UMVA Portland Chapter – Minutes

November UMVA Portland Minutes
Scroll down for December minutes directly after

(Annotated version for the Journal)—11/20/17

Website:
Janice made a UMVA website report. She discussed the challenge with having a gatekeeper structure and the difficulty keeping something current and accurate with that system. She discussed that there were multiple sites for UMVA and the Maine Arts Journal and the newsletter, etc and that it was very confusing to try to track down who does what. Matt Stacey is still the gatekeeper for the main site and Cathy Weinberg is doing the journal site and facebook updates. The group discussed other options for a new page, or something that would be easier to access month to month. It was agreed this is becoming one of the most important next steps for our chapter to increase exposure, information and memberships. (see note at bottom).

Current CTN Open Hours   (Gallery is always open during these times)

Monday—12pm – 5pm
Tuesday—10am – 5pm
Wednesday—12pm – 5pm
Thursday—10am – 5pm
Friday—Closed
Saturday—Closed
Sunday—Closed

Remodel Update
Leslie reported that the donated carpet for the back room is here, but they are just waiting for laborers to install. There are also plans to repaint the front of the building and get new signage up with the change of CTN to the new name. The UMVA banner was praised as looking really good from the street and even had passersby taking photos of it.

It was discussed that at the December meeting we will do an overview of 2017 and also a visioning discussion for our hopes and dreams for UMVA in 2018 and beyond.

Update: William uploaded all Curator & Press Documents here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1XsUTtKKxb9Cefa6AM_-0eoOr9cQb9SxL?usp=sharing

 

We have a full UMVA Gallery planned for 2018!!!

Jan– Gregg Harper/ Mixed Media
Feb– Susan Smith/ sculpture- mixed media
March– Berrang/ Witte
April – Migration Experience/ UMVA Journal/ John Ripton
May– Mark Barnette/ photography
June–  Art & Abstract Truth/ Jim Kelly
July– UMVA Open Show  (needs curator)
Aug– Matt Demers /painting
Sept–  The Eclectic Vision/ Addison Woolley
Oct– The Chair Considered / Janice Moore
Nov–  UMVA Open Show  (needs curator)
Dec– Holiday Sale

Janice reminds the group that the show she is curating in October is for Chair-themed artwork and she wanted UMVA members to consider making chair-themed work to prepare for that show.

Note:
Who does what:
—All inquiries and listings should still be sent to:  umvalistings@gmail.com <http://umvalistings@gmail.com>
—There is is still a gatekeeper/tech head for the UMVA main site. He updates members’ images, and will help with tech problems on the site, but no longer formats listings for this site.  matthew_stacey@ymail.com
 —There is a person currently formatting and uploading listings for the Maine Arts Journal— the current location of the online News/Events and UMVA Newsletter, the former UMVA Blog page.

 

UMVA Portland Meeting Notes
December 2017

—Report Back by John R: Holiday Sale
—Idea presented: to create a calendar for UMVA events for print and online.
—Email from Janice was read regarding the website update and trying to make progress on having a UMVA portland site that we can manage.
—Gregg H handed out bookmarks for his show in January . He reported all the place he has put the show info and the newspapers that were running info about the show. He met with Bob Keyes/ good media timing. Gregg will be sitting for the show every Friday through Sunday for the entire month of the show.
— John R reported on the April show. Focus on immigrants. 12 artists currently in the works. Performances etc/ Building community. Titi DeBaccarrat/ Kifa Abdullah are involved in organizing the show with John. The show info will be in 5 languages and will display mixed media pieces also.
—Jess M discussed our mailing list and how to maximize our membership. Jess asked some questions about our press materials and the process we are using to market shows. A discussion followed about best practices.
—Gregg reported on the curator file for each curator. Jackie’s e-mail should be added for contact for all curators to be able to access the membership lists and mailing lists.

—Holiday Show 2018/ Next Year: Idea for a “50 for $50 idea.” Each artist makes a small piece for the show and could submit addition works. Have a donation aspect of the show to raise money for a cause.  Jess proposed having a holiday show with 3 rooms each with a different price point.
—Can we increase sales in the gallery?  Discussion -Make it attractive to come to the openings/-Bartending help for the opening.  Gallery Hours / consistent

UMVA Visioning for 2018 and beyond:
-website  (weebly.com)
-classes from members to share their skills/ raise money/ make money
-each member should tell people and try to help grow the umva membership this year
-calendar
-UMVA marketing materials
-Another Draw-A-Thon?  Political activist art. ARRT. Bring our war dollars home.
-Kids events classes. Provide to the community
-Model drawing classes?
-Set gallery intentions – How do decide how we want to give out shows/ 1 person? 2 person shows? member shows? Which is the priority?
-What is the purpose of the gallery?  Can we bring in outside artists and curators? Bring in out of state shows?
-William invited the UMVA members to Hidden Ladder Art Nights that happen each Sunday night to collaborate with artists in the city. Contact him if interested.
-Funding: maybe be able to award artists grants down the road.

Thanks for a great 2017 and we discussed highlights from the last year.