The job of the steering committee is to do the work of and for the group. In the past there have been many ‘show of hands’ that concluded that the members want the steers to lead, make decisions, and do the business of the group. In other words, most business does not come to the members for vote. At any point, this can be verified by another show of hands.
When topics come up in meetings that are the business of the board they should be explored enough to get the details and then tabled for later discussion. The steers decide most business.
The biggest job of the steering committee is to keep AQuA on the path as an art organization. If we fall into being a “nice little quilt guild” we will have gone off mission. We want to be an arts organization with jurors and all the havoc that brings. We want decisions to be made based on marketing the group well, not just the usual quilty stuff. At this point it is not our mission to do charity.
AQuA has made its many accomplishments by hard work, careful decisions, and more hard work. Steers are expected to have projects/show/events beyond just serving on the board. And, members should be asked to take on shows and events with a steer as liaison to the group.
When there is an opening the current board should decide who to invite on. Looking at where individual strengths and assets lie should be a first step. No one should be brought on that does not have a current steer backer who knows they will perform.
A departing steer should help find a replacement that is likely to carry forward her priorities. Potential new steers should have proved their competence before being invited on the board. Current board members need to approve the person coming on. They need to have successfully completed some show or task or job first. With a board of only five members it is vital that each person carries their weight.
Real art shows are nearly universally juried. Jurors look for the usual artistic qualities in each work, adherence to theme, coherence of show, and can be asked to jury directly to the size and shape of an area. This list is not complete, probably.
AQuA decided early on that we would require our shows, for the most part, to be juried. This gives the maker feedback on their work and lends legitimacy to the organization. It also lets the steering committee and show coordinators off the hook for eliminating works that are not up to the group standard.
For members wanting to improve their bios, juried shows are necessary. We want to continually challenge our members to keep pushing artistic boundaries of their work and as a group, redefine textile art. Juried shows help in this process.
If you had three jurors on one show they would all jury it differently. Each juror brings their own bias to the process. If you wanted to get really scientific about the process you could investigate the work the juror does as an indication of what he/she values and pitch your work accordingly. Growing a thicker skin about your work is another advantage of having your work juried.
We actually prefer that a juror exclude a few pieces to make each show better. Towards that aim we have developed the following statement that is given to each juror. “We fully expect some entries to be eliminated if, according to you as juror, they do not meet the criteria which we have established in our entry form.”
When works are juried the show coordinators will get the results on the whole show. It is vital that the results be kept private. Show coordinators will notify each maker of a piece juried out as soon as possible.
The juror is asked to choose several works for “juror mention”. The juror can suggest an image for the exhibit post card but the final decision lies with the steering committee. Some works do not lend themselves well to postcard size for example or perhaps a maker has been featured on a postcard before.
The juror will be asked for one line of feedback on each work juried, both in and out. Some jurors may decline to provide this. We also ask for a juror’s statement about the work she has done, commenting on the show, the work, the task, whatever she desires.
Below is some further wording that could help in communicating with a juror.
The membership of The Art Quilt Association has chosen to have their exhibits juried in order to create more cohesive exhibits and also to build our reputation as artists by ensuring that the range of pieces exhibited reflects well on each of us individually and the organization as a whole.
In the past jurors have sometimes chosen not to jury any pieces out. This may be thinking left over from quilt guild days, perhaps not wanting to hurt feelings. It seems somewhat dishonest, however, for us to publicize our shows as juried (and enter pieces as appearing in juried shows in our own personal resumes) when nothing is getting juried out. Please use the guidelines in the above paragraphs as you go about your task. While not trying to dictate a specific outcome most of us have felt that a show would be improved by dropping the weakest few pieces and we fully anticipate some pieces will be juried out.
Unjuried shows will also be held now and then, such as Pick of the Litter. This gives members an opportunity to participate with lower entry fees and to build up their courage.
POSTCARD PRODUCTION AND DISTRIBUTION: to follow
HOW TO CHAIR A SHOW OTHER THAN MANCUSO SHOWS ; to follow
In order to encourage more AQuA members to volunteer for various duties, the steering committee has determined the following compensation. While not much, we hope this will encourage people to volunteer and to know that they are appreciated. The Steers might also give a free entry to an AQuA show or a gift certificate for members who go above and beyond in their efforts to further the organization. This would be most likely done on a yearly basis. These compensations were approved August 16, 2008.
Newsletter Editor……… $25.00 per month
Chairman of Workshop…One free seat to the workshop. The seat can be shared with a co-chair if desired.
Hostess…………………..$25.00 1st day, $15.00 all other days for serving as a B&B hostess for a visiting artist.
Chairman of an AQuA Show will receive one free show entry fee.
Webpage Mistress…free web page in Galleries on the website.
Due to page lloading time it is not possible to put up a giant show, people won't wait and will leave the site before it loads. Therefore the show is restricted. As of this writing, January 2009, we have changed the slide show after three exhibitions. Works chosen for the website slide show are works that have received juror mention. The steering committee is sometimes asked to help with the decision process. First there is a drawing, then the pieces are reviewed for overall impact. An example would be if the first several drawn were all abstract. Abstract pieces might be eliminated from further choices because our work as a group is not all abstract. Likewise, if a member received multiple juror mentions they would be eliminated after one of their works was drawn. In this way, we use drawing to eliminate choosing our girlfriend's work, but we apply thought to how the site works overall as a representation of the work of the group.
For the record, I am listing the slide show appearances here:
First show: Harvey, Vanian, Hoefner, Timmerman-Traudt, Stonemark, Warren, Strickland, Starley.
Second show February 2006: LaDuke, Fox, Hoefner, Warren, Sprague, O'Brien, Strickland.
Third show December 2008: Harvey, Strickland, J. Stewart, Sprague, Schafer, Ferguson, Lee.