McLean County Arts Center

Board Minutes

Wednesday, March 20, 2024

Present: Dana Altenburger, Bruce Cather (by Zoom), Margaret Cordill, David Dow, Allyson Frink, Su Ge, Tamara Harvell, Susan Holifield, Jared Lacy, Deana Moore Schoolcraft, Archana Shekara, Diane Skidmore, Dave Templeton, Taylor Williams

Absent: None

Staff: Doug Johnson

Meeting called to order at 4:58 pm.

President’s Report: Didi said that she and Doug had attended the final revitalization (streetscape) plan meeting for downtown Bloomington. Public comments had been positive, but several council members seemed to be “hedging their bets”, as Doug put it.

• Didi, Doug, David, and several others toured the Guitar Shop last Sunday and came away impressed with the building in general; that it was on a sound foundation and a well-built building.

• Didi asked that the April board meeting be moved to the 10th due to she and Doug being out of town on the regular meeting date. No objections.

Events Committee: Tamara announced the fundraising date and place: Thursday, August 22, Brown Ballroom at the Bone Student Center, Illinois State University. Time changed from 5:30 to 5 to give people time to view auction items and familiarize themselves with the new Online app. Donation deadline for auction items is April 29. The board was asked to help garner ads for the program booklet.

Treasurer’s Report: Susan wanted everyone to be aware of the $57,000 deficit to the budget, some due to building maintenance, two failed Development Director attempts and paying our consulting Development Director $4,000/month. Susan thought it would be rectified after the fundraiser and Sugar Creek Arts Festival.

Director’s Report: Doug said the Art Center was sending a letter to all members to contact their council person in support of the downtown streetscape plan. The plan is important for both downtown and the Arts Center.

• He has contacted the owners of the Guitar Shop with an offer of $195,000 for the building. He thinks they will respond positively. Thursday, March 21 addendum: Our offer has been accepted.

• The Amateur Show has been reviewed and changes will be made for next year, including accepting fewer works and having separate times for high school, college and adults award presentations.

• Doug gave a brief overview of the community survey sent to people on our mailing list. Drill-down to follow.

• We are putting out another call for a Development Director, with special emphasis locally and at Indiana University’s development degree program. At the same time, Doug would like to renew the contract with Katie Novak, who is acting as our consulting Development Director. She’ll be needed in our capitol fundraising efforts.

• Staff has been working on cleaning up the database.

• Doug announced a plan to have a bus trip to the Art Institute later in the year.

Meeting adjourned at 5:59 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Dave Templeton, Secretary

McLean County Arts Center

Board Minutes

February 21, 2024

Present: Bruce Cather (Zoom), Margaret Cordill, David Dow, Allyson Frink, Su Ge, Tamara Harvell, Susan Holifield, Jared Lacy, Deana Moore Schoolcraft, Archana Shekara (Zoom), Diane Skidmore, Dave Templeton, Taylor Williams

Staff: Doug Johnson

Absent: Dave Templeton, Dana Altenburger, and Candice Byrd (who has stepped away from the board)

Meeting called to order: 5:00 p.m.

Business:

Chairperson Didi welcome and announcements.

Treasurer Susan report on Holiday Treasures exhibit being off.

Chairperson Didi discussed board member recruitment kickoff.

ED Doug led the Google Calendar/Laptop tutorial SHIT SHOW.

ED Doug Director’s Report:

Director’s Report

February 2024

Community Arts Access Panel 

We met and decided on Re-Granting Awards.  Notifications out the week of 2/14.  Panelists were: Tamara Harvell, John Poling, Kevin Keebler, Linda Willis Fisher, and Sheila Lamberson.  $12,500 was awarded.  We have received $10,000 from the Illinois Arts Council Agency and we have a minimum obligation to match 25%.  Applicant groups have a 50% match obligation. It is this role which makes us the “Arts Agency”, in that we are acting as Agents of the State.  

• Awards: Illinois Art Station, $1,000; Heartland Jazz Orchestra, $1,400; BCPA, $1,000; West Side Revitalization Project, $300; Prairie Fire Theatre, $1,400; Holiday Spectacular, $1,400; Illinois Symphony Orchestra, $2,000; Threshold to Hope, $200; Heartland Theatre, $1,500; Town of Normal’ $2,000 Breaking Chains Advancing Influence, $300.

• The IAC is looking to serve more counties and we have a valuable opportunity to expand our grantmaking footprint.  

Sugar Creek Arts Festival Call To Artists has gone out and the festival is posted.  Twenty-two applicants in the first two days. 33 applicants as of today.  Last year, our first on Zapp, we had 152 applicants.  Our next postcard mailing includes the call to artist. An announcement of the call was sent to all 2023 participants. Board members are invited to submit. Sugar Creek will be 10/5-6.  The committee is looking at shirt options. I have contacted the Security company *Securitas, Inc.  They have not sent a contract. I have also reached out to Prairie Land Golf & Utility Cars LLC. And we have now signed the contact for two carts with the same arrangement as last year.  Catering, Sponsorships and Volunteer training are next.  We have shirt designs, too.

The Route 66 exhibition Call To Artists has gone out via Cafe.  This is out first call for a a national exhibition.  It is utilizing Cafe, an external call to artist program.  Cafe is, incidentally, a child of the same company that runs ZAPP.  We have two artist applicants as of this writing. Our next postcard mailing includes the call to artist, too. Board members are invited to submit.  Entry Deadline: 6/1, exhibition dates: 7/5 - 8/24

The Amateur Exhibition Call to Artists has closed.  We received about 360 submissions, a twenty percent increase from last year. Phil Smith, who will be having a solo exhibition in the Armstrong gallery concurrently, serves as judge. The Awards event is 1pm on March 2nd, doors open at 11:30 

The Board Page of the website has been updated and all should have access.  The Board Google Calendar is hosted there, too. Board members logging on with their mcac.org event have editing capabilities.  https://mcac.wildapricot.org/board/. All Board members have been added to the Wild Apricot group for board members, giving access to additional pages.

Other Events:

-The Next-To-Normal Story Slam on 2/2/24 had 43 attendees.  Thanks to Didi for attending. The next event will be on Friday, May 3 at 7:30 following the exhibition opening.  The theme is “It Happened One Night”. Past programs are available as podcasts on WGLT. 

https://www.wglt.org/podcast/next-to-normal-story-slam

-The Illinois Humanities Council 

-The event with Toni Picasso on Mass Incarceration: Healing through Community and Art on 1/27 was a success. 50 Attendees were reported.  Thanks to Didi and Candice for attending.

- They are requesting that we become a regional Hub partner.  These added responsibilities are a good fit and puts us in the position of sharing information with community partners, media, and attending a handful of meetings.  I do not anticipate it to be any more an difference than our story slam time use.

Regarding Properties: The Guitar shop building owners are hoping to provide access next week.  David Park, our friend the building Inspector is available to look at the building with us at that time. Dave Reeves is asking $100,000 for his apartment house.

Other Items:

The membership page is operational, although additional fine tuning is occurring.

Creating a draft of the membership brochure.

New Tables, Flat Files, desks and chairs were donated by Mary Jo and Sandy Adams.  They closed their business, Star Net Printing, and Jeremy and I rented a U-Haul truck and made two trips to bring them in.  Thanks to jared for helping with the unloading and Connor (Intern) assisting with the installation of tables.

The Enameling Kin is installed and undergoing test firing today.

The Illinois Arts Council has approached me with a scholarship offer to attend the LEAD Conference from July 29-August 2, 2024 in Seattle, Washington

As an integral part of the Kennedy Center’s Access/VSA International Network, the Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD) program advances the full inclusion of people with disabilities in arts and culture. With a focus on expanding the breadth and scope of accessible programming, LEAD provides an opportunity for professionals in the field to develop best practices and resources; engage in conversations with colleagues and experts from around the world; and learn practical methods for designing inclusive arts experiences and environments.

The LEAD Conference not only introduces those new to the field to cultural accessibility solutions, but provides ongoing learning, support, camaraderie, and motivation—necessary fuel for anyone working to change the status quo. Join us for:

• One-of-a-kind professional development in an intimate, rich atmosphere. No other conference focuses on accessibility in cultural venues like LEAD.
• Access to ideas, experts and leading thinkers. Tap into the collective “brain trust” of arts managers from museums, theaters, parks, zoos, libraries, and other cultural venues from around the world.
• Networking opportunities to meet and mingle with colleagues from around the world in an open and safe forum.
• Practical information that can be implemented at your organization right away.
• Something for every arts and cultural administrator. LEAD has sessions and workshops for the more experienced and those just starting their accessibility and inclusion journey.
• Experiential opportunities to see accessibility in action in cultural settings through workshops and special events.
• Year-round connections. Continue the conversations, ask questions and explore solutions after the conference through the Access/VSA International Network.

Arts Alliance Illinois’ Annual Benefit

Monday, May 13, 2024, 5pm at the Ramova Theatre in Chicago, IL.  Typically a board member has accompanied me to the event.

The Illinois Arts Council is making several organizational changes.

• Nora Daley’s leadership
• Grant availability and timeline
• Community Arts Access Regions

Website Access

We will provide a demonstration during the meeting. 

Google Calendar Access:

http://tinyurl.com/mcac-calendar

afrink@mcac.org, archana@mcac.org, catherb@mcac.org, dana@mcac.org, dave@mcac.org, david.dow@mcac.org, deana@mcac.org, skidmored@mcac.org, lacyj@mcac.org, margaret@mcac.org, ges@mcac.org, susan@mcac.org, tamara@mcac.org, taylor@mcac.org

ED Doug to be making $95,000 offer on the apartment building.

Meeting adjourned: 6:10 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

David Dow, Acting Secretary

McLean County Arts Center

Board Minutes

Wednesday, January 17, 2024

Present: Dana Altenburger, Bruce Cather (Zoom), Margaret Cordill, David Dow, Allyson Frink, Tamara Harvell, Susan Holifield, Deana Moore Schoolcraft, Diane Skidmore, Dave Templeton, Taylor Williams

Staff: Doug Johnson

Absent: Candice Byrd, Su Ge, Jared Lacy, Archana Shekara

Meeting called to order: 5:02 p.m.

• Didi Skidmore asked that everyone sign a non-disclosure agreement for later discussions at this meeting.

• Didi announced that Committee Reports would still be due before the Executive Committee meetings, but

sent out to board members the Friday before board meetings so members would have the weekend to review.

• We will have a retreat in March.

Treasurer’s Report:

Susan asked if everybody wanted the Profit/Loss Statement that she had sent to board member and if anybody

wanted something other than the P/L Statement they should let her know.

David Dow, as chair of the Building Committee, made a presentation of the McLean County Arts Center Vis-

ibility Project, consisting of two parts: building exterior murals and building projection mapping. Following

a discussion, it was moved and seconded to continue on with both projects, starting immediately with Annie

Sungkajun, Illinois State University professor of graphic technology, who will have her students work on initial

project designs. The mural project will be on-going, but with less immediacy.

Director’s Report:

• Doug reviewed, with photographs, Phase Two of the Downtown Revitalization Project, which includes the

Arts Center.

• Doug led a discussion of future development of the Arts Center. After discussion, it was moved and seconded

to work with the endowment to purchase adjacent properties, pending negotiations with property owners.

Meeting adjourned: 6:34 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Dave Templeton, Secretary

No December 2023 Meeting

November 2023

McLean County Arts Center Board Minutes Wednesday, November 15, 2023

Present: Dana Altenburger, Bruce Cather, Margaret Cordill, David Dow, Allyson Frink, Su Ge, Tamara Harvell, Susan Holifield, Jared Lacy, Deana Moore Schoolcraft, Archana Shekara, Diane Skidmore, Dave Templeton, Taylor Williams

Staff: Doug Johnson

Absent: Candice Byrd, Sheila Lamberson

Meeting called to order: 5:01 pm.

Information from the President:

• No executive or full-board meetings in December.

• Didi thanked all board members who attended the Holiday Treasures opening.

• Reminder about the holiday gathering at Skidmore’s, Saturday, December 9.

Director’s Report: See page 2

Committee Reports: See page 3

• Concerning the mural and mapping (projecting visuals onto a building) mentioned in the Building Committee report, Doug said he was in discussions with the City of Bloomington about the downtown redevelopment plan, which includes mapping on the Museum of History. “Beacon technology” was mentioned. Beacon technology essentially provides contextual information to its users, allowing businesses to actively engage with their customers. It works in accordance with indoor and outdoor navigation systems.

Old Business: • Didi wanted to make sure everybody filled out the Online “Conflict of Interest” form Doug sent.

• Didi asked for volunteers for an ad hoc “New Member Orientation” committee. Susan Holifield and Dave Templeton volunteered to join Didi on the committee. New Business: • Susan Holifield went over handouts about our finances, including breakdowns of Sugar Creek and Arts Alive income and expenses.

• Didi handed out a Board Self-Evaluation Questionnaire. Everyone filled it out on-site. • Doug gave a talk about the differences between For-Profit and Nonprofit organizations. See pages 4 and 5. Meeting adjourned: 6:18 pm. Respectfully submitted, Dave Templeton, Secretary

Director’s Report 2 Committee Report 3

The differences between for-profit vs. nonprofit Besides the use of profits, there are a number of functional and idealistic differences between for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Review this list of the nine biggest distinctions between the two types of businesses to learn more:

1. Funding One of the biggest differences between for-profit and nonprofit organizations is the manner in which they raise capital for their ventures. Traditionally, for-profit companies seek investors to help start their company and keep it growing. Usually, these investors receive a share of any profits made in return for their investment. Nonprofits, by contrast, seek donations rather than investments. Any individual, organization, or institution that gives money to a nonprofit will not receive a share of profits. It’s a pure donation rather than an investment.

2. Purpose Another key difference between a for-profit and a nonprofit organization is the institution’s purpose or mission. Generally, for-profit companies seek to provide a product or service to consumers and make a profit by doing so. A nonprofit organization’s purpose is to provide a service or benefit to the community with no intention of earning a profit. Instead, they’re fully focused on improving the social aspect of their community and not on making money.

3. Audience In most cases, for-profit companies have a very specific, defined audience they target with their product or service. Many for-profit businesses perform extensive research and analysis to find their ideal customer and then devote resources to ensuring that a segment of the population knows about the company’s product or service. Nonprofits usually have a much broader audience. Most must appeal to a market that includes potential donors, the community the nonprofit serves, consumers who will purchase the nonprofit’s service or product, and volunteers or other stakeholders who work with the organization.

4. Leadership The leadership committee that oversees the operations of the company differs substantially from a for-profit company to a nonprofit organization. In a for-profit business, often the top leaders have a firm and substantial financial stake in the company’s success. This group of leaders may be a single owner, a group of owners, or a compendium of stockholders. These leaders are concerned primarily with increasing the company’s profits. In a nonprofit organization, the leadership committee is often a board of directors who gain no financial benefit from their affiliation with the company. Instead, they guide the organization by considering how well the company meets the outlined mission and finding ways to improve community outreach, recognition and donations.

5. Culture The company culture in a for-profit company is often focused on how to best improve sales and profits. Most organizational discussions and the overall group mindset center on the best ways to meet financial goals. In a nonprofit organization, by contrast, the culture is often more community-minded. Instead of discussing ways to make more money, employees, volunteers, and leaders spend time brainstorming ways in which they can further benefit their community and increase the social effectiveness of their organization’s efforts.

6. Taxes Tax law differs substantially between for-profit companies and nonprofit institutions. In most cases, for-profit businesses must pay taxes on their business endeavors and profits as stipulated by the federal and state govern4 ments. Nonprofit organizations must receive a special tax designation from the government, usually by registering as a 501(c)3, but once they’ve done so, they receive tax benefits not available to for-profit companies. When considering the implications of taxation, it’s always best to consult a tax professional for the most up-to-date and applicable information for your situation.

7. Staff Generally, the staff for a for-profit company is made up of paid employees, and potentially a few unpaid interns. The employees who work for a for-profit business often do so in order to earn a living for themselves rather than singularly for a commitment to the company’s cause or mission. Nonprofits, however, often operate with a team of volunteers and a few paid employees. These volunteers give their time with no compensatory benefit because they believe in the work the organization does and want to provide a service to their community.

8. Ownership Another key difference between a for-profit and nonprofit organization is ownership. For-profit companies can have a number of different ownership models, but the physical and intellectual property the company uses is technically owned by whoever maintains control of the company. In a nonprofit organization, there are no true owners. It’s a publicly owned entity, and none of the physical or intellectual property the organization uses can be taken by a member of the organization as compensation for their work with the institution.

9. Accountability Since most nonprofit organizations are tax-exempt, they’re required to file information about their financial and business practices with local and federal organizations for accountability purposes. Usually, nonprofits do this annually with a document called IRS Form 990. For-profit institutions are not required to file accountability information since they pay taxes on their earnings and profits.

Board Minutes

October  2023

Board Minutes

September  2023

Board Minutes 

Wednesday, August 16, 2023 

Present: Dana Altenburger, Bruce Cather, Margaret Cordill, David Dow, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Allyson Frink, Su Ge, Susan Holifield, Jared Lacy, Sheila Lamberson, Deana Moore Schoolcraft, Diane Skidmore, Dave Templeton, Taylor Williams 

Staff: Doug Johnson 

Absent: Candice Byrd, Tamara Harvell 

Meeting called to order: 5:00 pm. 

Director’s Report: 

• About Sugar Creek Arts Festival (SCAF): most bands have been selected, 94 artists have paid booth fees and 56 artists are on the wait-list, selecting booth assignments next. 

• The second Development Director candidate pulled her name from consideration. 

• Many trees on our property have been trimmed and the two evergreens have been removed from the McCullough sculpture site. 

• Jeremy and Doug bought new shelving for the ceramics area as a result of the growth of the program. Jeremy is doing an excellent job organizing the three classrooms. 

• The Lobby video monitor will now only be a device for showing upcoming events and announcements. 

• Back stairway is at a standstill. 

• Seeking bids for resurfacing the galleries drywall. The Executive Committee, after discussion, suggested we do one gallery each year for the next three years to avoid closing MCAC for a long time. The Board concurred. 

• Staff is tracking issues with ceramics supplies. 

The Task Force on staff needs will be writing the responsibilities of the Executive Director and will end their service in the next couple of weeks. 

Arts Alive: Susan says everything is ready to go. Committee will meet Thursday, August 17 to do set-up. 

Next on the agenda was a discussion of the organization’s by-laws. Dana and Taylor went over what is in the by-laws and what changes they suggest. Discussion followed, especially about the term of the Treasurer. Dana and Taylor will rework where necessary and bring the final product to the board at our next meeting for a vote. 

Didi shared charts she had made as a result of the questionnaire she had Board members fill out. She thought the board was fairly diverse in most areas, but thought we needed more ethnic diversity to represent all areas of the community. 

David proposed a new board member: Archana Shekara. Board members were very impressed with the data he’s provided to everyone by email. His proposal was moved, seconded and passed unanimously. 

There was a vote on raising the Executive Director’s discretionary spending limit to $2,500 from $500. Since you can’t do much with $500 anymore the suggestion was unanimously approved. 

Meeting adjourned: 5:59 pm. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Dave Templeton, Secretary

Board Minutes

July 2023

1.Welcome New Board Member - Didi

2. 

Director’s Report

Doug returned last night from a week in Georgia assisting his aging parents. 

The Sugar Creek Arts Festival has been juried, and the 74 artists have confirmed participation. 29 more have not yet paid and we have 54 artists on the Wait List. They have until August 1st to confirm.  We have collected $27,340 from artist in application and booth fees.  Harmon, Mirza, and other grants will add  about $5,000 more.  Roundabout booths sold out in 24 hours, and we will be finalizing the artist booth map in late August.  We will be having the same security services as last year and are adding two golf carts to assist setup, etc.

We will be filming several Ceramics Tutorial Videos, to be posted as QR code links to education ceramists in our Open Studio Program.  We are addressing a lack of skill building from a handful of students working independently which has resulted in some issues.

Exhibitions: 

Amy & Doug will be driving the McCullough’s work back to their home when the exhibition closes, as they are unable to transport the work themselves. Rashod Taylor and Ann Dawkins are delivering new work and Rec cording videos next week

Random  updates (just notes, as committee report covers these in more depth) 

The trees at the alleyway have been removed.  The electrician is scheduling his work in the back stairway, when that is completed we will have the painter and carpet installer come in. No date from Parking Lot trees yet, although the parking blocks in the education lot are now pegged into place permanently. New staff signs have arrived and been placed in the building.

Director of Development 

Interviews: Our top candidate selected a similar role elsewhere.  Other candidates declined interviews due to being hired, or other issues.  Carmel and I interviewed our sixth ranked candidate from the second search, her previous interview was missed because she was I a bad car accident.  We liked her, but her background in primarily theater and human services.  

Round three: We have left the application portal open and will post new applicants to the Task Force (on the shared drive) for appraisal and  scheduling new interviews.

7/30 BBQ event proposal from Education Committee

3.Board Projects - Didi

4.Ambassadorship - moving to self reflection and concrete ideas for change after the "Summit". - Didi

The new building committee consisting of David Dow, Dana Altenburger, and Dave Templeton has not met yet. This report is a recap from Didi transitioning out of the Chair role and an update from Doug on open issues.

From Didi 7/5:

In our south lot, parking blocks were secured so snow plowing would be easier.

In the southeast stairwell, the window and dropped ceiling have been installed and the area will be ready to paint soon.

Doug indicated that the little under stairs closet with a window in that area could be cleaned out and perhaps used for clay storage...Doug and Jeremy would need to be in on that decision.

There is also a need to keep working on external signage and lighting on the tower sign.

From Doug 7/5:

The back stair renovation continues, we will be following up with the painters to schedule, as the contractor is finally wrapping up.

[Note from David – in a follow up to Doug asking about the timeline for completion he indicated that this is a small job, and that the contractor gave us a very good price, so we need to work with their available schedule. Doug hopes to have this complete by end of month.]

From the On Site- Off site:

The idea was raised to have a mural on the exterior of the building to increase visibility and raise awareness. The building committee will discuss this at our first meeting and come up with an outline for a plan, including next steps to present to the Exec Comm and board at the August meeting. 

[Note from Doug - The concrete wall on the south side is ideal the spot for a mural.  We need to be modeling the Philadelphia Mural Project guidelines for this and we have most of the needed supplies on hand.]

Board Minutes

June 2023

Board Minutes

Wednesday, May 17, 2023

Present: Dana Altenburger, Bruce Cather, David Dow, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Allyson Frink, Susan Holifield, Jared Lacy, Sheila Lamberson, Deana Moore Schoolcraft, Diane Skidmore, Dave Templeton

Staff: Doug Johnson

Absent: Candice Berg, Dan Galvin, Su Ge

Meeting called to order: 5:00 pm

Director’s Report:

• The two trees in the alleyway will be removed by Oak Bros. Both are damaged and present a liability.

• One of three windows in the back stairway has been replaced. Still waiting for the contractor to complete the job.

• A promotional video was created for us by Bob Carroll’s media class at ISU. It features Erin, Claire, and Jeremy, with a cameo by Deana. It is posted to our website.

• MCAC has applied for the Illinois Creative Recovery Grant (B2B Arts). If we are eligible, based on unknown formulas, we would receive a minimum of $5,000. As we served as local promoter of the grant we will be getting $800.

• On Monday Doug and board president Didi Skidmore will be in Chicago for the Arts Alliance annual fundraiser.

• Wiring is now in place to add an existing TV in the lobby, by the staff photos, to serve as a calendar of events. It will be set as a powerpoint style slide show.

• Four new LED flat panel lights have been added to the Armstrong gallery, replacing the four inset cans. They need not be used at all times.

• New heavy duty shelving for books is in place in the basement hallway to move the books to a better location.

• MCAC will serve as Host for an Illinois Humanities event on November 11th regarding Incarceration, Rehabilitation, and Social Justice. Our friends from Labyrinth are involved, too.

• MCAC hosted a Next to Normal Story Slam event on May 5th. The next will be on August 18th.

• MCAC hosted the memorial service for James Keenan on May 6th.

• MCAC has just under 100 applications for the Sugar Creek Arts Festival using the new Zapplication program.

Submissions are due by the end of the month.

• Doug is serving on the Public Art Commission for the Town of Normal. He’s also serving on the art-in-architecture ISU Arts Building Project commission.

Didi introduced Taylor Williams to the board. She and Tamara Harvell, who was not present, are interested in being board members. A motion was made, seconded and unanimously approved to make them such.

There was a question about the ISU media class video: how would the video be used? Doug said it would be used on Facebook, as well as on the MCAC Website.

Didi announced that Susan Holifield would be a liaison between the Arts Alive dinner committee and the board.

Ruth Ann, our treasurer, will resume providing the board with a monthly financial statement in the premeeting board materials.

Education Committee Report:

• Deana reported that Jeremy Langston, our new Education Director, has many ideas for the future of MCAC art education, including increasing class sizes, reorganizing the painting/drawing classroom and recruiting new teaching staff.

• There was talk about a new kiln for enamel jewelry and fused glass. We were reminded that we’d already signed off on buying a kiln for up to $3,000. Lisa Blackmon was mentioned as someone interested in teaching enameled jewelry.

• Winter/Spring net revenue is $17,689.71, after teacher pay, supplies and general expenses.

• The committee recommended to the board to raise the pay of Sarah Hurley, Ceramic Assistant, to $16 an hour (from $15/hr). Motion made, seconded and passed unanimously.

David Dow questioned the appropriateness of the board approving pay raises for individual teaching staff and wondered which staff position should be responsible for such decisions. (The new task force on bylaw revision will address this and other changes that will need to be made concerning staffing and budgets since our change in staffing structure.)

Doug told the board that he would be reissuing a call for the Development Director as the person selected declined the position.

Meeting adjourned at 5:53 pm

Respectfully submitted,

Dave Templeton, Secretary

Board Minutes 

Wednesday, April 19, 2023 

Present: Dana Altenburger, David Dow, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Allyson Frink, Dan Galvin, , Susan Holifield, Jared Lacy, Sheila Lamberson, Craig Queen, Deana Moore Schoolcraft, Didi Skidmore, Dave Templeton 

Staff: Doug Johnson 

Absent: Candice Berg, Bruce Cather, Su Ge 

Meeting called to order: 4:59 pm 

• New president Didi Skidmore thanked Sheila Lamberson for all she did for the Arts Center and Art Center board this past year as president. Didi also entertained a motion to have Sheila stay on the board as an Ex-Officio member. Motion made, seconded and carried unanimously. 

• Didi suggested two dates for the next retreat, May 20 or June 3. (Email vote taken after meeting: June 3 picked.) 

• There was a short discussion about the future of the annual fundraiser. Some members thought it was too elitist. Others have no problem with the way it is, maybe with some small revisions. Nothing further at this time. 

Director’s Report: 

• Doug reminded the board about the financial report from the last meeting, with the suggestion of the advisors that the board consider taking less risk (more bonds , less stocks). a motion was made and seconded to follow the advisors advice. Motion carried unanimously. 

• Building recommendations: remove two evergreens in front of McCullough sculpture, have lower garden tier at corner of East and Mulberry made into rotating sculpture display, remove Herb Eaton sculpture, install handrails for steps from street to sidewalk in front ($700 estimate), install 4x4 treated posts to support signage mounted away from the building facing Locust Street ($700 estimate without sign), and drill holes through the parking blocks into the asphalt on the Mulberry Street parking lot. Motion made, seconded and carried unanimously. 

• New staffing: Jeremy Langston has accepted the role of Education Director and Amy Yeager has accepted the Curator position. A possible Director of Development is being interviewed. 

• Siding of the building has been completed by Carlson Exteriors at a total cost of $20,801.80. 

• New drop ceiling and lighting in classroom hallway and staging area is complete. 

• Still no action on the Brandt back stairway. 

• One State Arts Conference to be in Springfield, April 23-25. Doug playing a major role as team captain in meetings with state officials. 

• Rashod Taylor has asked about a pass-thru donation and an honorarium to support his exhibition. Board voted not to accept this idea. 

Craig Queen announced his resignation from the board due to his appointment to the Normal Zoning Board of Appeals, therefore lacking the time commitment to the Arts Center board. 

Meeting adjourned at 5:53 pm 

Respectfully submitted, 

Dave Templeton, Secretary

Board Minutes

Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Present: Dana Altenburger, Candice Berg, Bruce Cather (Zoom), David Dow, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Susan Holifield, Jared Lacy, Sheila Lamberson (Zoom), Craig Queen (Zoom), Didi Skidmore, Dave Templeton

Staff: Doug Johnson

Absent: Allyson Frink, Dan Galvin, Su Ge, Cindy Lawson-Kester, Deana Moore Schoolcraft

Meeting called to order: By President Lamberson at 5:00 pm

The Board was introduced on Zoom to members of MCK CPAs & Advisors, financial advisors for the endowment account and auditors of the Art Center’s finances. They told the Board that there was $1,806,681.77 in the endowment at the present time. There have been $23,000 in withdrawals and $36,000 in investments. The portfolio is down -2.6% over the last 12 months, but up 12% over the last three years. The advisors consider the endowment strong at this point. It’s somewhat aggressive, with14% bonds and 86% stocks. MCK suggests the Board consider becoming more conservative, with 30% bonds and 70% stocks. It was suggested by Doug that the Board should look over the draft of the auditor’s report before making any changes to the endowment portfolio.

Director’s Report:

• Applications for the new hires closes at midnight, March 19. We have three Curator applicants, 7 Development applicants and 1 Education applicants. Review of the applications and calls for interviews will follow the 19th.

• The board needs to be looking for new board members.

• The Capital Bill final report has been submitted.

• The Illinois “OneState” arts conf. will be held in Springfield, April 23-25. Doug is serving as a meeting captain.

• The building-wide WI-FI has greatly increased access and security.

• The Amateur Exhibition is open. There were over 100 pieces accepted for the show out of 200 submitted. The fee, upped to $5, resulted in $1,000 in revenue. The three shows opening brought in donations of $200 in the box.

• Zapplication, the Sugar Creek software, is working and has already produced almost 40 applications.

• Building updates: new siding will be installed next week. New lighting and ceiling tiles in the staging area also next week. Still no news on the window for the southeast entrance.

• Brice Ward has built new movable walls for the galleries and are being used for the Amateur show.

• The Donor and Building Campaign display boards are in place.

• The General Operating support grant has been submitted to the state.

• We have three new interns: Molly Roth (ISU), Cynthia Castro (IWU) and Abby Nytko (IWU).

 Education Report:

• Krystal Lyon, current Education Director, is working on plans for the new Education Director.

• A recommendation was made to purchase a kiln for those interested in enameling and fusion glass. Approved.

Sheila suggested that the Board nominate and approve Didi Skidmore as the next president of the Board. The subsequent vote was unanimous.

Meeting adjourned at 6:01 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Dave Templeton, Secretary

January 2023 Minutes

MCAC Board Meeting 

Wednesday, January 18, 2023

 Director’s Report:

-We should be looking at potential new board members.

-The Capital Bill funds have been deposited ($100,000).  A final report is due at the end of the month.

-The State’s “OneState” Arts Conference will be in Springfield April 23 to 25.  The Sunday meeting is for Local Arts Agencies, Monday is several presentations, Tuesday is advocacy in the Statehouse.

-Our long dysfunctional building-wide Wifi issues have been resolved.  We have installed a google mesh wifi system and this allows for the classroom doorbell to be functional and part of the Ring network. Chimes have been installed throughout the building so that is any doorbell is rung staff are alerted.  This will allow for the exterior door to no longer be propped prior to classes, increasing safety and securing.  Additionally a public wifi sub-network is installed for all visitors with signage.  Wifi network is “MCAC-members” password is “isupportthearts”

-The Call-to-Artist for the Amateur Exhibition will go out next week.

-Sugar Creek Software: We have moved away from EntryThingy for the Sugar Creek application. The cost between that service and Zapplication is negligible and artists have been frustrated with the EntryThingy system for years.

-Exhibition openings this Friday. We will introduce limited food.  As the Jagitsch and Decorie exhibitions are both Black and White themed, we will have black and white cookies.  The exhibition videos are now live. 

-New Movable Wall- Brice Ward was hired to create two new movable walls (on wheels).  They are ten feet tall, eight feet wide and four feet deep.  The wheels lock.  We will paint.  Cost is $1,100 per wall.  One has ben finished.  The second will be available for the Amateur exhibition.

-our Donor Board and Building Campaign Board are both in place.

-State Grants: The General Operating support grant is due in Mid-March.  The application will be available beginning next week.  The Community Arts Access Grant, which we administrate on behalf of the IACA and NEA is now available for applications. 

-A new computer for Point of Sales in being set-up.  The previous system was 10 years old and crashed repeatedly during Holiday Treasures transactions.

Spring Interns: 

-Molly Roth (senior studio major at ISU) Fridays and Saturdays, 8 hours per week, working on exhibitions.

-Cynthia Castro (first year Marketing major at IWU) will be working on Tuesdays, 3 hours a week, in advance of a larger commitment in the fall term.

-Abby Nytko (senior English/Eduction major at IWU) hour hours per week on grants and special projects, 4 hours per week.

Building Items Doug is working on:

-Work on the new staff shared office has begun: Painting, lighting, computers

-The new siding will be installed in the next six weeks

-We have asked for a bid on replacing the ceiling and lighting of foot of the stairs by the main entrance.

-We have asked for the bid to illuminate the exiting exterior sign.  

-No progress on back stairway.

-a basement only vacuum was purchased, along with extra filters for the classrooms.

MCAC Education Committee Last met November 29th, 2022 4:00-5:00 PM In person at the MCAC. 

• 2022 Year End Numbers

-109 total classes offered in 2022, which amounted to 667 student registrations.  14 of those were cancelled due to low.  Twenty-two local artists were hired as instructors in a diverse field of mediums and studies. We added screen printing, photography, jewelry making and collage work.  Our net revenue for Education for winter/spring (January-May) 2022 was $14,220.97, summer (June-August) 2022 was $6,495.84 and fall (September-December) 2022 was $11,181.40 for a total of $31,898.21.  Plumbing, ceiling & lighting were updated in the ceramics wheel room along with the purchase of a new wheel.  New lighting and ceiling was installed in the hallways downstairs.  Updated shelving, painting, organization and a new slab roller was added to the ceramic glaze room.  A new TV was installed in the painting room. 

• Winter Break Needs & Numbers for 2023

-Our winter break starts on December 22nd and runs through January 16th.  MCAC staff had the week of December 26th through January 2nd off for the holidays. January 3rd -the 16th will be spent cleaning, restocking and addressing other needs in the classroom. 

-winter/spring 2023 registration has begun with offerings of 46 classes, intensives and workshops.  Sixteen classes are at capacity.

• Ideas For 2023

Children’s Programming

* partnership with Arts Station on a quarterly activity, possibly synching with First Friday.

* offer a workshop based around the exhibits upstairs for children or teens. 

*work on our relationship with local schools and art instructors. 

*offer free workshop options at the MCAC in partnership with Normal Public Library, as we did in pre-Covid times. 

*organize the libray and offer it for public use, i.e. high schools and art teachers in the area. 

*possibly limit our class sizes, especially beginner classes where more instruction is needed.

*implementation of the Showcase wall downstairs in 2023 while considering security needs since there are no staff offices downstairs.

*pictures of classes and students and information on classes in the Tower Room in an effort to connect the upstairs with the downstairs.

*open the painting room for open studio time similar to what we offer in the ceramics area. Could we utilize advanced painting students as volunteers to monitor that time and space in trade for credits toward classes?

• Staff Change in 2023

-Krystal will be moving in 2023 to spend more time with her family. The Board has formed a task force to address current staffing needs and will hopefully find a replacement before May 1st.  It has been a great joy to have Krystal on staff these past 3 years as Education Coordinator.    We thank her for her dedicated work and wish her the best in this next chapter on her journey.  

Building Committee Report

Update of building/facility related activities:

1.The former curator's office is being refreshed to give workspace to 3 staff members. Paint has been acquired, 1 more desk to be added and 2 new computers installed.

2. The computer used for retail sales has been replaced and POS system installed.

3. WIFI has been expanded throughout the building using Google Mesh (please elaborate, Doug) The classroom doorbell has been connected to the system with chimes located in the wheel room, upstairs kitchen and lobby. This addition addresses security concerns for students and staff.

4. Carmel has contacted Tyree Campbell (contractor) in regard to the southeast stairwell windows. The will need to be reordered and installed ASAP.

5. Bryce Ward is constructing movable/modular walls to be used for exhibitions in the Brandt Gallery.

6. Marjorie Haige - ceramic assistant, is making large ceramic pinwheels for the outside urns for the spring display. She coordinated with Didi Skidmore on the selection of glaze colors - should be ready for a mid-March installation.

Membership Committee Report

* Membership as grown significantly year to year from 350 members to 391 a growth rate of 12%.

* 2023 Membership focus will continue to be on 1) Renewals & Retention - RENEWAL CAMPAIGN

2) Special member event - Two member only events to be held in 1Q for Sustainers and Director Levels.  A member event associated with the Amateur Event or exhibition review.

3) Again leveraging Sugar Creek for membership campaign.

4) Investigation of a member referral process that would invent new membership growth.

*Support from exhibitions and events for special member events.

*Membership renewal mailings and contacts of lapsed members - support from the board to both scrub the lapsed member list and contact lapsed members by board members.

*Investigation of the Wild Apricot system for data analysis of retention rates

MEMBERSHIP LEVEL UPDATE FOR DONATIONS OVER $1000 - If an existing member makes a general donation over $1,000 and is within 90 days of their renewal date, their membership will automatically be renewed at their previous level and will expire one year from their original renewal date (if they were previously at the Community Level or the Supporter Level, they'd be moved up to the Patron Level).

Example: Mr. & Mrs. Joe Shmoe donated $1,500 on 12/8/23. At the time of their donation, their member renewal date is 1/20/24. MCAC Staff will process their donation and automatically renew their membership at the Patron level, setting their renewal date as 1/20/25. They will then be sent a thank you letter for their donation and for their membership from the Executive Director, along with their membership card.

If the donor is not currently or has never been a member, they will be given a complimentary membership at the Patron Level, with their renewal date being one year from the date MCAC Staff processed their donation.

Example: John Doe sends in a general donation check dated 12/1/22. MCAC staff processed the check on 12/3/22 and establishes John Doe as a Patron Level member with a renewal date of 12/3/23. John Doe is then sent a thank you letter for their donation and for their membership from the Executive Director, along with their membership card.

No December 2022 Meeting

Board Meeting Agenda

Wednesday, November 16, 2022

Director’s Report 

Staffing:

Carmel has given her last day as 12/14.  She has stated she will be available to help out after this date.  She has been offered options to work from home, but has not accepted this offer yet.  We remain in open dialog to keep her on staff.

Krystal will be returning to South Carolina in May.  Her parents and uncle have health issues and the distance has proven an impediment to providing them support.

Micaela has informed the team that she is being recruited by WGLT for a position with benefits.  She has not sought this out, but feels she must entertain the interview.  Her primary concern is insurance, as she has significant health care considerations and will be rolling off her parents insurance in the short term

Natalie, who most of you never met, was hired as a Curtail assistant two months ago.  She has abandoned the role given some personal metal health issues, which were previously undisclosed.

Sydney Steower, who has been extra help since Kimberly’s resignation, is away in Europe for a month, but will return in that capacity in the new year.

Otis Bras (IWU) will be an intern this spring.  Also, in the fall of 2023 and some in the spring of will be Cynthia Castro (IWU)

Building:

Back Stairway: The new doors for the Brandt back stairway is being replaced tomorrow.  No word yet on the long delayed window installation.  The paintings and carpeting for this space will be installed after the other tasks are completed.

Winter Plowing: Our previous contractor informed us this week that he is no longer offering the service. LKM, our landscaping service, is unable to take on additional contracts. Assistance in identifying a contractor is appreciated.

The lobby-basement Chair lift is installed and inspected.

Other: 

The artwork from the Gregor and French exhibitions has been returned to out of town artists. Having these exhibitions back-to-back was regrettable, given the heavy work load they presented.  

Many thanks to everyone who assisted with preparing the holiday treasures exhibition.  Especially Dave Templeton, who proved to be a terrific asset during the artwork installation.

The town of Normal is interested in co-producing a Spring event, likely in 2024.  I don’t see a return to Spring Bloom, but instead a music/theater.art demonstration focused event in cooperation with other presenting organizations.

The paperwork for the $100,000 grant has been submitted and the capital bill check should be arriving any day.

Education Committee Report:

To date there have been 647 active students enrolled in 49 classes, 12 intensives and 32 workshops.   Multiple students have participated in solo shows and submitted work to the Amateur Exhibition & Holiday Treasures show and sale.   The student show was very successful and discussion is ongoing as to the possibility of making this an annual event. 

Winter/Spring classes will resume on Jan. 17th and end May 21st.  This week the teaching staff was contacted requesting their availability to teach second semester classes and registration is set to begin on December 6th and 8th.  A planning meeting for all teaching staff is also being scheduled sometime within the next two weeks. 

We added classes & workshops to the current Fall Schedule including; Intermediate Chinese Brush Painting with Su Ge, Holiday Ceramic Class with Kirsten Heteji and Photography Field Trips with Dave Fulghum.

We sponsored an Education Booth at the Sugar Creek Arts Festival with live demos from our students and Instructors. We had over 200 individuals give us their contact information for a chance to win a free workshop. These new contacts have been added to Wild Apricot. 

Submitted by Deana Moore Schoolcraft

Building Report:

Didi is in traffic on her way home from Chicago and unable to attend.  These items were reported on the phone.

Thanks to Susan Holifield for the holiday decorations at the entrance.

No date yet for the siding installation.

Carmel may have a contractor of the snow clearing.  A bid is expected in the next day.

Present: Dana Altenburger, Sally Berry, Bruce Cather, David Dow, Allyson Frink, Dan Galvin, Jared Lacy, Sheila Lamberson, Craig Queen, Deana Moore Schoolcraft, Dave Templeton Staff: Doug Johnson Absent: Ruth Ann Friedberg, Su Ge, Susan Holifield, Cindy Lawson-Kester, Didi Skidmore Meeting called to order: 5:02 pm

Director’s Report: • Doug informed the board about some staffing issues: – Carmel has given notice that her last day will be December 14. Doug is continuing dialog with Carmel, in hopes of keeping her on staff.

– Krystal will be leaving after the winter/spring semester to return to South Carolina. – Micaela has let the staff know she is being recruited by WGLT. She is considering the job because it includes benefits.

– Natalie, Curatorial Assistant, has quit due to mental health issues. – Sydney Steower is off to Europe for a month, but will return to the staff in 2023. – Otis Bras, from Wesleyan, will be an intern this spring and Cynthia Castro, also of IWU, will also be an intern, but in the fall of next year.

• A new door is being installed at the foot of the back stairway. No news on the window installation, so nothing else can be done until it’s in. • The lobby chair lift ha been installed and inspected. • We need a new contractor for snow plowing. • Doug lauded those who helped with the Holiday Treasures exhibition.

• The Town of Normal is interested in co-producing a spring event. Doug is not interested in bringing back Spring Bloom, but is interested in being involved with some type of event in cooperation with other entities.

• Paperwork for the $100,000 grant has been submitted and the capital bill check should come any day.

• Net income from Sugar Creek Arts Festival is $20,079.57.

Education Committee Report: Fall semester saw 647 students come through the door for 49 classes, 12 intensives and 32 workshops. Winter/spring classes will be from January 17 to May 21 (enrollment will start December 6). We sponsored an education booth at Sugar Creek and had over 200 people give us their contact information.

Building Committee Report: Thanks to Susan Holifield for the holiday decorations at the entrance. No date yet for the siding installation that was approved by the board. The rest of the meeting was a discussion about the staffing issues (see Doug’s report above). Doug wants to set up a Task Force to dig deep into staffing needs, including work classifications, salaries and workloads.

Meeting adjourned at 5:50 pm.

Respectfully submitted, Dave Templeton, Secretary

October meeting was a Board Field trip

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Present: Bruce Cather, David Dow, Allyson Frink, Dan Galvin, Su Ge, Susan Holifield, Jared Lacy, Sheila Lamberson, Didi Skidmore, Dave Templeton. Staff: Doug Johnson

Absent: Dana Altenburger, Sally Berry, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Cindy Lawson-Kester, Craig Queen, Deana Moore Schoolcraft

Meeting called to order: 5:01 pm Sheila welcomed David Dow to the board. Introductions of board members made.

Director’s Report:

• The Capitol Bill grant application was submitted by Doug on September 15. We applied for a full payout of $100,000. There is no timeline for distribution.

• Doug thanked everyone who attended the exhibition receptions for the current shows (“Mentor [Dennis French] & Student”; “Alfonso Gosalbez Berenguer”;. “Paula McCarty: Women Who Painted”. A great amount of work, including several 12-hour days, went into the installation of the shows. Doug was helped in the install by Dennis French and several of French’s former students. • The call-to-artists has gone out for the Holiday Treasures show.

• Staff-wise, Natalie Troyer has been hired as a Curatorial Assistant to assist Doug, who is now serving as Acting Curator. She is an artist finishing her last semester at Illinois State before receiving her Bachelors degree. Doug also commented on the exhibition committee’s good work and that most of their work is now scheduling future shows. •

We’re waiting on the windows for the southeast stairway work and waiting on the bid for Lobby painting from Stoller Paint.

Building Committee: There was further discussion about the siding of the office area. A motion to approve the $18,000 bid for vinyl siding was approved unanimously.

Membership Committee: There was a membership discussion about lapsed and new members. Nothing decided.

Exhibition Committee: Committee met to review the status of approved and scheduled exhibitions. Also see fourth bulleted item under Director’s Report.

Doug spent the rest of the meeting showing the board the Administration section of the MCAC Website. Meeting adjourned at 6:13 pm. Respectfully submitted, Dave Templeton, Secretary

Note: After the meeting Doug gave a tour of the building for those who were interested, including a chance to go up into the tower.

Wednesday, September 21, 2022

Present: Bruce Cather, David Dow, Allyson Frink, Dan Galvin, Su Ge, Susan Holifield, Jared Lacy, Sheila Lamberson, Didi Skidmore, Dave Templeton.

Staff: Doug Johnson

Absent: Dana Altenburger, Sally Berry, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Cindy Lawson-Kester, Craig Queen, Deana Moore Schoolcraft

Meeting called to order: 5:01 pm

Sheila welcomed David Dow to the board. Introductions of board members made.

Director’s Report:

• The Capitol Bill grant application was submitted by Doug on September 15. We applied for a full payout of $100,000. There is no timeline for distribution.

• Doug thanked everyone who attended the exhibition receptions for the current shows (“Mentor [Dennis French] & Student”; “Alfonso Gosalbez Berenguer”;. “Paula McCarty: Women Who Painted”. A great amount of work, including several 12-hour days, went into the installation of the shows. Doug was helped in the install by Dennis French and several of French’s former students. • The call-to-artists has gone out for the Holiday Treasures show.

• Staff-wise, Natalie Troyer has been hired as a Curatorial Assistant to assist Doug, who is now serving as Acting Curator. She is an artist finishing her last semester at Illinois State before receiving her Bachelors degree. Doug also commented on the exhibition committee’s good work and that most of their work is now scheduling future shows.

• We’re waiting on the windows for the southeast stairway work and waiting on the bid for Lobby painting from Stoller Paint. Building Committee: There was further discussion about the siding of the office area. A motion to approve the $18,000 bid for vinyl siding was approved unanimously.

Membership Committee:

There was a membership discussion about lapsed and new members. Nothing decided. Exhibition Committee: Committee met to review the status of approved and scheduled exhibitions. Also see fourth bulleted item under Director’s Report. Doug spent the rest of the meeting showing the board the Administration section of the MCAC Website.

Meeting adjourned at 6:13 pm.

Respectfully submitted, Dave Templeton, Secretary

Note: After the meeting Doug gave a tour of the building for those who were interested, including a chance to go up into the tower.

Board Minutes

Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Present: Dana Altenburger, Sally Berry, Bruce Cather, Allyson Frink, Dan Galvin (Zoom), Su

Ge, Susan Holifield, Jared Lacy, Sheila Lamberson, Cindy Lawson-Kester, Craig Queen (Zoom),

Deana Moore Schoolcraft, Didi Skidmore, Dave Templeton

Staff: Doug Johnson

Absent: Ruth Ann Friedberg

Meeting called to order: By President Sheila Lamberson at 5:00 pm

Director’s Report:

• The new sink for the Ceramics room will be installed on Tuesday, July 26
• Doug mentioned the success of the Harold Gregor and His Students show and thanked members

of the board who attended the opening reception. Many of Gregor’s students who are participat-

ing in the show were at the reception, including those from all across the country. Doug stated

that he thought this has been the most ambitious exhibition ever. Sixty artists and 79 artworks

are included in the show.

• The staff is rounding up a Social Media team to create an action plan for all postings and would like a board member to serve on the committee. Sheila Lamberson volunteered.
• LKM Landscaping is doing the Arts Center mowing and weeding. Doug likes what he’s seen so far.
• The new lighting for the lobby and the Armstrong and Dolan Galleries has commenced and expected to be done by early next week. Lobby lighting: $2,700; Armstrong: $4,750; Dolan:

$2,800.

• The northeast stairway project is on hold, awaiting the ordered window. The drywall work was done, but by Tyree Campbell’s crew instead of Chilly’s for the same price, $4,750. The estimate for stairway carpeting is $675 and painting estimate is $2,500. There was a motion made, seconded and carried unanimously to approve paying these costs.
• We still don’t have a bid for vinyl siding for the office area. The person that came and looked at the building did not then submit a bid.
• Lifts of Illinois bid $17,756 for a stair lift on the lobby stairs.
• We have an estimate of $13,000 for the signage light box for the north exterior wall of the building.

Committee Reports were approved.

• New Business: There was a lengthy discussion of “What is a Cultural District?” Bloomington and Normal do not have cultural districts. Doug is suggesting that Bloomington have a real cultural district, including the Arts Center and the Bloomington Center for the Performing Arts.

There are benefits to the community and the cultural entities to having such a district. The discussion included talk about partnering with the BCPA on events or, at least, possibly having Arts Center openings at the same time BCPA is having events. The discussion about a cultural district will be on-going.

Meeting adjourned at 6:12 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Dave Templeton, Secretary

No June 2022 Meeting

May 2022

Present: Dana Altenburger, Bruce Cather, Allyson Frink, Susan Holifield, Jared Lacy, Sheila Lamberson, Cindy Lawson-Kester, Craig Queen, Deana Moore Schoolcraft, Didi Skidmore, Dave Templeton

Staff: Doug Johnson

Absent: Sally Berry, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Dan Galvin, Su Ge (tried to get on Zoom, not able to)

Meeting called to order: By President Sheila Lamberson at 5:02 pm

• Introductions were made by all to welcome our new member, Susan Holifield. Director’s Report:
• Doug has been informed by the state that they will release the $100,000 capitol bill dollars shortly.
• Building work on the southeast stairway continues. We are also seeking bids to replace signage on the north side of the building. It may be as much as $18,000 for a lighted cabinet-style light with a plastic front and a marquee for text below. Also asking for bids on vinyl siding on the wood clad section of the building and carpet for the Brandt Stairway.
• The COMMARTS application is due this week. Videos for upcoming exhibitions are being edited. On June 1st, Board President Sheila Lamberson will be attending the Arts Alliance Illinois Gala with Doug in Chicago.
• Dialog is ongoing about the process for distribution of a new $50M Covid related cultural fund signed by the governor.
• Sugar Creek application are due at the end of this month. Seventy-seven are now fully submitted. Historically we get a big number in the last days. Cards went out last week.
• More on the building: There was a short discussion about the need for yard work (mowing, weeding, etc.),other than Doug having to do it all. Staff has gotten a bid from LKM Mowing & Landscaping for $1,700 for one year. On another matter, Doug said there would be another $1,000 added to the repairs of the southeast stairway area over what has already been approved. It was moved that we approve those expenditures and the motion carried unanimously.
• Doug then itemized other building expenses: Dolan Gallery lighting, $2,800; Overton (work in ceramics room), $1,010; Armstrong Gallery lighting, $4,750; lobby lighting, $2,700; stairway trusses, $2,000; painting, $2,500; carpet, $2,500; drywall, $4,700 and stairway lighting, $1,150; for a grand total of $24,110. In addition, on the wish-list is $14,000 to repave the staff parking lot.

New Business: There was a lengthy discussion about a potential new board member, who seemed somewhat apprehensive about being a board member. It was moved that we ask her to serve on a committee as a first step toward possible board membership. The motion carried unanimously. Sheila announced that Dana Altenburger will serve the Executive Committee as the at-large member.

Other committee assignments are as follows:

Executive

Sheila Lamberson, President, Bruce Cather, Vice-president; Dana Altenburger, At-Large; Ruth Ann Friedberg, Treasurer

Events

Carmel Rhoda, Chair; 

Exhibitions

 Sheila Lamberson, Chair

Bruce Cather Sally Berry Deana Moore SchoolcraftJ Dave Templeton  Didi Skidmore  Allyson Frink Cindy Lawson-Kester Dana Altenburger, At-Large Ruth Ann Friedberg Dana Altenburger Craig Queen Dana Altenburger Su Ge Kimberly Kimberly Krystal Micaela

Education

Deana Moore Schoolcraft, Co-Chair; Jared Lacy, Co-Chair 

Building

Didi Skidmore, Chair

Membership

Bruce Cather, Chair; Ruth Ann Friedberg

Sheila Lamberson Sally Berry Dave Templeton Ruth Ann Friedberg Jared Lacy Allyson Frink Dan Galvin Cindy Lawson-Kester  Su Ge Carmel Rhoda Susan Holifield

After Sheila’s announcement about committee assignments, there was a discussion about a Board page in the fundraiser program booklet. It was suggested that we have a page with talking points about the qualities and skill sets needed for Board and committee membership. Sheila mentioned the spread sheet handout with ideas from our retreat on April 30, suggesting that we look it over, keeping in mind that we don’t want to forget the ideas or the whole exercise at the retreat would have been for nothing.

Meeting adjourned at 6:05 pm.

Respectfully submitted, Dave Templeton, Secretary

MCAC Board Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Members Absent: Ruth Ann Friedburg, Su Ge, Deana Moore Schoolcraft, Cindy Lawson-Kester, Dave Templeton

Director’s Report: Doug has been very busy working on 2 large exhibitions, Harold Gregor from 7-15 to 8-26, and Dennis French from 9-9 to 10-21. He will also be writing 2 grants. The roof has been patched and we will soon be receiving a bid for painting the back stairway. Our new hire, Micaela, is doing very well. Her job will revolve around communications and administration, and she will also be our events coordinator.

Sheila’s Report: Sheila gave an update on the retreat planned for April 30th from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM. There will be coffee and pastries at 8:30. The Board members present received a handout with a registration sheet and instructions for each member to write a 2 page “personal story”. These are to be emailed to Sheila or Didi by Monday April 25th.

Committee Reports: Reports were submitted by the Exhibitions and Membership committees and were attached to the agenda email. Sally reminded the Board that Silent Auction donations for the Annual Fundraiser are due May 1st and sponsorship program ads for the booklet are due June 1st. The Building had no report and the Education committee report was submitted separately by Jared Lacy.

Board nominee and vote: Sally proposed a new Board member, Susan Holifield, who has been a long-time member and financial supporter of the Arts Center. Susan is also an artist who has had a recent exhibition in the Dolan Gallery. Sally moved to accept Susan as a new member. The motion was seconded and the vote was unanimous.

Discussion: Sheila asked for Doug to think of ways we can help with the exhibitions. Doug will advise at a later date.Doug stressed the importance of networking at area galleries and even statewide, to discover talented artists in Illinois who may be interested in having an exhibition. Also discussed were ways we can help sponsor the program booklet by buying or selling ads for individuals or businesses.

Minutes submitted by Sally Berry on 4-24-2022. Any changes or additions should be submitted to me at sally@mcac.org.

March 2022 Meeting Minutes

Sheila Lamberson, President; Bruce Cather, Vice President; Ruth Ann Freidberg, Treasurer;  Sally Berry Secretary; Sally Berry,  vacant, At-Large

Dan Galvin, Su Ge, Jared Lacey, Cindy Lawson Kesler, Craig Queen, Deana Moore Schoolhouse, Diane Skidmore, Dave Templeton

Absent: Craig Queen

Old Business:  Board Nominations

New Business: 

Harold Gregor Print Donation from Richard Finch, Framing cost $900 approved

ADA Taskforce

Building work

Director’s Report

Staff:

Completing reference checks for the Program Coordinator role. Expect to hire this week.  All three interviewed candidates were very good.  This position will be for the Sugar Creek Arts Festival, and in support of other positions.

Grants:

-The Illinois Arts Council Agency Program Grant (typically around $15,000) has been submitted.

-Mirza Grant has been submitted, for Sugar Creek Musicians.

-The $15,000 Back to Business Grant is set to deposit any day.

Building:

-Electrical wiring the Brandt staircase begins on Monday.  Concerns about knob and tube, and damaged wires are foremost.   

-We will have lights installed on the stairway.  

-The walls will be reframed, and insulated for new drywall.  

-The stairs are in better shape than we expected, but the mid-point landing floor has rotted out and will be repaired.  

-The roof of this section (maybe 8x12) will need to be rebuilt and sheathed with the same membrane material as that on the Armstrong gallery.  We currently have a hole in the roof.

-I would like to replace three windows, two on the east wall, and at the transom above the exit door (it is currently plywood.  I will see what is in stock at Menards, and Tracy Shepard tells me that Ace-Hi glass can make custom, insulated, fixed windows.   

-Waiting new lighting for on Armstrong, Dolan, and Lobby area.  Expected after 4/26

-New ceiling tile for Armstrong, after lights are installed. 

-The new commercial sink for the ceramics room will be delivered in the next three weeks.  We have ordered clay traps for that sink and the existing ceramics room sink.

New Taskforce Needed: 

We have expanded reporting requirements for our ADA standing and I am seeking volunteers to help us meet these guidelines and identify addressable deficiencies. 

Sugar Creek Arts Festival:

-The application due date has been pushed to May 31.  This better reflects our Fall event date.

Committee Reports:

Exhibitions

I met with Kimberly 2/25 to see how our committee can best support her in her new role. She is still getting organized, see what contacts and follow up is needed and getting the most immediate gallery opening scheduled. She is regularly communicating ideas to the committee and I’m excited about working with her in this role.

We have had excellent attendance and involvement from the board for our last 3 opening receptions. Thank you to all who have been able to make it. 

The Amateur exhibit was especially well attended by the community. 

Membership

Issues discussed

* Membership waned in February as we lost 19 members.  We are still tracking to the average of 350 members, but have been as high last 371. 

* Discussed the upcoming membership planning session in April.  

Resources needed

We will need all board members to participate in the planning meeting in April.  The date has not yet been set as 4/23 does not look like the best date for the most participants.

Building

The dropped ceiling and LED lighting have been completed in the lower level hallway and ceramics classroom. (Go take a look, it's beautiful!)

The work in the southeast stairway has begun. During demolition, the water damage from the roof was revealed and we will be needing to replace most of the interior roof/ceiling, The membrane on the roof is also damaged and will need to be replaced before the interior repairs can be done. Tyree Campbell and Action Roofing will decide who is going to do the exterior roof membrane work. The floor on the landing will also need to be replaced due to the water damage. I am not sure if this was included in the original bid for the work in the stairway. Will we need a revised bid and do we need to allocate more funds to this project?

Windows under the stairs were revealed as the demolition proceeded. We should think about replacing the 2 windows with something more secure. Doug suggested that if the upper window was vent-able we could control the movement of fresh air into the Brandt Gallery.

Resources needed

Unsure if we need to get a revised bid for the external and internal roof work in the SE stairs.

Discuss exploring funding, materials, and installation of 2 windows in the SE stairs.

Action Items?

If yes, Actionable Item

Do we need a revised bid for the additional work in the SE stairway?

Have we approved monies for the plumbing work and the new sink and faucet in the ceramics area? 

We have a bid from A-1 Haney for 2880.00. The bid reads that this includes the drains and faucets but not the sink itself. Sink has been ordered.

Board Meeting Minutes

January 19, 2022

Members present: Dan Galvin, Bruce Cather, Sally Berry, Doug Johnson, Sheila Lamberson, Deana Moore-Schoolcraft, Cindy Lawson-Kester, Craig Queen, Dave Templeton, Jared Lacy, Allyson Frink and Diane Skidmore. Absent: Ruth Ann Friedberg and Su Ge.

Old Business: We will have Board nominations and elections at our next meeting on Wednesday February 16, 2022.

New Business: A planning retreat was discussed. We will discuss a date and agenda at the next meeting. We will need someone to run the meeting.

Director’s Report: Rhys Lovell has resigned his position as curator and Kimberly will be serving as curator with a 6 month review. We will add a part-time employee for festivals and projects.

- Also discussed was a possible Public Arts Project in a partnership with the Town of Normal. More information to follow. 

-Doug also asked that interested Board members form a committee to assess the applicants for the Community Arts Access Grant.

-Other items on Doug’s report: Sugar Creek application now available online as is the Amateur show application. Covid restrictions are still in place. The tent for Sugar Creek arrived but was missing parts. Work is progressing on the Gregor student show for July and August with 70+ artists participating. A print booklet will be designed for this show and the Dennis French & student show in September.

-We have received approximately $91,000 in donations. New improvements completed include new lights in the ceramics-hand building room, and a new table for rolling clay slabs. Projects waiting for bids are the Brandt stairway and a bid for a double sink with a clay trap in the ceramics room. Also discussed were new tables for classrooms. That idea was tabled(Ha!) temporarily.

Reports were submitted for the Building, Education, Events and Membership committees and included in the agenda. Some possible topics for future discussion are the need for a marketing development plan with community outreach and education and possible committee reorganization. 

Respectfully submitted by Sally Berry. If you have questions or additions, feel free to email me.

MCAC Board Meeting Minutes

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Members present: Doug Johnson, Dan Galvin(Zoom), Bruce Cather, SallyBerry, Deana Moore Schoolcraft, Craig Queen, Jared Lacy, Dave Templeton, Allyson Frink

Members Absent: Sheila Lamberson, Diane Skidmore, Cindy Lawson-Kester,Su Ge,Ruth Ann Friedberg

No old business

New business: Director’s Report- End of Year Ask letter has gone out, and several have stated gifts are pending. We received a bequest of $52,500 from the estate of Lucille Beich. So far we have received about $75,000 in donations with approximately $30,000 promised.

Carmel Rhoda will head the Events Committee in 2022.

Reports were given by the chairs of the Education and Membership committees. Reports for those committees were submitted before the meeting. No new reports were given by the other committees.

Exhibitions scheduled for the beginning of 2022 are: Kent Broadbent in the Armstrong Gallery from January 14-February 18, and an exhibition of the permanent collection in the Brandt Gallery.

After the report from the Membership Committee by Bruce, Bruce stated we have had 4% growth in membership since last January. There will be a planning session in Spring to discuss ideas for ways to grow our membership and to appeal to younger members.

Also discussed was the need for a long-term plan for the endowment. Doug stated that Tracy Shepard and John Pratt are “actively passive” in that regard.

Doug asked for donations from the Board for bonuses for the staff. In the past the instructors have received $50 each, the staff have received $100 each with the exception of Kimberly who received $200. Donations for bonuses should be sent or brought to Carmel.

Craig moved to adjourn the meeting and Dave seconded the motion.

MCAC BOARD MEETING MINUTES

Wednesday September 15, 2021

.

Members present: Doug Johnson, Dan Galvin, Bruce Cather, Sally Berry, Jared Lacy, Deana Moore Schoolcraft, Sheila Lamberson, Craig Queen, Dave Templeton, Allyson Frink, Su Ge

Members absent: Diane Skidmore, Cindy Lawson Kester, Ruth Ann Friedberg

Dan announced that Sally is not going to chair the Events Committee next year. Sally then stated that she will still continue as a member of the committee and volunteer as before. Dan then asked for committee reports. Written reports had been submitted for the Director’s Report, the Events committee, the Education Committee, and the Membership Committee.

Events Committee: Sally gave a report on the preparations for the Fall Fundraiser which is on September 16th. She asked for Board help with the set up of the Silent Auction on Thursday morning and for help at the dinner. She answered all questions from the Board.

Education Committee: Jared stated there are 32 classes this Fall. He also stated that the Education Committee needs members.The committee has no set time or date for their meetings, but they usually meet every 2 months. Krystal Lyon calls the meetings.

Membership Committee: Bruce stated that the committee met on 9-14 to discuss any updates on the committee’s goals, including membership brochures, and the table at the Fall Fundraiser for member sign up and renewal. The membership goal is 332 members by the end of 2021.

Exhibitions Committee: Sheila stated that the committee will meet in October to go through artist proposals for exhibitions in 2022.

Director’s Report: Doug reported that the Arts Center is complying with all mask mandates. Staff will be wearing masks when not in their offices, and masks will be required in classes. Sugar Creek is on October 9 and 10 and a signup genius will be sent out to Board members for volunteering. There will be fewer artists, about 100, and more space between booths. There will be no artist party due to covid, but we will still give out pastries and coffee to artists on Saturday morning. Doug also stated that he will be busy the next 2 weeks writing 3 grant reports in addition to preparing for Sugar Creek.He applied for a Back to Business grant for up to $50,000. Work is progressing on the Brandt Gallery and should be completed in time for Holiday Treasures. Doug gave details on the steps in the construction and what is still needing to be done. Also, there has been quite a bit of clean up outside the building by a community service worker.

All the Board’s questions were answered by the committee chairs and no votes were needed on any of the items.

At 6:00 Sally moved to end the meeting and Bruce seconded. The motion was passed unanimously.

Minutes submitted by Sally Berry, Secretary, on 10/6/2021

McLean County Arts Center Board Meeting Minutes

Aug 18, 2021

Members present: Doug Johnson, Dan Galvin, Bruce Cather, Sally Berry, Diane Skidmore, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Craig Queen, Jared Lacy, Sheila Lamberson, Dave Templeton, Allyson Frink

Absent: Cindy Lawson-Kester, Deana Moore Schoolcraft, Susie Vincent

Director’s Report:

   Doug gave a list of performers for Sugar Creek with Sarah Quah as the headliner. He also reported on Sugar Creek sponsors and amounts.

   Doug also gave a building update noting that the new a/c unitwas installed on 7/29 by ProAir and is working well. The ceiling teardown will begin on 8/31. Also, we received the lighting bid from Anderson Electric, and it’s $22,250. Didi moved to accept the bid and Sally seconded. It passed unanimously. The bid for painting the ceiling came in at $16,570+$2896 for the adjacent barrel ceiling. Doug will seek another bid. There is no date for installing the roofing.

   Update on landscaping: Much has been done, such as weeding, planting, and mulching by community service workers. Doug also did a lot of work around the building. Thanks to Craig for his volunteer referrals!

Committee Reports:

   Education: Jared submitted a written report citing attendance numbers for Summer classes. There will be 32 classes offered this Fall.

  Finance: Ruth Ann submitted a profit and loss report and a balance statement and answered questions from the Board. Both reports had been emailed to the Board for review.The need to set up an asset account for building improvements was discussed. No decision was made.

   Membership: Bruce submitted a committee report from the last meeting. He asked that we have the staff work on completing a member survey, t-shirt design, business cards, and brochures. Sally noted there will be a membership table set up at the Fall Fundraiser.

   Events: Sally submitted a written report and a copy of meeting minutes from the last Events meeting. The discussion mainly revolved around the Fall Fundraising dinner which she encouraged all to attend. She updated the Board on the progress in planning the event.

   Exhibitions: Sheila noted that there will be a meeting of the committee on September 1st in which exhibitions for 2022 will be discussed.

   Other discussion items: Didi suggested that we could post upcoming events on WXRJ, a local radio station sponsored by the Black Business Owners Association. The Board discussed the possibility. No decision was made.

Jared moved to close the meeting, Sheila seconded and the vote was unanimous.

Submitted by Sally Berry to the Executive Committee on September 1, 2021.

MCAC Board Meeting Minutes

Jul 28, 2021at 5:00 pm

Members present: Doug Johnson, Dan Galvin, Dave Templetom, Jared Lacy, Craig Queen, Bruce Cather, Sally Berry, Deana Moore Schoolcraft, Cindy Lawson-Kester, Sheila Lamberson, Diane Skidmore, Su Ge

Dan called the meeting to order at 5:05 and asked for the Director’s report.

Director’s report: The first item for discussion was the question of covid masking in the building. Illinois has not yet mandated restrictions so it was decided to wait on setting our policy. Doug will keep an eye on restrictions as they occur. With that in mind, Sugar Creek is up in the air, but a deadline for a decision to continue with the event was set for September 1st.

Doug stated that during the closing reception for the previous exhibit, the point of sale system went down. We now have a new system that accepts Apple Pay.

The Board received an update on the new construction in the Brandt Gallery, including the new roof, air conditioning system, ceiling teardown, and drywall replacement. Doug will tear down the lath boards using scaffolding borrowed from Diane.

The replacement of the lighting system was discussed at length.Each item on the bid list was discussed. The different lighting additions could be pieced out over time, but it was decided to go with all items on the bid at a total cost of $44,450. Also we will look at ways to pay for the improvements via fundraising, a loan and/or using endowment funds. All agreed that as stewards of the Arts Center, it is our responsibility to do the repairs correctly. Bruce stated we may already have gained enough in the investments this year to pay for the system. All Board members felt comfortable with the decision to go ahead with the full list without getting a second bid, since Anderson Electric has done a good job for us in the past, and we have a long-standing relationship with them. A motion was made by Bruce and seconded by Dave to go ahead, and the motion was passed unanimously. Deana suggested that we get 2 bids on future major projects and all agreed.

Committee Reports:

Education: Jared submitted a written report. He informed the Board that his committee has decided to raise the price of the ceramics class from $165 to $195, which is the non-member price.

Exhibitions: The Exhibitions committee did not meet in July, but Sheila stated there will be a meeting in August.

Events: Sally submitted a written report for the committee. She asked for donations from the Board for a full page in the program booklet to be sent to Kimberly or dropped off at the Arts Center. She also requested volunteers from the Board to stuff and label envelopes for the invitations to the Fall fundraiser. These need to be sent out asap after they arrive. Several members wondered about holding the dinner if new mask and social distancing restrictions are established. Those things can be done at a live dinner according to the events coordinator at the Bloomington Country Club. Sally will keep an eye on this.

Membership: Bruce submitted a written report. Our membership stands at 321. We have had some lapses this year,but most are at lower levels. The goal for membership for this year is 366. Doug suggested offering some type of reward for members who make frequent visits to the Arts Center. The membership committee will discuss this at the next meeting. Also discussed was a membership page in the program booklet for the Fall fundraiser offering a discount to new or renewing members who sign up the night of the dinner.We also need to encourage auto-renewal on the website. Bruce and the committee are working on a survey to lapsed members to see why they have not renewed.

The meeting was adjourned at 6:10.

MCAC Board Meeting Agenda

Wednesday, June 16, 2021

Dan Galvin, President; Bruce Cather, Vice President; Ruth Ann Freidberg, Treasurer;  Sally Berry Secretary; Sally Berry, At-Large

Su Ge, Jared Lacey, Sheila Lamberson, Cindy Lawson Kesler, Michele Peterson, Craig Queen, Deb Risberg, Deana Moore Schoolhouse, Diane Skidmore, Dave Templeton, Susie Vincent

The Board meeting for June took place on Wednesday June 6, 2021. Attending were: Doug Johnson, Dan Galvin, Bruce Cather, Sally Berry, Diane Skidmore, Deana Moore Schoolcraft, Allyson Frink, Jared Lacy, Dave Templeton, Michele Peterson and Su Ge.

Absent: Susie Vincent, Sheila Lamberson Cindy Lawson-Kester and RuthAnn Friedburg.

Old business: Purchase of the house on the corner of Mulberry and Prairie Street. We decided that since we will be spending approximately $22,000 for the repair of the ceiling of the Brandt Gallery, that we will table the purchase for now.A motion was made by Bruce and seconded by Jared and the vote was unanimous.

New Business: We discussed the reopening of the Arts Center and decided to follow the state guidelines. Masks and social distancing will not be required for fully vaccinated persons, but are required for non vaccinated. Allyson moved to accept and Sally seconded. Vote was unanimous.

We also discussed the ceiling repair and passed a motion to accept the bid by Campbell Construction to demolish the plaster. The lighting will be updated also and is covered by insurance.

The focus of the Fall fundraiser will be the restoration of the Brandt Gallery.The motion was made by Didi Skidmore and seconded by Dave Templeton and was passed unanimously.  

Heartland Theater will be giving performances at the Arts Center and they want us to split the cost with them. A motion made by Dave and seconded by Didi was passed unanimously.

We will be looking into a device that will allow split streaming for upcoming events and exhibits along with artist interviews. The monitor in the tower room will be moved to the sales desk area.

Doug presented the Director's report and committee chairs gave brief summaries of their reports for the Education(Jared), Building(Didi), Sally(Events), and Bruce (Membership).

A motion was made by Dave and seconded by Sally to adjourn the meeting at 6:10.

Old Business:  

-Re-visit Purchase 702 N. Prairie Property.

New Business:  

- See Building Committee Report regarding Brandt Gallery Ceiling issues

- Heartland Theatre Performance at MCAC: Souvenir (anticipated revenue)

3 performances--December 3, 4, 5 @ $15 a head, paid at the door

50 people capacity, per performance, congregated in the southeast corner of the Brandt Gallery

$2,250 potential box office, split evenly between Heartland Theatre Company and the McLean County Arts Center, assuming MCAC is willing to share half the cost of the grand piano rental ($950, see proposal from earlier email). A grand piano is central to the story and will essentially serve as the set for the production. 

Alternatively, if the MCAC wants to go 60/40 on the box, HTC will cover the entire cost of the piano rental. 

-Video system update proposal from Raydient: second screen for basement, slide shows, upcoming events, etc.  Our initial investment for 1 screen would be $139 ($50+$59+$30), then it would be $59/month starting on that second month. 2 screens would be $235 ($50x2, $50x2, $35), then it would be $100/month starting on that second month. 

Director’s Report:

Festivals:  Sugar Creek Arts Festival 21:  144 applications.  Peter Olson, the Assoc Director of the NUI Art Gallery will serve a juror.  I am walking the footprint with the Town staff on Friday morning to assess available spaces.  Notifying artists 6/30.  Sponsorships: $1,000 BNACVB, $500 CEFCU, $500 Little Jewels (Julie Dobski), $500 First Securities, $1,000 McDonalds, WJBC/WBNQ In-Kind ($18,000)

Exhibitions: continue with truncated Brandt Gallery space.  Current exhibitions are live, videos are live

Fall Fundraiser: Raffle painting is completed, framed, tickets, and giclee prints are here.

Exterior: Thanks to community service hours and work by the the Skidmores, Sally, and Deana, and others much work has been done on our exterior space.  New landscape lighting is installed by the sidewalk.

Armstrong Roof: No date for install.  We appear to have raccoon activity on roof, no knowledge of intrusion.

Ongoing Video History Project: 

-Filmed Ed McCullough, having slides scanned. Wish to clean our sculpture before creating a video of that.  And the one at the Airport, too.

-Met with Rhea Edge, Harold Boyd, and Harold’s daughter Lisa regarding needed B Roll and photos for Harold Boyd video (it has been shelved for 18 months+ pending material)

Committee meetings, reports

 Education- Jared Lacy

Building Committee  - Diane Skidmore

Exhibitions – Sheila 

Events - Sally 

Membership Committee: Bruce Cather

Director’s Report

Wednesday, March 17, 2021

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/504086356?pwd=MzZqd0V2emJub2tCZGNQVWoyVkpRQT09

Meeting ID: 504 086 356

Passcode: 052710

Dan Galvin, President; Bruce Cather, Vice President; Ruth Ann Freidberg (excused), Treasurer;  Sally Berry Secretary; Sally Berry, At-Large

Su Ge, Jared Lacey, Sheila Lamberson, Cindy Lawson Kesler, Michele Peterson, Craig Queen, Deb Risberg, Deana Moore Schoolhouse, Diane Skidmore, Dave Templeton, Susie Vincent

Old Business: We are seeking nominations for the board.  Brad Glenn has expressed interest.

New Business:

Proposal from Rhys Lovell: Collaborative theatre project between MCAC and Heartland Theatre Company

 Specifics: 2-character play, Souvenir, featuring actors Michelle Vought and David Shields. MCAC Curator and HTC Artistic Director, Rhys Lovell, will direct.

Where: Brandt Gallery (one corner)

Set requires a baby grand piano, which HTC would cover the rental on.

 When: currently looking at December 3, 4, 5. We would charge admission, to be split equally between the two organizations.

 *All rehearsals, except the one week before the performance, would be held offsite. Rehearsals could easily be held in the evening (preferable, actually) after the MCAC has closed.

 Please refer all questions to Rhys Lovell at rhys@mcac.org

Executive Committee Updates - Dan

Director’s Report

The Amateur Exhibition is installed and awards have been made.  The second iteration of the video was launched yesterday.  The first version, which had some omissions, was viewed 1,500+ times in two days.  The exhibitions committee is working to offer clarifying language on future submission standards.

The Instructor exhibition, Apart|Together, in the Armstrong gallery is installed and video segments are available to promote individual instructors in the future. The video has less than 200 views.

The Natalie Jackson exhibition in the Dolan gallery has had good traffic and the video has 1,300+ views.

The Operating Support grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency is due March 30.  This is two weeks later than past years, in part due to a new grant interface.  This project will keep some staff members busy for the next week or so.

Building bids are in for the Armstrong Gallery Roof / Staging Area Roof; Tuck Pointing, Public Parking Lot, and removal of the big maple tree by the tower.  Funds for these projects will eventually be released by the state as part of the Capital Bill.  We have been allocated $100,000.  These projects mentions amounts to $34,000 and change. The replacement of the Dolan Gallery window and the ongoing window work in the Brant Gallery can also be considered part of this funding stream. The remaining funds will go to the staff parking lot, the disused stairway in the Brandt Gallery, new classroom & hallway drop ceilings, and exterior curb and garden wall work.  We currently have $150,000 in the bank.

Sugar Creek will occur on October 9 & 10 in Uptown Normal.  It will be a smaller footprint for a number of reasons, including that Uptown restaurants will continue with outdoor seating through October. This 2021event is all about branding. Sponsorship letters are on our May Staff agenda.

Applications for the Community Arts Access Grant are due to us 2/28.  We will be awarding $7,000 to local non-profits. These dollars come from the Illinois Arts Council Agency and the National Endowment for the Arts. Craig, Michele and Jaredhave agreed to serve on the committee. I hope to schedule this in the next two weeks.

The frosted glass film for the large windows of the Brandt Gallery is not yet fully installed. Access to South Windows is an issue to be addressed.  We meet with the company on Friday.

Committee meetings, reports

 Education- Jared Lacy

Board Members Attending:

Ruth Ann Friedberg, Dan Galvin, Bruce Cather, Sally Berry, Sheila Lamberson, Craig Queen, Deana Moore Schoolcraft, Dave Templeton, Allyson Frink, Cindy Lawson-Kester, Susie Vincent, Jared Lacy, Michele Peterson, Diane Skidmore

Others present:

Issues discussed

Spring Numbers:

We have 133 Students so far registered for classes and workshops in the Spring

88 are members 

45 are non members

Our net revenue for the spring semester is $6,855.32

Improvements:

We have purchased new shelves for our Kilns downstairs.

We are planning to paint the hallways downstairs.

The new Ceramic Classroom was completely painted recently.

And we will need a plumber to come in and look at one of the toilets downstairs.

We have two new instructors this Semester teaching workshops:

Su Ge- Chinese Brush Painting

Nikki Wheeler- Shibori Japanese Tie Dying

Both of these new workshops are completely filled with waiting lists!

Summer Planning is underway. 

Many Students have been coming upstairs to see the Instructor Show and Amateur Show. This is great! And a number of our student's work is in the Amateur Show this year. It's super encouraging to see this type of engagement happening.

Resources needed

Krystal and I; along with the Education Committee have made a recommendation on the following air purifier for the Ceramics Area(s) downstairs. 

Enviroklenz Air Purifier

This unit has a whisper mode, the filters are easy to order, it cleans up to 1000 square feet and it's $699.00 

https://enviroklenz.com/product/enviroklenz-mobile/

Action Item? Yes

If yes, Actionable Item

The MCAC Education Committee recommends that the Board of Directors approves the purchase of the Enviroklenz Air Purifier at $699.00 for use in our Ceramics Classes and adjacent areas.

Building Committee: Diane Skidmore

Board Members Attending:

Dan Galvin, Sheila Lamberson, Dave Templeton, Diane Skidmore, Doug Johnson

Issues discussed

On 3.9.21, we toured the interior of the MCAC from top to bottom, taking notes of work/upgrades that need to be done. 

The installation of the window film in the Brandt Gallery was almost completed.

We also discussed the 3 capital bill projects that Doug is getting bids for. 

1. Tuckpointing the south-facing brick exterior wall.

2. Redoing the classroom hallway drop ceiling.

3. Roof repairs to the Armstrong Gallery/ loading dock area.

Dan has agreed to meet with Doug to compile information about the mechanical systems of the building. By June, we hope to have a comprehensive spreadsheet to work from going forward.  

Resources needed

Action Item? Yes

If yes, Actionable Item

The Building Committee recommends that we move on the Armstrong roof repair ASAP before more damage occurs as Doug's latest inspection found it to be "squishy".

Exhibitions – Sheila 

Working with Rhys to set up a March meeting.

Request from artist who’s painting was rejected for hanging in the Amateur Exhibition for transportation expense reimbursement. We agreed to this request (approx $80for UHaul).

We will take up this general topic in our next committee meeting. More to come.

Events - Sally 

Board Members Attending:

Sally Berry, Susie Vincent, Doug Johnson

Others present:

Kimberly Babin, Alexis Kalish, Gay Dolan

Issues discussed

The timeline for the Fall Fundraiser, including the silent auction, theme for the event, fund a need categories, award recipients, save the date, update on Doug's raffle painting, and the need for all Board committees to participate in the event.  

Resources needed

Board and staff participation

Action Item?

Yes

If yes, Actionable Item

Obtain commitments for silent auction items. Help from staff(Kimberly) to notify local media of a save the date so other organizations don't plan conflicting events. Full report to follow. 

Membership Committee: Bruce Cather

Board Members Attending:

Bruce Cather, Craig Queen, Deana Moore Schoolcraft

Others present:

Doug Johnson, Kimberly Babin Marshall

Issues discussed

* Goals:  50 New Net Additional Members in 2021, Attrition data is unavailable but desirable to determine how to lower attrition of members with a goal targeting Attrition. Goal of membership is also touch each member personally 7 times a year. Current membership number is 316. * Doug is working on videos to feature artists in the Amateur Show and exhibitions and instructor show. Videos are a good method to show MCAC value to the membership. Doug does frequent presentations on the Art Center to Rotary Clubs and the like, but there may be opportunities for board members to assist with this.* A new membership brochure is being worked on.  Doug would like board participation in finding sponsors for the MCAC brochure. Development of Partner organizations is needed for the 12 page booklet and potentially for Sugar Creek. *We discussed the need for a marketing plan that identifies the most effective ways to reach out to different demographic groups.  * All agreed that we need to elevate the awareness of MCAC's sponsorship of the Sugar Creek Art Show.  T-Shirts for each of the staff and volunteers may be needed to help relate MCAC and Sugar Creek. * Need to better exploit Social Media such as Instagram for the exhibitions.  Suggestion for staff and board to instagram photos from exhibitions.  

* Phone calls to members to touch them seem ineffective and "obtrusive".  Tried before with very limited success.

Resources needed

* $250 for T-shirts for volunteers and staff

* Board member recruiting of new members

* Focus of staff on social media - instagram, Twitter, & Facebook for events.  

Action Item?

Yes

If yes, Actionable Item

Allocation of funds for T-Shirts $250.  Assigning a representative from the membership committee to be a liaison to exhibitions, events, fundraising and education committees - "Calendar" the meetings and describe the needs of membership for each of the other committees. Example:  "Every student of MCAC classes who takes 3 classes or more should be engaged to become members."  Instructors should engage the students to do so.

MCAC Board Meeting Minutes for 10/21/2020

Present: Doug Johnson, Bruce Cather, Allyson Frink, Sheila Lamberson, Michele Peterson, Craig Queen, Deana Moore-Schoolcraft, Dave Templeton.

Zoom: Dan Galvin, Sally Berry, Ruthann Freidburg, Su Ge, Jared Lacey, Cindy Lawson-Kesler,

Diane Skidmore, Susie Vincent.

Absent: Deb Risberg.

Presentation: Busey Bank Wealth Management on endowment portfolio mgmt & account performance as of 10/20/2020.

Market performance - early downturns due to Covid-19 but had quick recovery. Took on early risk which was reduced as recovery continued.Have aggressive investment allocations which have held value over time. Short term projections should be steady dependent on vaccine and stimulus bill. Need future discussion on how to eliminate or reduce monthly withdrawals for operating costs and discussions on reinsurance investments. Per Dan Galvin, no changes in strategy till after Covid.

Old Business: None.

New Business: 

Treasurer’s Committee: Per Ruthann Freidburg - Fall Fundraiser income from donations & silent auction was way up from last year’s receipts due in part to two large gifts. Very successful.

Education Committee:  Per Jared Lacey - 111 students enrolled for fall classes & workshops, net revenue = $6056.29. A few classes had to be rescheduled but so far none were cancelled.

Guidelines for Covid exposure were updated to “1 degree of separation “ rule. If exposed do not come to center till all in household have tested negative & quarantined. Asking staff & students to be as honest as possible. We are being flexible with rescheduling & refunds.

Virtual Classes: Krystal contacted Nikki Wheeler about possible online Shibori workshop & Jenni Bateman about two 4 session online classes - watercolor & felting. All would be online via Zoom with MCAC administrator. MCAC could record & retains rights to videos. Looking at Winter/Spring 2021 for possible implementation.

A painting/cleaning day for the Drawing/Painting room has been scheduled for 10/22/2020.  Krystal has contacted IWU sorority to do the work. 

Director’s Report: Building cleanup led by Kimberly & Carmel has resulted in a thorough sorting &  organizing of all our storage spaces, staging area, tool area, & loading dock. Cabinets have all been labelled & cleaned.Results are amazing. Ceiling tiles in staging area & downstairs restroom have been replaced or painted. Abandoned artwork from past exhibits have been addressed with many going to permanent collection or being offered for sale. Rest will be meet other ends.

Holiday Treasures postcards were mailed. Smaller show will allow for better social distancing & possible use of Brandt Gallery for classes if required.. 

Staff Dress Code was proposed & new language was adopted with one line removed per Board for being too gender specific.  

Grants: Submitted for state’s new Business Interruption Grant - no known timeline for responses. 

Illinois Art Agency’s final report for FY202 submitted. Awards for FY2021 announced & contracts returned. Our Community Arts Access Grant = $6000. Our Program Grant for operating support = $13700.

No action yet on capital bill.

One State Together in the Arts Conference - successful with double the previous year’s attendees. All online, Doug presented in 2 sessions. 

Member Monday proposed. Office schedule to be changed to allow members only to visit gallery on Mondays from 10-5 since staff are already working. Costless perk for members. Email & website announcements will be made. Proposal was accepted by Board.

Increased effort for community wide cultural programming is underway. Doug working with Town of Normal & B/N area Convention & Visitors Bureau on a marketing effort. City of Bloomington is considering a Public Art Project, Doug is working with asst city manager on scope & definition of effort. 

Doug joined the State Advisory Committee for programs of study in Arts & Communication sectors.

Bookkeeping - Carmel has been to Quickbooks online to facilitate treasurer’s access to records.

Doug again soliciting birthday donations to MCAC via Facebook.

Proposal for Sales Gallery to be named Gay Dolan Gallery in honor of her years of service and significant gifts to MCAC. Passed unanimously. Gallery will be repainted & plaque hung.

Board & Staff Ceramics Fun Day to be scheduled. 

MCAC hosted Scarecrow Spectacular on website & Facebook with gift cards to be awarded in various categories. 

Illinois Symphony Guild is sponsoring an online fundraiser featuring auction of painted and decorated violins & tamborines. MCAC is partnering by displaying auction items in our lobby. 

Timeline is still to be determined.

Nother business, meeting adjourned at 6:15pm.

Board Meeting Minutes for 9/23/2020

Present In-Person: Doug Johnson, Sally Berry, Allyson Frink, Sheila Lamberson, Cindy
Lawson-Kester, Craig Queen, Deanna Schoolcraft, Dave Templeton

Present via Zoom: Bruce Cather, Dan Galvin, Jared Lacy, Michele Peterson, Diane SkidmoreMeeting convened at 5:18 pm after experiencing Zoom difficulties.

Last month’s minutes & old business accepted.

Committees:
Events: Sally submitted Fall Fundraiser results. Silent Auction & Raffle were successful, videos
were enjoyable, donations good despite having to go online due to continuing Covid lockdown.
Sally gave special thanks to Doug & Kimberly for all their work and Dan showed appreciation to
Events committee for pulling success from a stressful situation. Sheila brought up using online options in conjunction with future events.

Education: Jared gave an overview of fall class participation, 90 of 160 spots filled, nearly all met minimum. Had some worries about the potential for Covid exposure, one session canceled due to instructor illness, and one student canceled over distancing concerns when the class moved back downstairs. Special thank you to Doug, Kimberly, Krystal, & Amber for all their hard work cleaning up the new ceramics room. Moved in & in use to good reviews.

Executive: Two new Board members introduced & present - Cindi Lawson-Kester & Deanna Schoolcraft.

2021 Sustainability: Dan beginning study of costs vs revenue surrounding Covid solutions &

forecasts for continued sustainability. Holding our own financially at this point, no immediate
problems but asking for input.

Holiday Treasures: Will be sending out Sign Up Genius for intake & decorating help. Per Doug, will be mostly confined to works around the outer perimeter to accommodate social distancing.

Grants

-We have received notification from the state that our 2021 Program grant will be $13,700.00.  This is surprisingly high given cuts to the state budget. 2018 was $14,700.00.  We will also be getting an anticipated $6,000 for regranting and administrating a special $10,000 grant for the Local Arts Network of which we will retain $1,000 for administration fees.  This final reports for FY 2020 are die at the end of this month.

-No word yet of the release of the Capital Bill funds, although paperwork was submitted this week to administrators.

-Exploring the new Business Interruption Grant.

One State Together in the Arts Conference

Last week was to have been the One State Arts Conference in Normal.  Co-presented by the Illinois Arts Council Agency (state of Illinois) and Arts Alliance Illinois (NGO Arts advocacy consortium, Doug is a board member, past exec board member, current chair of Statewide Committee). Normal would have been the only community to have hosted this event twice, previously held at the Marriott in 2012.  With the pandemic the event will now be on-line and free. (http://www.artsalliance.org/onestate) or (https://pheedloop.com/onestate2020/site/home/) Doug is presenting or co-presenting on the following topics: “Support and Amplify - the role of community-based Arts Centers in the age of Pandemic and Social Change” and “Come On, Get Happy: Programing in the Pandemic”

Creating the Future Fall Fundraiser

Thanks to all who worked so hard to make this event successful: Especially Sally Berry, Dave Templeton, Gay Dolan, Alexis Kalish, the entire Events Committee, Kimberly Babin, Carmel Rhoda, Dan Galvin, and all of the artists who donated artwork, bought artwork, and all who sold tickets. The Silent Auction generated $12,600 in revenue and we received two large gifts totaling $22,000. $600 was generated from Facebook and we have a couple more pending gifts.

Fun Stuff

-We will be hosting a Board and Staff Ceramics Fun Day in the coming weeks, with social distancing.  Feel free to bring a family member, too.

-For the month of October we will be hosting an online Scarecrow Spectacular.  Gift certificates for popular vote winners in several categories. Visit our website and Facebook page for details.

Other

-The ceiling tiles in the classroom hallway have been replaced, pending the larger re-do of the basement with the eventual Capital Bill funds. This is an effort to mitigate the Bee issue.

-Holiday Treasures will be a smaller event, fewer artists, and the gallery will be arranged so as to allow for classes being relocated upstairs as needed. 

-The Ceramics program is partially moved to the new space, with wheels added to the room, and electrical work completed.  No ventilation, plumbing, or kiln room changed associated with this effort have been completed. Remodeling is part of out Capital Project. Additionally, we will need to paint the walls again, taking them to the ceiling in a gloss white.  

-The Drawing and Painting room could use a refresh.  Krystal would like to schedule a paint day for an accent wall or more.

Doug gave the status of grants - looking good. Results of the fundraiser - very good.
Ceramics room electrical done & wheels moved in, the rest of the updates will be completed out of Capital Project. Ceiling tiles in the classroom hallway replaced to mitigate bee problems. Announced Board & Staff Ceramics Fun Day & online Scarecrow Spectacular.

No more business, Sally moved to adjourn, Dave 2nd, the meeting adjourned at 5:50 pm.

Director’s Report September 2020

Grants

-We have received notification from the state that our 2021 Program grant will be $13,700.00.  This is surprisingly high given cuts to the state budget. 2018 was $14,700.00.  We will also be getting an anticipated $6,000 for regranting and administrating a special $10,000 grant for the Local Arts Network of which we will retain $1,000 for administration fees.  This final reports for FY 2020 are die at the end of this month.

-No word yet of the release of the Capital Bill funds, although paperwork was submitted this week to administrators.

-Exploring the new Business Interruption Grant.

One State Together in the Arts Conference

-Last week was to have been the One State Arts Conference in Normal.  Co-presented by the Illinois Arts Council Agency (state of Illinois) and Arts Alliance Illinois (NGO Arts advocacy consortium, Doug is a board member, past exec board member, current chair of Statewide Committee). Normal would have been the only community to have hosted this event twice, previously held at the Marriott in 2012.  With the pandemic the event will now be on-line and free. (http://www.artsalliance.org/onestate) or (https://pheedloop.com/onestate2020/site/home/) Doug is presenting or co-presenting on the following topics: “Support and Amplify - the role of community-based Arts Centers in the age of Pandemic and Social Change” and “Come On, Get Happy: Programing in the Pandemic”

Creating the Future Fall Fundraiser

Thanks to all who worked so hard to make this event successful: Especially Sally Berry, Dave Templeton, Gay Dolan, Alexis Kalish, the entire Events Committee, Kimberly Babin, Carmel Rhoda, Dan Galvin, and all of the artists who donated artwork, bought artwork, and all who sold tickets. The Silent Auction generated $12,600 in revenue and we received two large gifts totaling $22,000. $600 was generated from Facebook and we have a couple more pending gifts.

Fun Stuff

-We will be hosting a Board and Staff Ceramics Fun Day in the coming weeks, with social distancing.  Feel free to bring a family member, too.

-For the month of October we will be hosting an online Scarecrow Spectacular.  Gift certificates for popular vote winners in several categories. Visit our website and Facebook page for details.

Other

-The ceiling tiles in the classroom hallway have been replaced, pending the larger re-do of the basement with the eventual Capital Bill funds. This is an effort to mitigate the Bee issue.

-Holiday Treasures will be a smaller event, fewer artists, and the gallery will be arranged so as to allow for classes being relocated upstairs as needed. 

-The Ceramics program is partially moved to the new space, with wheels added to the room, and electrical work completed.  No ventilation, plumbing, or kiln room changed associated with this effort have been completed. Remodeling is part of out Capital Project. Additionally, we will need to paint the walls again, taking them to the ceiling in a gloss white.  

-The Drawing and Painting room could use a refresh.  Krystal would like to schedule a paint day for an accent wall or more.

Board Meeting August 19, 2020

Previously forwarded documents: Minutes of 8-15- 2020 Executive Committee, Director’s Report, Agenda, Events Committee Report, Financials.

In Person Attendees: Doug Johnson, Dave Templeton, Craig Queen, Sheila Lamberson, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Sally Berry, Bruce Cather, Allison Frink, and Mike McNeil.

Zoom Attendees: Dan Galvin, Su Ge, Jared Lacy, Diane Skidmore, Michele Peterson, Deb Risberg, and Diane Skidmore.

President, Dan, called the meeting to order at 5:05 pm.

1. The Minutes were accepted as presented.

2. Jane Osborn has resigned due to health reasons.

3. Nominations for Board members are needed.

Treasurer, Ruth Ann, reported on the financials presented. Last year vs. this year, gross profit down and expenses down.

Events Committee Chair, Sally, submitted a repot. The committee is busy, 2 K were mailed out. The Awards were discussed. The agenda was reviewed. The Board can help by, getting the word out, selling raffle tickets, and working and bidding on the silent auction. Kimberly has been amazing!

Education Committee Chair, Jared, commented on his submitted report. He discussed the 3 rd classroom and the need for electrical work there. The committee will reevaluate the youth program prior to second semester 2021 regarding covid.

Executive Director, Doug, Submitted his report. He advised that we are having 15 visitors per day and that we will be open on Mondays. The Capitol Dollars are still in process. Dan made closing remarks regarding the electrical needs in the Sales area, Dougs office, and the Classroom. Dave made a motion to allocate $2,500 for all current electrical work. Bruce seconded the motion and it carried by voice vote.

The Meeting was adjourned at 5:46 pm.

Respectively submitted,

Mike, Secretary

MCAC BOARD MEETING MINUTES, JULY 15, 2020

President Dan Galvin called meeting to order at 5:03 pm.

Physically attending were  Doug Johnson, Sheila Lamberson , and Mike McNeil, secretary.

Zoom attendees were Dan Galvin, Sally Berry, Jared Lacy, Bruce Cather, Dave Templeton, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Su Ge, &  Craig Queen

Previously forwarded documents: Directors' Report, Financial Documents, Minutes form July Board meeting, Education Committee report.

Dan: Old Business.    None reported

New Business:  Still need nominations for new board members. Will have on-line voting with in the next few days.

Finance:  Income down but expenses continue. Dan shared income and expense details. About 400                                       membership letters went out today. about 6K deficit ytd.  Cash reserves about 60k.

Sally: Met with BCC manager this week.  Virtual event is the way to go. Fall fundraiser date 9-17. 

Post card to go out soon with Silent auction, Raffle, Program.  Could possibly be a members only event.    

Jared: Report submitted. Discussed participant access to studio. Decision will follow. Krystal is doing a "bang up job"!  A fifty dollar gift card reward was suggested.

Doug: 

Director’s Report July 2020

With social distancing, the staff have returned to the office. Mask are worn outside of our individual office spaces, team

The Virtual Sugar Creek Arts Festival by the numbers, as of this morning 54 Artists Pages, each with between 444 and 100 individual views

9 Sugar Sessions pre-event videos 

The Neals, Tyler Sweitzer, Sarah Quah, Hot Sauce Universe, 3rd Street Down, Isabel Osorio, Emily Hope, Jared Lacy

6 “Day of” Musical Acts: The Green Embers, The Bashful Youngens, Marcos and Adrian Mendez, Leah Marlene, Stone and Snow, Edward David Anderson

3,526 Total Visits

3,000 Unique Visitors

28,559 Page Views

The website remains open and my plan is to have this as an adjunct to the in-person event from now on. We own the URLs sugarcreekartsfestival.com and sugarcreekartsfestival.org both lead to the same Wix page.  Our cost for the page, with chat feature and visitor tracking is about $500 per year.

Our SCAF Photo Scavenger Hunt received many comments and no submissions.

We wonder is a revived Spring Bloom Arts Festival in the same manner make sense?

We are moving our Stay Home Art Challenges to a weekly offering, as public response has slowed to a trickle.

MCAC Collection Exhibition is up in the Brandt Gallery. As we are in stage four, visitors are now allowed in the exhibition, provided they ware a mask. A video is being produced.

Building: 

The motor and rotor for the classroom HVAC system has died.  It will be replaced tomorrow.  Our cost is unknown. 

Wu have a community service individual who will, allegedly, begin working on weeding around our building.

Additional conversation re web site and permanent collection followed.

Mike:  Minutes.   

Absent

Old Business

MCAC BOARD MEETING MINUTES, JULY 15, 2020

President Dan Galvin called meeting to order at 5:03 pm.

Physically attending were  Doug Johnson, Sheila Lamberson , and Mike McNeil, secretary.

Zoom attendees were Dan  Galvin, Sally Berry, Jared Lacy, Bruce Cather, Dave Templeton,

Ruth Ann Friedberg,, Su Ge,&  Craig Queen

Previously forwarded documents: Directors' Report, Financial Documents, Minutes form July Board

meeting, Education Committee report.

Dan: Old Business.    None reported

         New Business:  Still need nominations for new board members. Will have on-line voting with in the

next few                                     days.

         Finance:            Income down but expenses continue. Dan shared income and expense details.

About 400                                       membership letters went out today. about 6K deficit ytd.  Cash reserves

about 60k.

Sally:                          Met with BCC manager this week.  Virtual event is the way to go. Fall fundraiser date

9-17.                                     Post card to go out soon with Silent auction, Raffle, Program.  Could possibly

be a                                                   members only event.    

Jared:                         Report submitted. Discussed participant access to studio. Decision will follow.

Krystal is                                           doing a "bang up job"!  A fifty dollar gift card reward was suggested.

Doug:                          Report submitted. Additional conversation re web site and permanent collection

followed.

New Business

Executive – Dan Galvin (5 min)

 Jane Osborn

 Nominations

Finance – Ruth Ann (10 min)

 Reports attached to email

Events Committee – Sally (10 min if needed)

The Events committee has been keeping busy preparing for the Fall fundraiser. We have finally received all of our silent auction items and they've been photographed. Alexis has created beautiful bid sheets and artists' statements. We plan to start the online bidding 1 week before the event which is September17 at 6:00. Thank you to everyone who contributed! We have 39 beautiful items, more than we've ever had. We need the entire Board's help in making the Silent Auction a success. Tell friends and family members about it so we can have lots of bidders. This can potentially be a great fundraiser which we need more this year more than ever! The same goes for the raffle. Doug has contributed a beautiful acrylic painting and we need to sell lots of tickets. Both Doug's raffle painting and the Silent Auction items will be on display in the reception area of the Arts Center before the event so you can come in and view them before you bid. The link to the virtual fundraiser will be on both the MCAC website and ourFacebook page with instructions on registering to bid. It should be fun. Lots of bidding wars I hope. In addition to the silent auction and raffle, we'll have a brief talk by Russell Francois on the history of our building. We'll have a Fund a Need request for the building upkeep projects cleverly created by Gay and Alexis. We will also have a presentation of awards to Gay and Alexis as the Douglas C. Johnson Patron

Award winners along with Busey Bank as Business Associate of the year and Sandra and Paul Harmon as Members of the year. I hope you've all received your raffle ticket bundle. If you or someone else buys all 12, Doug has graciously offered to give that person a giclee print of the raffle painting. A lot is going on and we need everyone's participation to make our Fundraiser a success!

Education Committee – Jared (10 min)

1. Summer Semester Update - We are at “half capacity” for total enrollment. (72 Enrolled/148 Capacity) Steady growth.

Net Revenue updated 8/14/20 is $2,547.40

2. For “six foot social distancing” several larger classes were moved upstairs to the Brandt Gallery. For Fall classes: we will reserve this move as an option if need be.

3. Ceramics “open studio” will continue to be offered to students currently enrolled in a Ceramics class. We are allowing two (2) students for “open studio” for the (2) hour segments and there is a sign-up sheet available to them.

4. Fall Semester Planning is underway:

Our instructors have come up with some great new options; especially workshops.

We are offering twelve (12) Workshops.

Two (2) of them have already met the minimum.

Eleven (11) classes are being offered.

Five (5) have already met the minimum.

All of the classes are planned to take place downstairs in our two existing classrooms.

Hence, we will offer one class in a time slot; so as to utilize both existing classrooms

Executive Director’s Report (15 min)

-Our doors are open. We ask that makes and physical distancing be followed. We are anticipating a future stay at home order.

-Current staffing schedules allow us to formally open our doors on Monday, If approved, our new hours will be:

Monday:10 - 5

Tuesday: 10 - 7

Wednesday: 10 - 5

Thursday: 10 - 5

Friday: 10 - 5

Saturday: 12 - 4

-Doug has been active serving as a grant reviewer for the Illinois Arts Council Agency in the last month.  Our applications for Program Grant and Community Arts Access Grant dollars were supported and now await final approval.  These dollars typically are released in November.

-The Illinois Arts Council did distribute $3,000 in immediate support to the MCAC as part of the Arts for Illinois Relief Fund, via the Cares Act.

- No plan is set in place for the distribution of the Capitol Bill Dollars.

-Our Fall Fundraiser in virtual, please assist us with selling Raffle Tickets and encouraging Silent Auction bidding. 

The lobby will be utilized to display these items until the event.

-Continuing to work with the Jackie Joyner Kersey Foundation in East St. Louis in the newly established role as an Art Agency for that region.

-This is the last week for our Art Challenges.

-Renewing members now receive a circle magnet for their car, toaster, or refrigerator.

-The 2020 One State Arts Conference, co-convened by the Illinois Arts Council Agency and Arts Alliance Illinois will be virtual this year.  The MCAC was to have served as the host organization this year, the first time a group has ever served that role twice.  The virtual event will begin Tuesday, Sept 29 through Friday, October 2 in the afternoons and evenings. Doug served on the committee to select programming.  These presentation efforts are primarily directed at creating responses to our new normal of the virus, economic upheaval, loss of performance and public space, and cultural response to this time of renewed racial justice. 

-Nicole Chapman, a senior at ISU, has begun her fall internship.  She is working 20 hours per week and these are for academic credit.  She will be assisting with the Fall Fundraiser, the new Professional Artists membership level and website, exhibitions, and education programming.

-Electrical work is needed.  As we are looking to make do with the future ceramics room sooner, rather than later,

we are hoping to install some new electric in that room so as to allow the kilns to be moved. (see Education Committee request).  At that same time, we would have Anderson Electric repair the Sales Gallery (Ochre Gallery) lights and install a fluorescent style LED light in Doug’s Office.  The later is needed for Zoom Meeting and the former addresses a problem place on hold during this current apocalypse. 

-The plan for Holiday Treasures to set the show at the edges, so as to allow the resumption of classes in the Brandt Gallery space as soon as the September-October show ends.

Minutes for Board meeting June 18, 2020.

Dan Galvin:   Call to order 5:04 pm

Physically present:  Doug, Craig, and Mike. Zoom: Dan, Sally. Jared, Allison, Dave, and Bruce.

Doug:  Doug discussed the Director's Report Which had been previously forwarded.

Finances:  Doug has not deposited the last 4 months of endowment distributions. We are in "good shape" financially.

Raffle:  Painting: it is finished and will be in the gallery.

Dan:  Dan led a discussion regarding the endowment.

Education Committee: Jared discussed schedules, faculty, and procedures. 

Sally:  Fall fundraiser on hold.

Doug:  Doug will be forming a team to prioritize building projects.  Let him know if interested. 

Bruce:   Had questions regarding membership renewals, pace response rate.  Kevin has resigned from the Board due to current work conditions.

Adjournment:  5:47 pm 

Respectively submitted Mike.

 Board meeting minutes November 20, 2019

President Dan Galvin called the meeting to order at 5:00 pm.

Members present: Doug Johnson, Dan Galvin, Carol Koos, Allyson Frink, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Sheila Lamberson, Susie Vincent, Kevin Kuebler, Sally Berry, Michele Peterson Jane Osborn, Sue Ge, Jane Flanders Osborn, and Mike McNeil Secretary.

Handouts: Agenda, Executive Director’s Report, Minutes from 9-18, 10-16, 11-20, and 1-15 Board meetings, Exhibition Committee Mission with Goals and Metrics, Event Committee’s report, Membership Committee’s report, Statement of Financial Position, (@) Statements of Financial Income and Expense.

OLD BUSINESS: Minutes will be distributed vis print until old secretary figures out how to do them electronically.

NEW BUSINESS: Ruth Ann Friedberg was nominated to fill the remainder of the Treasurer’s office term by Mike McNeil. Carol Koos seconded the motion and it carried by unanimous vote.

Dan reported on a “flurry” fo activity on the Committees and thanked them for their work. The Executive committee continues to examine Chairs, Status, Plans, and Structure, where appropriate.

Exhibition Committee: Sheila led a discussion of their report.

Events Committee: Sally led a discussion of their report.

Education Committee: The report was discussed. A class registration discount was discussed and referred to the Membership committee for finalization. Only approximately one half of class participants are members.

Membership Committee: the Campaign Readiness Assessment was discussed by Kevin.

Doug reminded us of upcoming receptions, events, and openings and reinforced the importance of our attendance.

Motion was made by Susie Vincent and seconded by Kevin Kuebler to move our checking account to Busey Bank. A discussion followed . The motion passed unanimously.

Meeting adjourned

10-16-2019  Board meeting minutes

President Dan Galvin called the meeting to order at 5:05.

Members present: Jared Lacey, Sheila Lamberson, Sally Berry, Dave Templeton, Michelle Peterson, Kevin Kuebler, Bruce Cather, Carol Koos, Shawn Gravelle, Diane Skidmore, Allison Frink, & Executive Director

Doug Johnson. Craig and Susie Vincent both reported ill

Guest Linda Willis Fisher

Old Business:

Sally Berry reported on the Fall Luncheon expenses and income. An evaluation process is underway.

Next year’s date is tentatively 9-17.

Doug Johnson reported on the building repairs and maintenance status.

New Business:

Carol Koos reported on board nominee, Jane Osborn. Motion made, seconded and carried for board appointment.

Dan Galvin reported on Holiday Party at the MACA gallery set for 12-7-2019. Buffet. $20 per person, $30 per couple, staff free. Board Alumni invited. Staff Christmas bonus assessment $50 per board member. All to be collected at Nov. board mtg. Dan will handle all invites.

Dan will be training all committee chairs and officer on procedure for reporting thru Google.

Committees:

Education, Linda Willis Fisher reported on the completion of the Goals and Measures

Executive, will continue to evaluate, ways to meet, collaboration, value streams and resources.

Events, Sally reported on volunteer opportunities,. Pumpkin Party, Holiday Treasures, Artisan Workshop, Stocking Stuffer Tea, Lunch 2020

Finance, Shawn reported that we on track with last year. Carol Koos requested an ongoing spread sheet.

Executive Director, Doug reported on the One State conference, State Capitol Bill ready to be signed, and made comments on the Kiln and clay followed.

The meeting adjourned at 6:09 pm

Respectfully submitted, Secretary Mike McNeil

September 18, 2019 Board meeting minutes

President Dan Galvin called the meeting to order at 5:05.

Members present: Jared Lacey, Sheila Lamberson, Sally Berry, Allyson Frink, Michelle Peterson, Carol Koos, Bruce Cather, Susie Vincent, Su Ge, Ruth Ann Friedberg, & Kevin Kuebler, & Executive Director

Doug Johnson.

Old Business:

Sally Berry reported on the Fall Luncheon expenses and income. The community competition this year was stiff and attendance was down but we did well financially. An evaluation process is underway. Next year’s date is tentatively 9-17.

New Business:

Dan congratulated everyone and especially the committee on the luncheon success.

Committee structure is in flux and being examined by the Executive committee

Ad Hoc committees: H.R., Bylaws, Outstanding needs and priorities, & technical efficiencies

Board Handbook: Alexis reviewed the new board member handbook which she developed. The boards thanks and appreciation was extended.

Dan offered Google documents navigation update to board members.

A discussion of Board and Staff Holiday Party location, funding, and potential dates occurred. An early December date at the MCAC with a $20 per person charge was generally agreed upon. This will take the place of the December Board meeting.

Executive Director Report:

Doug thanked everyone for the luncheon His emphasis was, awards and testimonials, and the need for a resident technical expert. He is working Grants, Illinois Arts Council business. He expressed thanks for the work and funding of Tracy Shepard for the window restoration. He hopes tp resolve wifi issues soon. The basement hallway ceilings will soon be replaced. Anderson Electric is working on solving the kiln power issue. There have been an excess of 3K views of the Richard Finch Show video.

Nominating Committee:

Carol Koos reported on the nomination of Jane Osborne to the Board. She is working to match potential board members talents to board needs.

The meeting adjourned at 6:00 pm

MCLEAN COUNTY ARTS CENTER

Board of Directors Meeting Minutes

April 17, 2019

_{*Excused Absence         **Absent}

Call to Order:  by President Shawn Gravelle @ 5:05 pm.

Old Business:

Events: Alexis reported for Gay.

• Planning for the Fall Luncheon is going well. The current focus is on Ad Sales. Gay distributed Ad Spec Sheets via email, and paper copies were distributed at the meeting. All Board members are encouraged to think of businesses they could ask to purchase an ad. Lauren is keeping track of ad sales via a spreadsheet that was linked in Gay’s April 5^th email. If your business does not have professional artwork, we may be able to create graphics. Doug mentioned that we will have an intern with graphic arts skills this summer.

Dan suggested we determine the exposure of the ad beyond the number of luncheon attendees, such as views on our website or Facebook. We could use this information in selling ads.

• The Board has agreed to sponsor a full-page “Proud to Be an MCAC Board Member” ad in the Luncheon program at $15 each. We continued to collect for this.
• The Silent Auction is about half way to its goal of 30 items. Board members are asked to consider donating an item, and we are pleased to have ten members contributing at this point. The deadline is July 5^th, but earlier would be appreciated as we want to photo items for the website, Facebook, and program.
• Events Committee will coordinate volunteers for Sugar Creek Arts Festival. We ask for Board members to volunteer plus provide ideas of groups that might be approached. A Sign-up Genius identifying the jobs and time segments will be created. All volunteers will receive a SCAF t-shirt.

Permanent Art Collection:  The move of the art collection to the storage area will be rescheduled.

New Business:

Board Member Replacement: Carol had distributed David Templeton’s resume and moved that he be approved as Director. Sally seconded, and the motion was approved.

We need to continue our search for Directors as we have one current opening, and six members will roll off in September. Yvonne Hoop has resigned from the Board to assist with family affairs.

2019 Fiscal Year – Results through March: Dan distributed financial results for the month of March.  Several areas of income were noted to be short of expectation. Ruth Ann inquired about our status year-to-date. This information was put in the shared Google Drive. Dan will provide year-to-date information at future meetings.

Director’s Report:

• Planned Giving will be a future focus. Intern Aiden Moore has worked on updating all our brochures, which will be introduced at the Fall Luncheon.
• Doug traveled to Springfield with a group to meet with legislative leadership and representation from the Governor’s Office. The purpose was to request a pool of capital funds, a line item in the capital bill dedicated to the arts and cultural sector statewide. There was general support for this concept. 

Considerations:

MCAC’s ask is $100,000.

• This summer’s interns will be Jenna Taylor, specializing in design, and Kelsey Browning, who will serve as assistant to the Director.
• Sugar Creek Arts Festival
• • Fees for Beaufort Street booths were raised.
  • Artists have been selected.
  • Friday night check-in will be available for all artists.
  • Shirts for artists will be available at a reduced rate – part of the branding effort.
• 2019 Community Arts Access Grants were awarded.
• • YWCA - $500
  • Cultural Fest - $600
  • Heartland Theater - $1,500
  • Illinois Symphony Orchestra - $1,250
  • Holiday Spectacular - $1,000
  • McLean County Dance Association - $500
  • Regional Alternative School - $1,000
  • Threshold to Hope - $300
  • West Bloomington Revitalization Project - $850
• Several steps have been taken to prepare the new Ceramics Room. Many thanks to Yvonne and Rex for the work they have done.
• Registration for Summer Classes went very smoothly. This is the first time members have been given first day access. 168 registered; 69 members and 99 non-members. Profit last session was $9,200.
• Susan Emmerson was featured on a story about second careers on CBS Sunday Morning. The show will air May 5^th.
• A memorial for Ken Holder will be held at the Marriott Saturday at 2:00 pm, with a reception at the ISU Gallery at 3:30.
• Doug will be attending the Arts Alliance luncheon June 20^th, and invites a Board member to attend with him.
• Lauren has investigated software that will serve her needs working with membership. She would like to purchase Little Green Lights, which costs $800 a year. Julia moved that we approve this purchase. Linda seconded and the motion was approved.
• Tara Wray, a nationally-known photographer scheduled for an exhibit, has asked us to pay expense for shipping her work and travel. As an alternative, she can make prints to send to us for $700. Rashod moved that we approve this amount, Dan seconded, and the motion was approved. We are going to revise our application process to better identify artists needs and avoid this kind of situation.

Committee Reports:

Events Committee: In addition to the report under Old Business:

• “Save the Date” has been added to the website.
• Invitations are ready for final design work.
• Doug will meet with Dave Haab soon to discuss AV needs.
• Letters have been sent to the recipients of our four awards. The award statues/plaque have been ordered.

Finance Committee: Dan distributed the March Profit & Loss for the month of March. He included annotations where actual varied significantly from Budget. A copy of the report has been placed in the shared Google Drive.  

Building Committee: 

• CO alarms have been added – one on the wall near the Point of Sale computer and one on the top shelf in the painting/drawing room.
• The Permanent Collection move is in progress.

Adjournment: Sheila moved the meeting be adjourned. Sally seconded; the meeting was adjourned at 6:15 pm.

Respectfully submitted by Alexis Kalish, Acting Secretary

MCLEAN COUNTY ARTS CENTER
Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Members Present: Sally Berry, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Julia Davis, Gay Dolan, Carol Koos, Dan Galvan, Sheila Lamberson, Kevin Kuebler, Doug Johnson, Michele Peterson, Yvonne Hoop

Excuses Absences:  Su Ge, Deb Risberg, Shawn Gravelle, Linda Willis-Fisher, Alexis Kalish

Vice President Julia Davis called the meeting to order at 5.04 pm.

Old Business:
Recommended Award Changes -

Julia read the proposal:

 “In recognition of the vital role patrons serve in fulfilling the mission of the Arts Center, the Board of Directors established the Douglas C Johnson Distinguished Patron Award. This award honors Doug Johnson’s highly regarded accomplishments as Executive Director of the McLean County Arts Center and the essential support of our notable patrons.

 The Executive Committee of the McLean County Arts Center Board of Directors will solicit nominations for the Distinguished Patron Award and make the final decision on the recipient. Criteria to consider will be:

  Financial and/or in-kind contributions to the Arts Center

  Leadership and Service to the Arts Center

  Level and Duration of patronage

 The recipient may be an individual, a couple, a family, or a non-business foundation. The Distinguished Patron Award is to be given annually; however, if in a particular year no recipient is recommended, it will not be awarded. Current Board members are not eligible.

 The Distinguished Patron Award winner will receive public recognition with a personal memento , their name on a plaque displayed prominently at the Arts Center, and recognition on the website, social media, and local press.”

After little discussion, Michele Peterson moved the Distinguished Patron Award be approved and Sheila Lamberson seconded. Motion passed.

The names for the 2019 Awards were read but are confidential until the Events Committee issues the invitations as they see fit. Anne and Brian Boyden will receive the Distinguished Patron Award, Business Award will go to Bloomington - Normal Convention and Visitors Bureau, Individual Award to Dennis French and Volunteer Award to Allyson Frink. Carol Koos moved to accept these names for these awards, and Sally Berry seconded. Motion passed.

Basement Improvement/Luncheon Money –Yvonne Hoop and Rex Schemerhorn have met with Doug, and the Building Report included a handout of the measurements and plans for the Kiln Room. The activities plan for Phase One is in the report. There has been a request for help moving Harold Gregor’s books on Friday 22 February which prompted questions about where the books are going. Doug said they will go to the Tower Room.

Board Nominations – Carol said there are currently 2 unfilled seats and more will open in September. She has contacted several who declined including Fariba Murray, Joni Painter, Lauren Seaborg. Some names had been given to her with incorrect contact information. It appears that Mike McNiel and Jared Lacy are interested. Carol will get the bios to Exec for approval, after which the Full Board would approve or decline. Carol thinks members need longer terms than 6 years but the By-laws actually call for three year terms. Some discussion ensued, and the need to review By-Laws again discussed.. Please contact Carol with additional board nomination names and contact information.

New Business:
Membership Drive - Kevin has met with Lauren Lacy (Director of Development (DOD)) to coordinate new membership levels, bringing them to the standard set by the Readiness Assessment. An immediate need is a different software system. Wild Apricot is increasing the fees in April, and functionality and cost must be considered. This is the perfect time to launch a new system. The Membership Drive, with the intent to triple membership, will be launched at the Fall Fundraising Luncheon.  Renewal Letters were passed around, asking folks who knew the lapsed members to write a personal note on a post-it note for attachment to the letters.

2019 Fiscal Year Results through January – Dan needs clarification on numbers before he can fully analyze the first five months of FY 2019, but we ended 2018 in much better financial shape than anticipated. This is due to a few large gifts and continued higher disbursements from the Endowment Fund. Dan distributed a pie chart showing categories of incoming funds. Our Arts Center does not fit the University of Massachusetts model that he has researched. His intent is to create financial strategy, plans and objectives to reflect the Mission of MCAC.

Request for Silent Auction Items for 2019 Luncheon – Sally reported that though the goal is 30, , they already have15 items for the Silent Auction to be held at the Fall Fundraising Luncheon. Having them in advance reduces the chaos of last minute documentation for the program. Non-artists are welcome to purchase an art  item. Please contact Sally if you plan to donate or need more information.

Director’s Report  - Doug reported they are working on the following grants:
• Updating our COMMARTS application
(from NEA, which is regranted)

• Applying for the IACA Program Grant
• Finishing the MIRZA application (Music at SCAF)

Building Issues:  Bathroom repair in Staging Area continues and includes a utility sink outside he bath. A grant for tuck-pointing, perhaps windows being worked on,

Exhibitions:  Video work is mostly finished for next several shows, although nothing yet for amateur.

Arts Advocacy: Doug will be in Washington the first week in March

General Staff updates: Kim Barman's father is very ill.

Committee Reports:

Education Committee
No updates for February - committee is scheduled to meet Thursday, February 21st..

Events Committee
Fall Luncheon 2019:  Progress is being made on the invitation and response card.   Increasing revenue through program ads and table sponsorships is being discussed.  A volunteer with the expertise to set up the AV for the luncheon is being sought. Items for the silent auction are being solicited.  The next Committee meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 12th at 5p.


Exhibition Committee
Sheila met with Maggie and Doug on 2/7 for initial high-level review of exhibition applicants, planning and strategy.  It appears we have a good selection of quality applicants to review. Maggie will prepare a PowerPoint of images for the committee’s work in March.

The full exhibition committee will meet on 3/7 to review applicants and plan for upcoming exhibition schedule.

Building Committee Report

Rex and Yvonne met with Doug to look at Ceramics Room. Rex drew up plans, which were provided to Board members at the meeting. Yvonne created the list of action to be taken which is included on page 3. Doug agrees that it is workable.

There was some ambiguity concerning carbon monoxide detection as part of the new alarm system. Yvonne contacted Oberlander (no CO detectors) and has purchased and installed 2 sensors/alarms with help from Justin.

19 February 2019
Ceramics Room

Phase One Kiln Room
□ Physical property in kitchen to be kept must be marked visually by Doug and staff
□ Physical junk removal - Rex and Yvonne
□ Ceiling junk removal- Rex and Yvonne
□ Wall studs - Rex
□ 220 electrical - Anderson Electric. $1325, already passed
□ Exhaust vents into windows
□ Get rid on non-working kiln- Education Committee  
□ Walls and ceiling up (cement board) -Rex
□ Window  in wall - Rex
□ Door in (fire rated) - Rex
□ Sink (2 sided) and plumbing moved (including ceramic trap).- MCAC usual plumber
□ Shelving built for ceramic pieces- Rex
□ Purchase new kiln - Education Committee

While this is going on, the permanent collection is being catalogued intern Emily Wilkes. Shelves being built by Doug, initial set should be in this week. Inventory and shelving to be completed during April. Physical move to take place 13 April from 10-3 by Board Members. If needed, move completed 20 April, commencing 10 am.

At the same time, students and art instructors need to be surveyed by Kim Barman. What would instructors most like to see in new ceramics room... current and past instructors in good standing, leaving it as is similar, changing it drastically, wishes and dreams.  Painting/drawing instructors, current and past - desires for new space ideas, Students, former and current polled on class sizes, subjects - photography or painting & also subjects- landscapes or figures, likes, dislikes, class times, class length. This data results will help prepare for Phase Three.

Determine needs for all purpose use that could occur in paint Room. Explore all purpose use for ceramics room.

Investigate replacing painting room tables with sturdy but lighter weight tables - Kim Barman/Education Committee

Phase Two Rest of Ceramics Room
□ Junk on floor to be kept physically marked
□ Junk on floor removed
□ Ceiling junk removed
□ Decide if ceiling will be put in or just sprayed black
□ Determine spacing for wheels -Education Committee
□ Determine number of wheels to be purchased - Education Committee
□ Drop 110 electricity for wheels
□ Work Tables

Phase Three painting and drawing room

Sheila Lamberson moved to adjourn and Carol Koos seconded.

Meeting adjourned at 6.25 pm

16 January 2019

Members present:  Shawn Gravelle, Sally Barry, Deb Risberg, Julia Davis, Gay Dolan, Dan Galvan, Su Ge, Kevin Kuebler, Yvonne Hoop, Michele Peterson, Alexis Kalish, Doug Johnson

Excused: Rashod Taylor, Linda Willis-Fisher, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Shelia Lamberson

Friday opening weather discussion. Depending on weather warning/travel advisories on Thursday, we will reschedule for the following Friday. Maggie has alerted artists to this possibility.

Events discussed annual luncheon awards.  Similar to the Historymakers award at History Museum, we have an opportunity to have an annual lifetime award. Volunteer, business, and individual awards are already given. Long time leadership and financial help deserves an award, perhaps a plaque. Kevin moved, Sally seconded. Events will define specifics for new award with exec, then bring to full board for vote. Awards recipients need advance notice in order to be able to plan to attend with family and friends.

Dan financial results for first quarter. Attached. Budget was revised due to staff change (DOD), and he gave brief summary. Discussion of Holiday Treasures as an event, pumpkin event which was successful, but needs a re-think of children carving pumpkins. Artist Residents did very well at HT and were successful, bringing needed freshness to Holiday Treasures. The Residents will be continued to prevent stagnation.

There was a discussion concerning payments from the Foundation since we are suddenly in better financial shape. We have been receiving $12K and discussed reducing it to $7K. The market is lower, so perhaps perhaps we need to stop reducing the principal. Dan says we should formalize a financial plan and make decisions about how to finance ourselves vs using the Endowment. A one time payback to the Endowment is an option since we received a large gift, but we need to check that our action aligns with our mission statement.

Board nominations, have 3 to replace, and Nominating Committee has 4 persons who expressed interest. Carol is also looking at a bench of people to replace those who will be leaving in September, including expertise of those persons for succession planning. Jared lacy, Lauren Seaboard, Fabrina ? & Joni Painter. This committee is set up differently than other committees by the bylaws, and the community member is Jim Freeman.

The targeted ask at the luncheon will be for Education wing. Additional kiln, wheels, etc. Education and Building to collaborate so that progress can be shown by luncheon.

At the Morrisey Rental, industrial shelving is ready for lumber, inventory begins again next week, and we are anticipating the Permanent Collection move end of April.

We need an Ad Hoc HR Committee for Director Evaluation, Staff description, etc. Alexis will lead but others to need to help as Alexis is going off in September. We will need someone with continuity on the Board to serve now.

Shawn distributed Christmas bonuses to staff with homemade cookies.

Doug’s report

He has his new computer. What took 4-6 hours now takes 7 minutes. The cost was under $2800. Friday is a quadruple opening, and there are videos for all 4. 1300 views for the top one. There is Story Slam next Friday  at 7.30. Kim has revamped class registration. Lauren knows the community and is coming with suggestions. Maggie will develop into a fine curator. 2 interns returning and 2 new ones coming in, Zo and Allison. Alex Sheperd will be volunteering with us.

March 7 2020 is the Confirmed Spring Bloom date. (Heartland also offered space). Amateur Art Exhibition application is all online already. Exhibition Committee has not met since Maggie began.

Adjourned 6.07

28 November 2018

Call to order 5.07 pm

Members present: Shawn Gravelle, President, Dan Galvin, Treasurer, Yvonne Hoop, Secretary,

Sally Berry, Gay Dolan, Su Ge, Susie Ferrenburg-Vincent, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Carol Koos, Shelia Lamberson, Michele Peterson, Rashod Taylor, Linda Willis Fisher, Doug Johnson

Excused Absence: Alexis Kalish, Deb Risberg, Anita Carney

Old business:

Director’s Report -

    Kim  Barman is the new Education Coordinator and she’s made changes to registration to include membership discount. Winter class registration began this week, and ceramics classes are almost full. Lauren Lacy is our new Development Director, and she’s busy with the mailing list, member database and fundraising planning. The end of year asks went out and our strategy is to not ask folks too often.  Curator Maggie Kunze starts next week and has spent the  last 2 Tuesday evenings with Lisa. Intern Emily Wilkes (ISU) is tasked with prep work in advance of moving the Collection offsite. Space has been rented and initial shelving is installed. She will continue with us in the Spring.  Intern Aidan Morre (IWU) will also return in the Spring.

    Board needs the schedule of who works when, especially the part time staff.  It is currently on the kitchen door, will put on the admin page when schedule is firm.

    The Artist Residence Program with Holiday Treasures has been a big success. It was featured on WGLT and elsewhere.

    Money raised from Doug’s Facebook birthday campaign raised more than $600.  That will pay for part of the $1134 the new folding chairs cost. They were purchased to replace the fragile plastic chairs.

    Holiday Treasures - The reception sold $7500 items, about $2000 additional sales since then. There have been no big ticket sales in the last few years. Paying artist residencies has been a big change, and one or two artists had multiple sales while they were here. A League of Women’s Voters fundraising event is 5 December, and we hope more will sell then.

      The Alarm System is to be installed Monday.

    Story slam event 30 November at 7.30, a family event.

    Sugar creek applications are  out and artists applying.

Committee Reports -

     Building - Yvonne has created S.M.A.R.T. goals for the committee to plan items for the next year and will discuss them with the committee after Christmas.  Underway are Clean Ups, the process of moving Permanent Collection off-site and Systems Inventory.  She inventoried the systems with Doug and Carmel, looking at age and approximate replacement cost of items in order to better plan upkeep of building and needs. Doug’s seven year old computer is an example of something needing updating.  Alarm installation and moving the permanent collection are underway.

    Education - Linda and Kim Barman met to review previous MCAC Strategic Plan and MCAC Mission and Goals.  They will meet again 12 December to review education policies and to check inventory in the supply storeroom. The full committee meeting will be in January.

    Events - The committee will meet 27 November to discuss preparation for the 2019 Fall Fundraising luncheon to be held 12 September.  The event will be held at Holiday Inn and Suites/Baxter’s and the contract has been signed.

New business:

    Shawn distributed and explained a Mission and goals statement with focus, strategy and expected outcomes as well as  exposure, opportunities, style, connections, & perception; value, engagement, demographics, including socio-economic, developing analytics & benchmarking discussion. Point of sale membership and partnerships are also being looked at.  The metrics may come from targeted info Carmel already has.  Art Marketplace- a revised document from several years ago of Blue Box Picture. How do we help artists and art patrons get the most from the Art Center?  Sustained support for the Art Center is a key question- can we continue to operate financially?  We need to look at the art community- for example formerly named Harmon Arts/sugar creek children’s activities, classes at art center, relationship with businesses or with community members.  We need to look at the Art Center itself as per physical facility and use.

    Shawn’s met with four committees -  Education, Membership, Building  and Exhibition, and he used the example of Building Committee.  Do Committee chairs feel they understand goals, expectations, resources, methods of executing ideas?

    Committee status - Events and Education are ongoing, well oiled machines, with steady activities.Linda and Kim met to discuss previous strategic plans.  Lauren is the staff contact for Events Committee. We are currently restarting Exhibition, Membership and Building Committees.

     Carol Koos will chair nominations committee and will look to fill need of extra board members. Currently we have 19 board members, 18 of which are active, and planning succession will be underway. Carol wants to explore options of expanding the board. We’ve had targeted committee members from the community and need to expand this group of volunteers to pull from.

     Gay wants to know if we are continuing with Spring Bloom - ISU is still under construction, and needs to be discussed/decided soon.

    Dan is working on finance. The DOD can work on fundraising. Committee and staff list is currently on the board drive. Look for additional areas you’d like to be included on and tell the appropriate person/s.

    Holiday party. Someone needs to volunteer to host, and a list of possible dates will be sent for voting on. With staff, board, and partners, about 35 folks usually, possibly to include teachers. Meeting here is a possibility as well. We normally do not have regular board meetings in December.

Director report-.Action Items:

Anderson electric quote/bid. Goal for moving… in January before classes or after spring classes, we’d have to move stuff. Students are volunteering to help move things. Action towards using gifts for intended purpose.

Anderson Electric has proposed $1325 to move the kiln .  Gay moved and Carol seconded we accept the proposal.  Proposal passed. This is part of the planned activities to update the education area of the Art Center and  part of using gifts for intended purposes.

We have determined that Doug’s computer needs replacing, and Gay moved we approve the purchase with Michele seconding the motion. Motion passed.

Adjourn 6.14 pm.

MCLEAN COUNTY ARTS CENTER

Board of Directors Meeting --Wednesday, 17 October 2018

Board of Directors:

Shawn Gravelle, President; Julia Davis, Vice President; Yvonne Hoop, Secretary; Dan Galvin, Treasurer; Alexis Kalish, At Large. Sally Berry, Anita Carney, Gay Dolan, Su Ge, Susie Ferrenburg-Vincent, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Carol Koos, Kevin Kuebler, Shelia Lamberson, Michele Peterson, Deb Risberg,  Linda Willis Fisher, Rashod Taylor, and Eleisha Whitney Olson.

Excused Absences: Su Ge, Alexis Kalish, Sally Berry

Call to Order 5.04 pm

New Business:

Education Coordinator and Staff Update:

    On Monday, September 17th, Sarah Sciba emailed the exec board to let us know she had serious concerns working with Doug and tentatively submitted her resignation.  While her reaction was triggered by specific events the day before and the day of the luncheon, it was a culmination of longstanding concerns. Since she contacted the Exec board directly, and since it was related to Doug’s performance, we were deliberate to investigate her concerns and come up with an appropriate course of action.

    I met independently with Doug, Sarah, Lisa, and Justin to get their perspective on Doug’s performance, the situation with Sarah, and their overall satisfaction with their work and the work environment at the Arts Center.

    Based on those conversations, three things were clear:

1. Sarah had reached a point where she was no longer comfortable working with Doug.
2. Doug has areas he can improve, particularly around interactions with staff during times of stress like the lead up to Sugar Creek and the Luncheon.
3. The rest of staff, while acknowledging areas of improvement, did not share the level of concern that Sarah did.

    Feedback was shared with Doug, along with possible courses of action to make improvements, particularly by providing additional staff help and shifting responsibilities to make the best use of Doug’s time and expertise.

    Sarah was notified of improvements we’d be pursuing and decided to submit her resignation.  Doug provided a glowing recommendation in recognition for the work she did to build a successful education program from the ground up.

    We wanted to give the board a chance to hear details and ask any questions you may have before having Doug join the regular board meeting.    

    One question was if the art center has a HR person.  It was explained that the Board has oversight of Doug only and that staff issues belong to Doug.  Alexis has sometimes been used as HR in the past. The Board was involved because Sarah’s problem was Doug and she wasn’t comfortable with that.  One way we hope to improve this situation is by having the Board Members serving on committees interact more with the staff.

    One of the next steps will be discussing staff description and evaluations with Doug and increasing staff. Kevin recommended Carmel be included in the follow up of staff discussions.  Shawn said she was not included prior to this because it mainly concerned Lisa, Justin, and Sarah. From this we hope for growth and better communication as well as greater staff/staff hours.  Board members will interact better with staff. We will refresh the HR handbook.

    Doug has hired Kim Barman, who has lots of administrative experience, as Education Coordinator . Kim will be at the new board member tour tomorrow, scheduled from 6-7.30 pm.

    Lauren Lacy, who is going back to school, but was development director at McLean County Museum, is looking at part time employment. She is talented with depth of experience and skills, and even part time would be a good move towards a DOD.  We continue to seek donations to fund DOD and have $10,000 for this. Doug is asking Lisa to consider going full time with increase in salary to continue as curator and also to do some development work. Kevin moved that we approve Lauren Lacy to work as part time DOD with a target hourly salary of $13/hour.  Gay seconded. Motion passed.

Board Members Update:

    Craig Lee is stepping down for the board as he just doesn’t have the time for it though he will continue to look for volunteer opportunities.  The board is in need of a nominating chair as well as new members.

Building:

    Julia Davis has agreed to be added to the Building Committee. Carmel is the staff liaison,  and Rex Schemerhorn is a community member. We need additional members on this committee as the Building Committee moves forward.

    Handrails on basement stairs were requested and have been installed.

    Michelle, Doug and Yvonne participated in Fall Clean Up last week, so six hours of outdoor tidying took place.  Look forward to Spring Clean Up next year as well as an Interior Clean Up during the winter for cleaning and miscellaneous chores.

    Doug has the contract going in to Oberlader today at a cost of $5736 with expectations to install next week.

    Yvonne will be contacting Lisa about ideas on how to beautify the plywood over the door on the southeast side of the building.

    Julia, Doug, Kim and Yvonne looked at a 10x20 foot storage room for the permanent collection. The facility is temperature controlled, and moving the collection off-site protects the collection while we look at options for the education rooms in the basement.  The cost for storing items will be $180/month. Julia moved and Dan seconded to use off site storage for the permanent collection at a rental fee of $180 per month.  Motion passed.

Exhibition Committee:

    Sponsorships - We are currently receiving sponsorships for Holiday Treasures and finalizing next year’s sponsorships.

    Holiday Treasures art will come in 17 - 27 October, to be installed 27 Oct - 2 November. Email cards will be created for the Artisan workshop Residents with image and schedule for each. This year we are using an online registration for artists with a form on the MCAC website.

    Workshop artist include Mandy Roeing (pastel), Kara Kirchner (felting), Natalie Wetzel (encaustic/mixed media painting), Heather Evert (temari Japanese embroidery), Krystal Lyon (mixed media sculpture), and Whitney Johnson (mixed media painting/collage).

   Other events include -   20 October, there is a Pumpkin Party and Glass sale with Amis/Pierce/Urban,

Story Slam 26 Oct at 7.30, and Pt. Fwd on 10 November.

    Permanent Collection - There is lack of storage space for the permanent collection, and it is not well catalogued or documented. Lisa will ask an intern to look for grant money to fund this work and will assign him to build out applications/database to address current state. Naomi Towner Estate has offered a donation of her private collection, and we are interested in the entire collection, pending Doug and Lisa investigating the collection.Carol Koos raised questions regarding our policy, conditions of the estate donating.  Doug has asked the committee to review current policy. It was voted that we accept the Towner Collection.

    The committee will begin working on 2020 exhibitions in late January 2019.

Old Business:

Treasurer::      

    September 2017 to August 2018 was a good fiscal year with $337,500 income versus $284,000 budgeted.  Expenses were $316,500, so it was an excellent year, the second in a row in the black after five years in the red.  Part of the increased income is due to membership improvement, tuition ($13,000 more than expected!) and special events, with those three areas providing 42% of the income. We also increased the draw from the endowment foundation last year and also got larger unexpected grants from both city and state. With the building 108 years old, there are always surprises and there was an extra $16,000 spent on building costs.

Events:

    Fall Luncheon was a huge success, raising $14,710.82 of the $15,000 goal. Location and ticket price will remain the same at the 12 September 2019 Luncheon. There were 26 items in the Silent Auction, and all sold. Gay provided extensive recommendations on invitations, mailings, advertising, website, sponsorship, reservation process, and the booklet, which were based on results of evaluative data from the survey.

    Additional suggestions include staff writing their own bios, using an AV specialist to be in charge of the Audio-video equipment, and shortening presentation without compromising quality.

Director’s Report:

    Kim Barman’s excellent bio was read.

    Former Town of Normal staffer and our Sugar Creek partner, Joe Tulley died unexpectedly at age 40 and will be missed by all who knew him.

    It is official - Sunshine Artist magazine officially notified us  as The 100 Best Fine Arts Festival in the US. This is a huge achievement and thanks to all of you who helped.

    One State Arts Conference will be held in Galesburg 22 & 23 October.Lisa and Kim will attend one day, and Doug will be there three days.

    Doug will emcee Harold Gregor’s memorial service 5 November at the BCPA.

    Doug will tell a short story at Story Slam.

Education Report -

On-Site

    Clean Up Day: Several participated in a fall classroom clean up day 28 August.  Tables were scrubbed, supply cabinets and flat files were organized, and materials in the storage room were sorted.

    Donations: Linda delivered art supplies that were donated and/or not used in the MCAC classes to Oakland Elementary School and Normal Community High School art programs and to the Western Avenue Community Center After School program.

    Adult Student Show continues in the sales gallery through October.

Off-Site Programming

    Arts Workshop at Normal Public Library, Spring 2019:  Since the Harmon Arts Grant will be decreased significantly; the $400 remaining of the Shirk funding will cover the cost of 3 workshops rather than 12.  Normal Public Library Foundation will provide $1000 to continue what was previously the Harmon Arts Workshop. We need to communicate further with the NPL contact to set up workshops.

Meeting adjourned 6.04 pm

MCLEAN COUNTY ARTS CENTER

Board of Directors Meeting --Wednesday, 19 September  2018

Board of Directors

Shawn Gravelle, President; Julia Davis, Vice President; Yvonne Hoop, Secretary; Dan Galvin, Treasurer; Alexis Kalish, At Large. Sally Berry, Anita Carney, Gay Dolan, Su Ge, Susie Ferrenburg-Vincent, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Carol Koos, Kevin Kuebler, Shelia Lamberson, Craig Lee, Michele Peterson, Deb Risberg,  Linda Willis Fisher, Rashod Taylor, and Eleisha Whitney Olson.

Excused Absence: Kevin Kuebler, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Shelia Lamberson, Dan Galvin, Linda Willis Fisher, Su Ge, Rashod Taylor

Update

Artist Residency Program- Lisa is planning an artist to be in residence, making art while people are in the gallery, coming and going.  The Board is requesting more information about this.

A shared computer via  computer with google docs will be covered in October. Shawn will help users get up and running with it as a way to keep in touch,  to know what is going on.

Holiday Treasures opening will be 5-8 on 15 November. Postcards are going to printer soon. Entries are to be here by 16 October, and Lisa will send a letter telling artists what time to bring pieces.

Events Committee-

Luncheon thank you notes were given out at the Board meeting. We are to personalize the letter Doug has written and send them to the guests we sat with.  The committee is asking for evaluative feedback, and a survey has been sent via email. Committee will meet next week to guide discussion on how they want to make changes and is pleased to report all items in the silent auction were sold.

Building Committee

October work day set for Saturday, 13 October 9-11 with rain date of 20 October.

Security system- Oberlander bid

The system currently runs through phone line, and we will  add cellular radio, option 1. Option 2 is internet option and would be in addition to the monitoring system.

Insurance depends on a professional service but security does not greatly influence the price.

Shawn moved to vote for complete package. Alexis seconded, and motion passed.

Directors Report-

Thank you for supporting the Luncheon, for your work, your dedication, and your contributions to the silent auction.

Illinois Arts Council grants are the focus this week, One State Arts Conference is normally held every two years, and will be in Galesburg in October. Doug is continuing on the Arts Board. Area Arts Round Table had a tax program last night, presented by a CPA. Will meet with McLean County Bar Association and IL Lawyers for Creative Arts in October, copyright law and artist, 16 october .

The donor who recently paid for exterior painting is looking for other areas that may need repair. As he is a past Board president he understands the needs of the building, and we are grateful for his help.  He is looking at the large windows to see if they need to be replaced. Ten years ago, the frames were rebuilt.

Holiday Treasures letters have gone out.

Board orientation and tour will be sent.

Miscellaneous items -

*Request for wine at Board meetings instead of just beer.

*October agenda will have a lot of big items so get Committee reports in early. We will run a tight meeting so that the important items can be dealt with in a timely manner..

Meeting adjourned 5.50

Photos were taken after meeting.

MCLEAN COUNTY ARTS CENTER 

Wednesday, July 18, 2018

MINUTES OF THE MEETING

Attendance: Shawn Gravelle President; Julia Davis, Vice President; Dan Galvin, Treasurer; Yvonne Hoop, Secretary; Alexis Kalish, At-Large; Sally Berry, Anita Carney, Gay Dolan, Susie Ferrenburg-Vincent, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Sue Ge, Carol Koos, Kevin Kuebler, Sheila Lamberson, Craig Lee, Michele Peterson, Deb Risberg, Rashod Taylor, Linda Willis Fisher, and Eleisha Whitney Olson

Absent:  Yvonne Hoop, Anita Carney, Craig Lee, Deb Risberg, Linda Willis Fisher and Eleisha Whitney-Olson.

Call to Order: 5:06 p.m.

1. New Business: 

Luncheon Preparation

Gay gave Update.  “Creating the Future Luncheon” – updates.  Invites going out soon.  Silent Auction – so far 20 committed.  Silent Auction items are due by 8/1/2018.  Ads are due by 8/15/2018.  Reminder that Board has committed to purchasing Ad in booklet in honor of Sue Alexander.     

Luncheon Awards decided by Exec Board:

Corporate – Garlic Press

Individual – Boydens

Volunteer – still deciding; Shawn asked committee chairs to submit names of committee members (non-board members)

1. Monthly Agenda and Committee Reports

Shawn discussed new Agenda process where all committees submit a written report and only Action Items will be discussed at the Board Meeting.  Committee Reports must be submitted and distributed to entire Board prior to the meeting so that it can be determined what action items need to be addressed at the Board meeting.  Shawn also discussed having a comprehensive calendar for the entire year so that the Board can better focus on action items and timelines as to the focus of the Board and its committees.  

President’s Report:  See later section

Nominating Committee:   No Report 

Building Committee:  No Report 

Education Committee:

Sugar Creek Arts Festival Art Education Tent

Many children participated in the art activities under the art education tent at the SCAF throughout the weekend.  The participants decorated sketchbook covers (11:00 – 1:00) and fabric pencil bags (1:00 – 3:00) on Saturday and masks on Sunday (11: 3:00).  Coloring sheets were also available. Nicole Learned supervised the art making activities, assisted by Amber Gravett and Regan King. The project was supported with funds from a Town of Normal Harmon Arts Grant. 

On Site Classes and Workshops 

Summer Adult Classes continue through August. All classes have full enrollment! 

Registration for fall classes begins July 30.

Whitney Johnson has been hired to teach youth classes and workshops.

Events Committee:   See Luncheon Preparation

Finance Committee/Treasurer’s Report:  No Report 

Exhibitions Committee Report

- Promoting Artisan Workshop Resident (AWR) for Holiday Treasures

http://www.mcac.wildapricot.org/Artisan-Workshop-Resident-App/

Hard Copy Applications at entry for more info

- Successful gathering for Convo with Curator last night. Lisa will be coordinating more CwC for future exhibits. Thank you to those who attended!

-Next week events close out the show:

Rockwell: A discussion with Janet Connelly

Tuesday, July 24th, 5-6pm   FREE with treats from Reality Bites

Art historian Janet Connelly will speak about Norman Rockwell's later work that dealt with the themes of racism and poverty in America addressing an often overlooked political side to Rockwell's beloved paintings. 

New exhibit opens Aug. 3rd from 5-7 to conclude the 2017/2018 season.

Human Resources Committee: No Report 

Membership Committee: No Report 

Partnership Committee: No Report 

Director’s Report:

Building Issues with Saturdays storm, leak in roof, flooding, lightning, fire dept, new security bid forthcoming.

Doug discussed the 4 fire alarms going off at MCAC on Saturday morning and it turns out the building was hit by lightning.

Staffing: 

Summer Interns:

Natalie Bready (U of I)

Ella Lindokken (IWU)

Old Business:  

Sugar Creek Arts Festival RECAP

Now a “Top 200” Designated Festival by Sunshine Artist Magazine

Videos: Three videos were produced, two were promoted as per BNACVB $1,000 grant

Results: Natalie’s “behind the scenes (unpromoted}: 727 Views

“This Weekend” shot with BNACB tag 32,000 views, 77 Shares, 56,144 Reached, 30,154 Views

Video Views

“Longer Promo” with all sponsors, artist images, sponsor vid bits: 39,000 views, 114 Shares

Doug discussed some of the highlights from SCAF – Town of Normal paid for the Stave Wine Tent and brought out the Normal Parks & Rec stage for use on Broadway.  Artist party had fantastic food catered by Medici.  Town of Normal will allow Friday night set up for next year on Friday night.  Only about 20 persons viewed the pens to lens during the festival.  Town of Normal staff was really helpful.  Possible option for liquor license for next year which would include full range of carrying throughout festival.  Discussed need for more signage on MCAC Tent to identify it as the information tent.  Discussed needing better communication between volunteers and staff (group) to address any issues that arise during the festival next year.  Doug will be sending out a survey to volunteers.

Adjourn: Kevin moved to adjourn and Dan seconded.  Meeting adjourned at 6:06 p.m.

Board of Directors Meeting --Wednesday 20 June 2018

Board of Directors

Shawn Gravelle, President; Julia Davis, Vice President; Yvonne Hoop, Secretary; Dan Galvin, Treasurer; Alexis Kalish, At Large.  Sally Berry, Anita Carney, Gay Dolan, Su Ge, Susie Ferrenburg-Vincent, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Carol Koos, Kevin Kuebler, Shelia Lamberson, Craig Lee, Michele Peterson, Deb Risberg, Tom Roberts, Linda Willis Fisher, and Eleisha Whitney Olson.

Absent: Ruth Ann Friedberg, Craig Lee, Tom Roberts

Excused Absence: Shelia Lamberson, Linda Willis Fisher

Call to Order: 5.06 p.m.

 President’s Report:

We are still working on committee assignments. If you have a request to serve on a certain committee, please email Shawn at gravys111@gmail.com . Fundraising is a new committee and  will partner with the Director of Development (DoD) once that position is established to drive planned giving and corporate partnerships, so community connections will be important. Until the DoD is functioning, there will be some upfront time to work through the strategy for the committee and to assist work on the DoD.  Once committees are established, Shawn will work through strategy ideas with them.

There is a huge need for volunteers at Sugar Creek, including clean up on Sunday. 

A detailed Committees Description was included in the agenda.  Fundraising is broken down into two, one for events, one for giving.  Membership, Education, Exhibition, Building, Executive, Nominating, and Finance Committees make up the rest of the committees.

Committee Reports:

Nominating Committee:  Tom Roberts is resigning from the Board. 

Building Committee: Stairs are to be replaced, and the contract is signed. We are expecting in 2-3 weeks.  Rex Schemerhorn, new community member, is working on bees and the door to the room across the hall from ceramics.  Painting of wood and tuck pointing is being pursued by a member of the community.

Education Committee:  

 On-Site -- For summer 2018 classes, 75/80 seats were filled in adult classes and 22/32 seats for youth classes.  Education program operating with significant profit!  An adult student show is scheduled in the sales gallery for September/October 2018.

Off-Site -- Nicole Learned is subbing for Sarah at Sugar Creek.  All committee members are encouraged to volunteer at the Activities Tent.  Activity supplies are already prepared. They will be Pencil bags, Sketchbooks, and Masks.  $1500 from Harmon Arts Grants funds the program and are used for tent rental, activity leader and supervisor stipends as well as art supplies.

Workshops at Normal Public Library, Spring 2019 will not be funded by Harmon Funds as the Harmon Grant was reduced by half. The $1500 award for 2019 will only fund Sugar Creek.  With the $400 remaining from Shirk funding, we can offer 3 workshops at the library rather than 12.  Sarah will meet with NPL staff to discuss finances in September.

Staffing-- Nicole Learned, current youth instructor, has accepted a teaching position in Unit 5, so Sarah solicited applications for her replacement, with application deadline of 22 June. 

Next Education Committee meeting 8 August at 3 pm.

Events Committee:

2018 Fall Luncheon-- Theme will be The Art Makers of MCAC and will feature MCAC staff, board members, committee members and students.  Part of the program will include a specific “ask,” for example, finishing the ceramics classroom.

Silent Auction-- The goal is to increase number of items over last year.  We are requesting donations form the Board, their own art or non-art items such as gift certificates.  Current auction commitments have been received from Shelia Lamberson, Claire Hedden, Linda Willis Fisher, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Sally Berry/Barbara Taft, Gay Dolan and Deb Risberg, which include 3 ceramic pieces, 2 of jewelry, and a painting..  An App option for the 2019 Silent Auction is under consideration.  Photos of auction items will be put on the website and social media as well as in the program  to market them, and those items need to be available by 1 August to accommodate this.  Susie will dress as a mime artist to promote the auction at the luncheon.

Program Ads--An envelope was passed to collect money from board members in order to include a page in memory of Sue Alexander, former board member who died in January 2018, in the program.

Spec sheet for soliciting ads is available online. Any questions go to Deb Risberg, Doug Johnson, or Gay Dolan.

Table Sponsorships are slightly different this year due to deleting the two levels that were never used.  See website for grid.  Gold Sponsors are $1000, and Silver are $750. Bronze $500.  Let Doug or a committee member know if you are interested in sponsoring a table.

Exhibition Committee:  Rockwell and points in Pattern of a Cloud open Friday.

Finance Committee/Treasurer’s Report: none

Membership Committee: Committee members are Yvonne Hoop, Su Ge, Deb Risberg, and Carol Koos and Kevin will be meeting with them soon.

Director’s Report: 

Sugar Creek -- More volunteers are needed. Please use Sign Up Genius and remember we need help with clean up on Sunday from 4-5.30.  All volunteers should check in on the Circle. Shirts are ordered and additional shirts will be sold for $15 each. Band slots are filled. The wine tent is a go with Stave, will be noon - 5 on Saturday, noon - 4 on Sunday.  Artist placement will be finished this week.  The video is in progress and will be on social media and our website. The video was viewed 18,000 times last year. We are reaching out to partners, Town of Normal, WJBC, etc. We  are adding a movie element this year at The Normal, Pens to Lens.  As heat is expected to be an element, the firemen will supply misters and first aid.  There are 2400 event guides to be published this year, a 24 page program.  Additionally, there will be a “Take the Train” video purchased with grant money that will be shown along Amtrak lines from Chicago to St Louis. 

Ongoing --We continue to look at committee chairs, roles of committees and staffing concerns. We have two summer interns, Natalie Bready from U of IL and Ella Lidokken from IWU.

Building -Security contract has been suggested for Oberlander. Gay moved we go ahead with the contract and Kevin seconded.  Motion passed.

Old Business: none

New Business:  none

Kevin moved to adjourn at 6.27 pm and Alexis seconded.

MINUTES OF THE MEETING

MCLEAN COUNTY ARTS CENTER 

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Meeting Agenda

Attendance: Rashod Taylor, President; Jim Freeman, Vice President; Shawn Gravelle, Treasurer; Julia Davis, Secretary; Alexis Kalish, At-Large; Sally Berry, Anita Carney, Gay Dolan, Susie Ferrenburg-Vincent, Ruth Ann Friedberg, Dan Galvin, Yvonne Hoop, Kevin Kuebler, Sheila Lamberson, Craig Lee, Deb Risberg, Tom Roberts, Linda Willis Fisher, Eleisha Whitney Olson, Jocelyn Winnell.

Absent: Jim Freeman, Sally Berry, Anita Carney, Craig Lee, Linda Willis Fisher, and Jocelyn Winnell.

Call to Order: 5:04 p.m. by President Rashod Taylor

Report on Readiness Assessment from Ter Molen Watkins & Brandt

Heidi Waltner Pepper presented the Readiness Assessment Report.  The major recommendations were: 1) provide an operation plan for realizing Strategy Map Goals; 2) transitioning from “working” board to “governing” board; 3) implement fund-raising software; 4) Need for Director of Development; 5) Restructuring of committees; 6) Restructure of Membership levels and sponsorships.   Further advancement directives were provided to begin once a new DOD is in place.

Shawn Gravelle gave a report from the Readiness Assessment Task Force which set forth the next steps that are starting to take place and the timeline.  During the April Meeting the committee changes and bylaw change will be announced, along with the officer recommendations and board member recommendations.  May will be the annual meeting and we will vote on the recommendations for board members and officers.  The President will also appoint the committee chairs.  In June, the Exec Board will work with the committee chairs regarding specific plans.  Each Exec Board member will be assigned a committee and staff member to work with. 

President’s Report: As we approach term end dates and executive board elections I want to remind everyone that if you are Interested in becoming a committee chair please let the executive board know.

I had a chance to meet with Shawn to look back over the strategic plan and how we can be better aligned with our mission. We are also looking to improve efficiencies in regard to committees and expectations. This work will incorporate in large part what has come out of the readiness assessment. We have started a draft and Shawn will be putting it in a fancy document to share for board discussion.

Secretary’s Report:  Previously emailed to all members and on website, was approved.

Nominating Committee:  No Report

Building Committee: The bid for new front concrete stairs has come in at $3,200.  The Board approved this expense.

Campaign Committee: No Report

Education Committee:

On-Site Programming

Spring 2018 classes are in progress. Adult classes are filled and one youth Saturday workshop was held.

Summer Classes schedules are being planned.

Tuesday, May 8 is the tentative date to host a McLean County K-12 Art Teacher open house. We’re working with the Regional Office of Education to contact the teachers.

Off-Site Programming

 Harmon Arts Workshops at Normal Public Library. April workshops will be available for sign-up on March 15.

Spring Bloom:  Saturday, March 17, 2018, 10:00am – 4:00pm. The art activity area will be open 10:00 – 3:00.  Committee members and other volunteers will supervise the art activities, which are making marble magnets and decorating covers of small sketchbooks. The Education committee helped prepare the materials March 7.

Dia de Los Libros:  Saturday, April 28 at Bloomington Public Library. Whitney Johnson will manage drop-in youth activity for 2 hours. BPL provides funding for supplies, MCAC will pay $50 for instruction.

The next meeting will be April 7, 2018 at 3:00 pm.

Events Committee: 

A group of three committee members have been/will be working on venue business for the Fall fundraiser.  A full committee mtg will be scheduled for later in the month of March.

** Gay explained that there is a notebook/binder in Carmel’s office on the bottom bookshelf for anyone interested in reviewing.

Finance Committee/Treasurer’s Report:  January and February were combined about $1000 better than budget. That includes an extra $5000 expense to Uptown Normal for last year's Sugar Creek. That was partially offset by over $2000 in Memorial Donations for Sue Alexander and continued strong tuition.

***Doug said there is now closer to $3,000.00 in Memorial Donations for Sue Alexander.

Human Resources Committee: No Report 

Membership Committee: No Report 

Partnership Committee: No Report 

Director’s Report:

-The Program Grant Application (from the Illinois Arts Council Agency) was submitted.

-The Community Arts Access Grant check (from the IACA) has been recieved and the committee will meet to assign awards on Thursday.

Staffing: Summer Intern: Natalie Bready (U of I)

 Spring Bloom Fine Arts Festival

Congratulations to our 2018 Spring Bloom Fine Arts Festival Prize Winners! Best of Show: Matthew Holt; Fine Art First Place: Don Widmer; Fine Art Second Place: Bekki Canine; Fine Craft First Place: Neil Estrick; Fine Craft Second Place: Sara Lenart.

-Four new signacades (green) with printed exterior signage, paper posters will be printed for others, with the plan to print on corrugated plastics for SCAF on all (Signs Direct will print for about $12 each, a significant savings over past vendors). 

-Volunteers: Thanks to Craig Lee, Linda Willis Fisher, Cathie Haab, Gay Dolan, Kevin Kuebler, Jim Freeman, Dave Templeton, Yvonne & Brian Hoop, Alexis Kalish, Kristen Johnson, Caroline & Ellie Rhoda, and Sara Olsen.

Washington DC

-Arts Advocacy Day was very good and my hesitancy to attend was unfounded. Great information was shared, and we have great resources to utilize. 

-Monday night’s Nancy Hanks Lecture: Lonnie G. Bunch III and Richard D. Parsons. Moderated by. Dr. Carla Hayden. (Lonnie G. Bunch III, Founding Director, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture; Richard D. Parsons, Board Member, Smithsonian National Museum of African American, History and Culture, Board Chairman, The Rockefeller Foundation); Dr. Carla Hayden, Librarian of Congress, The Library of Congress).

-I met with staffers for Durbin, LaHood, and Davis, among others.  Led for the downstate team. Following up with staffers. LaHood only member to not accept meeting, although I did meet with his chief of staff

-Met with Anne Boyden re: DOD Position.

Director of Development Position

-A portion of the first-year annual salary has been pledged, others to be asked.

-Office to be across hall from Director, new carpet, computer (ordered), phone (with line), desk & Chair needed. Stored items from room are being moved.

Sugar Creek Arts Festival

Sponsorship asks.

Met with WJBC this week.  **Doug met with Paula regarding building partnerships.

Hope to set bands in next week. Calls of interest.

Old Business: 

Lighting in Galleries. replacement LED fixtures is available.  Cost is roughly $60 each. Very cost effective compared with replacing the track.   ***Board approved the expense.

New Business: 

Lisa Lofgren presented a packet with the upcoming exhibits and asked Board Members to assist in obtaining sponsors.  She asked for members to send her names and she will then approach those persons for asks.

Adjourn: 6:22 p.m.

mcac board minutes november 2017

MINUTES OF THE MCAC BOAR

D MEETING

–

November

15, 2017

Meeting called to order at 5:02 p.m.

In attendance:

Rashod,

Alexis,

Sheila,

Shawn,

Dan,

Gay,

Ruth Ann,

Yvonne,

Joy,

Darrell,

Jim,

Tom,

+ Doug

•

The minutes were approved from July 19th

•

The December 6th Holiday Party was mentioned

Building Committee Additional Notes

:

No Report.

Campaign Committee Additional Notes:

•

They've started the 2nd round of interviews which

will include some board members and some donors.

•

By Friday, Nov. 17th, they will have interviewed the first group of people which includes 21 people.

•

The second group will potentially be contacted.

•

After interviews, we'll be able to determine to proceed w

ith the campaign.

•

Doug is working on a draft of the statement.

Events Committee Additional Notes:

•

There was no final statement yet for Holiday Treasures.

•

The day of the opening event, more than $6,000 in sales were collected with an attendance of

approxima

tely

250 people.

•

We all reviewed Gay's recommendations which was provided in the agenda.

•

A

lot

of time was spent on taking inventory (over 100 hours). There needs to be a plan in the future to cut down

on inventory time.

•

No one came to the VIP Preview part

of the event. It was recommended to not have a VIP Preview next year.

•

There's a proposed time change for the event. If we get rid of the VIP Preview, we could start the event at 4:30

pm instead of 5 pm and have it go until 8 pm.

•

We still want to recognize the VIPs, so we're going to have to come up with a new idea for next year.

•

Sally Berry helped with the event and has now joined the Events Committee.

•

Since the event, we've collected $11,000 in sales (Gross). (Reported on Nov. 1

5th)

•

2016 total of sales was $18,000 and it took a month to reach $11,000.

•

There is way more art work in this year's Holiday Treasures which is contributing to the increase of income.

•

Susie Vincent is in the ISU Concert Chorale and they

perform this Dece

mber 19th at 7:00 pm at the Old Historic

Courthouse in Downtown Bloomington.

Education Committee Additional Notes

:

No Report.

Exhibition Committee Additional Notes:

No Report.

Finance Committee Additional Notes:

•

Board reviewed document handouts.

•

Shawn is

working on the succession planning with the Treasurer exec. role.

•

Shawn reported that MCAC did well September and October which is better than expected.

•

What contributed to September and October's success was the Luncheon

Ticket Sales, Membership Sales

have

increased since last year, and a Board Member donated a large amount.

•

Doug attended the Illinois Arts Council Agency. There were 2 panels.

•

Doug was told at the event that MCAC will receive grants.

•

MCAC is expecting to receive 2 Grant checks.

•

MCAC hopes to receive at least one check by January 2018.

Human Resources Additional Notes:

•

Doug's Executive Director evaluation has been emailed out. There are 6 segments. Only 5 Board Members had

computed.

Nomination Committee Notes:

No Report.

Partner

ship Committee Notes:

No Report.

Director Report Additional Notes:

•

Doug added in relation to our increase of Membership Sales that the MCAC Membership Database

maintenance is ongoing.

•

Our membership allowance use to be 1000 in Apricot. There is no longer

that cap.

•

Staff is going through and changing contacts from Archived to Active since the program was archiving contacts

over the 1000 count.

•

Reminder to Board: The Strategic Plan, Board Minutes, Bylaws and other documents are on our Apricot website

under

the Board section. Please Note** You must be a MCAC Member to have access to an Apricot log in.

•

The lighting in the gallaries are currently old hallogens. The things with hallogen lighting is it illumicates

different colors of light.

•

MCAC currently has a

n H Track lighting system which doesn't have replacement parts available anymore.

•

Within the next 36 months, the MCAC will need to replace all ceiling lights.

•

The denser the show, the more lighting we need.

•

Tom knows a plumber (himself) that can help with

all of our plumbing needs.

•

There is a 6 week break in education classes in January.

•

With that break, Doug will be dry walling the second door that currently leads between classrooms. He will

leave a window.

•

All lights in the

hallway downstairs have been replaced.

•

The entrance and hallway is now brighter and more welcoming.

•

Broken ceiling tiles downstairs have been replaced.

•

The walls downstairs need repainted.

•

Doug will be looking for volunteers to help sometimes in Januar

y.

•

Our Don

o

r Board has been updated.

•

It was asked what else we can add to our entrance to add to a visitor's experience. Anything technology

related

?

•

Doug said that when someone enters the MCAC they tend to always walk up to the Employee Pictures and

Donor

Board.

•

A one

-

minute teaser video Doug created for the Dann Nardi exhibition had received over 1000 views. It's going

to be a

huge

show.

•

A general ask went out November 21st to all members.

•

Staff is currently working on posting more to their Instagram ac

count.

•

Someone recommended the MCAC look into a Snap Chat account.

•

Sugar Creek sponsorship ask is going out before Christmas.

•

Doug is partnering with the Events and Partnership committees on the language and such.

•

The online video

mention and the booklets will help sell the Sponsorships.

•

Doug met with the Town of Normal about the Sugar Creek Arts Festival.

•

The MCAC may work with Stave for a wine garden event to add to the Sugar Creek Arts Festival for 2018.

•

Saturday's hours will be

changing to 12:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

•

Uptown Station will provide (for free) the 4th floor for the Artist Mingle Party. MCAC will just need to provide

the catering.

•

MCAC may no longer have to pay the Town of Normal $5,000 for the event space.

•

MCAC will partner

with the Normal Theater for some film festival. The Normal Theater will continue to provide

sound equipment.

•

Looking into an auto renewal process for memberships.

•

Memberships could then be paid on a monthly or yearly basis

.

Meeting Adjourned 6:09 p.m.