and the Weaver’s Market areback to back weekends.Both budgets are low and donated items will be very important. Cathy will have a box at the Oct meeting and in the Guild Room.They need waterandnon-perishable snacks.An extra effort will be made to obtain the necessary donations and help.
Technology/RichardBorgmann
Richard reports that a thorough reorganization of the Technology Group was accomplished during the summer.The three committees that dealt with technology were reduced to one, the Technology Management Committee.This new committee is composed of a chair and ten Technical Specialists who each carry out specific technical duties related to the work of the Guild.Position descriptions were written for each position to include their duties and their relationships to other Guild committees. Those specialists are currently:
Communication-Margie Zebell
Database-Rita Baker and JanRinggenberg I.T.Equipment-Sue Pappas
Las Guias-Kerry Jo Hanstein PhotoAlbum-Open
Power Point-John Nuerenberg Shopping Cart-Richard Borgmann Social Network-Open
Volgistics-Richard Borgmann Webmaster-Richard Borgmann
Dave Newark has agreed to take the chairmanship for the new committee.
Since the Museum will be rolling out its newly re-written website in the next few weeks, it makes sense for the Guild to undertake a re-write of its siteas well.Along with help and guidance from Museum staff Kelsey Hage, Diane Leonte has agreed to work with the webmaster on thedesign.Inputwill be sought from Board members and others as appropriate.
HeardNorth—Judy Pykare
The Shop is now open seven days a week, Monday through Saturday from 9:30-5 and Sundayfrom 11-5. These are thesame hours as Heard Central.The Café continues to be open Tuesday through Saturday from 11-3.Ledger Art closes on Oct 27.
The Guild Short Course will begin at HN on Oct14 with classes at North on the 14, 21 and 28.Thelast class will be held at HC on Nov 4.All classes are from 10am to 1pm.The class will be taught by Jackie Kemmer.
There will be a book discussion of Joy Harjo’s memoir, “Crazy Brave”, hosted by HN atthe Scottsdale Public Library’s Appaloosa Branch at 7377 E. Silverstone Drive, Scottsdale on Oct 15, 3:30-5:30 pm. The annual fall shop sale will be held from Oct 11-13.
Las Guias are once again present at HN from 1-3 pm on Saturdays.The total hours contributed byShop volunteers in September was 122.
The meeting was adjourned at 12:00. Respectfully submitted,
Sue Snyder, Secretary