Minutes of NWSSA BOD Meeting 3-22-2014

NWSSA Board of Directors Meeting Minutes 3–22–2014 at Seattle Design Center

Present were:
Carl Nelson, President;
Michael Yeaman, Vice President;
Pat Barton, Symposium Field Director;
Ken Barnes,Treasurer;
Ben Mefford, Director of Symposium;
Verena Schwippert, Secretary.

The meeting was called to order at 2:12 pm.
Minutes from last meeting were approved by all.

All minutes have been, and will be, posted on the NWSSA website.

1. Lead by Ken, a general discussion ensued about donors, anonymity and also donations handled through the Seattle Foundation, which pairs donors with non-profits. Carl Nelson has registered NWSSA with them, to receive donations through them for their May 6th GiveBig .

2. Ken Barnes explained the financial status of the organization.
Previous year’s profits:
Year 2012 NWSSA’s profits were circa $2000 plus,
year 2013 NWSSA showed about $5000 in the red.
Detailed numbers for 2013 are not yet available.

As observed, the attendance numbers have recovered.
(2014 will be the 27th Camp B Symposium.)
Silver Falls Symposium broke just about even financially in 2013, with an overall budget of about $ 21,000.

Our postage expenditures for the Journal stands now at $1,200 per year. To frequesnt contact and assure lowest bulk rates hard copies are mailed to every subscriber, our vendors, and non-profit arts organizations.
All agreed that the longevity of our organization is of utmost importance.
Places, where we could cut costs are not apparent at the moment.
Renee Roberts, who provides office support, receives $4,200 per year payment, that is $ 350 per month; she is also paid $800 at Camp B and $500 at Silver Falls.

Ken raised the point that the auction at Camp B used to be more interesting and exciting, therefore more money was raised. Board members suggested the use of a different room, which will be explored for future symposiums.
It was also suggested to advertise large items to be sold at the auction, for instance in the silent auction, during registration or on Facebook, etc.

3. Ben Mefford, Director of Symposium 2014, wondered how many scholarships were offered to participants in the past….and what kind of follow up structure for them is in place. Historically the work study and scholarship recipients have not been not been tracked and it was suggested that we begin doing it with this year’s symposium. It was observed that there seem to be more repeat work-study people at Silver Falls.

Ben thinks that six work-study/scholarship positions are a good number for Camp B. symposium.
Bob Leverich at Evergreen College, James Madison from Tulalip and Tamara Buchanan – teacher at Pratt – were mentioned as good candidates for spreading the word about scholarships.
Michael Yeaman suggested to contact the major colleges in the area for new young participants.

Action item: Car Nelson and Michael Yeaman will contact colleges with information for the purpose of putting our event on their radar.
The general observation was that number of participants are up. Consensus was that it is the Symposium director’s job to advertise for the event, however, Michael , Ken, Verena and especially Pat will be getting the word and the pamphlets out to possibly interested folks.

Ben Mefford presented his budget for Camp B 2014. This was approved by the Board.

4. Silver Falls 2014 budget.
Doug Wiltshire is this year’s director of Symposium in Silver Falls. The team members working with him are: Lee Imomen, Tom Urban, Rich Hestekind and Kim Lewis.
Silver Falls budget was presented and approved by the Board of Directors.

5. Workshops. Carl stated that the new ‘one or two day workshops’ appear to increase the membership numbers. (As of March 2014 we have 103 paid members). These short workshops are geared to specific information, they help to spread the word, and raise the level of enthusiasm for the association and for stone sculpting.
The focus is on special subjects. Some workshops have waiting lists, as in Sabah’s ‘Face’ and ‘Figure’.
To further the momentum of the workshops that has occurred, it was suggested to hold a one day workshop at Camp B, lead by Sabah, about ‘Face and Figure’ carving. Pat Barton suggested to schedule it on the Saturday of the Sculpture Walk, for the enjoyment of the many visitors and possible participation.

NWSSA has worked with Marie Sivak and Portland Community College to be able to sponsor workshops at their facilities in the fall. Details will be arranged and suggested instructors are: Peter Andrusko, Gervatto Gothell, Jason Jones and Joe Conrad. At this point the idea was brought forward to offer teachers at colleges to spend a day or two free of charge at Camp B. symposium. Ben and board members thought it was a good idea to help engage the arts education community.

6. The journal: Costs for the Journal went from $ 740 to $ 980 per bi-monthly issue. The main reason for this is that every member is receiving a paper copy now, which has more of a presence and is accessible for reading than the website copy.

7. Outreach to students.
Was discussed previously, see above.

8. The Kruckenberg Nursery and Gardens in Shoreline let us know that they have room outside in their landscape and in their gift shop, where they would like to show and sell small and large stone sculptures.
There are also other gift shops and Botanical gardens, who are interested in doing the same.

9. Big Give through Seattle Foundation.
The Seattle Foundation matches donors with non-profits. Once a year, on May 6th they will contribute a generous percentage from their own monies to any donation given to NWSSA.
Carl Nelson is authorized by the Board to make this possible for NWSSA, and has begun the process.

10. A policy is needed to deal properly with deceased members’ donations, funds and gifts. The Board agreed and accepted the motion to establish a policy for this purpose. Ken Barnes will draft the policy and will present it to the board at our next meeting.

11. Rodney Cook as part of a group of investors has founded a center for International Excellence in Acme, WA. Rodney also owns Jade claims close by. Debra Wilson will be teaching Jade carving at Acme starting in August of 2014 and as an NWSSA member she has asked for our support in her efforts.
Debra’s teaching will be an elaboration on what she teaches at Camp B. symposium. She hopes to provide in Acme a place where students can follow-up on what they have learned at Camp B.

12. Michael Yeaman will be offering a 2 day workshop titled “Abstract on Orcas”. at his home and studio on Orcas Island in the Fall. He distributed handouts with details, and stated that he could accommodate 8 to 10 participants (details and registration are available on the nwssa web site).

The Board of Directors meeting was adjourned at 4:40 pm.