February Meeting Minutes (continued)

See spring and summer Guild show details in previous (February 24) posting.

Meeting updates:
The June 13 meeting will be at the Edina Arts Center from 6:30 to 9:00; note shorter hours due to center's 9:00 closing time.
Address and directions will be posted beforehand.
Topic- Inspiration from other media and other artworks. Bring books and artwork to show sources of inspiration.

September 12 Guild meeting will be at Janine Irisari's home in Plymouth.
Topic pending (paper cutting?)

November 14 Guild meeting location pending. Several people (including me) are exploring locations.
Let me know if something develops at (651)582-8359.

December 12 annual pot luck and tesserae exchange at Susan Mathis' home in Woodbury.

Agenda topics discussed:
Venues for 2013 and 2014 shows are being explored by various members. Hopkins and Bloomington Art Centers are pending.
Danette Polglase is collecting digital images for submission with applications. Please send one or two jpeg images (1megabyte, 300 dpi resolution) to Danette.Polglase@Perficient.com, giving titles and sizes of work.

A previous discussion was revived about creating photo catalogs of our shows, but consensus was that the cost would be prohibitive. Perhaps we could post pics from each show on this blog.

Other topics:
The annual Minnesota Tile Festival will again be held at the American Swedish Institute Saturday, September 15
The Guild will participate for a fee and needs volunteers to staff the booth.
Judy Sell will coordinate - please contact her at (651)430-2593 to volunteer.
In the past we have shown our 8x8's but they will be in our summer Guild show in Stillwater - I'll work something out.

Installation of the Haiti mural project is still on hold. You may recall that the "No Time for Poverty" executive board had reservations about the piece possibly offending some people who would use the pediatric clinic. Lori Greene continues to explore sites in Haiti. There was also some discussion about future community projects of a similar vein.

Lori Greene is exploring the development of a mosaic oriented non-profit organization. Guild members discussed various means of raising funds to support that effort.

Suzanne Demeules discussed her experience with the invitation to submit proposals for mosaics at the International Airport. It was noticed that one of her pieces was featured in the proposal without permission, compensation or credit to her. Through her research, she found that, once images (like hers) are posted in cyberspace, it's hard to control their use. After contacting the person coordinating the project, credit was given to Suzanne. EmptyEasel.com was mentioned as a website that provides information on how to protect your images.

Other cyberspace sites such as "Contemporary Mosaic Artists" and Pinterest for general mosaic interest were also noted. Susan Mathis also brought up the thought of "MoBombing" in the tradition of "KnitBombing" where artists create public works in unsuspecting places. Sounds like we have a movement going. Google knitbombing for inspiration.

While the meeting was rather long due to much Guild business, several members showed and discussed 8x8 samples of their work.

February 9 Meeting Minutes and Updates

Treasurer's Report: Account Balance at approximately $1200.

Memberships are due for 2012, $25 to Minnesota Mosaic Guild; mail to Danette Polglase at 22289 Olind Trail, Scandia 55073. The membership list was also circulated for individual update.

April 11 Guild Meeting:
Mosaic-on-a-Stick
595 North Snelling, St. Paul
651-645-6600
Bring work for our spring show at MOS - this year's theme, "Reflections".
Members will vote for Member's Choice Award - a $75 gift certificate for MOS
Also bring your new 8x8 work for the show.
Those who aren't able to attend the April 11 meeting, bring their work by April 20th
Reception Date:
Saturday, April 28, 7-9:00 PM
$150 has been allocated for food and drink, Lori will make arrangements
Show dates:
Saturday, April 21 through Saturday May 19
Gallery hours - Tues. 10-7, Wed. 10-4, Th. 10-9, Fri. 10-4, Sat. 10-6
There will also be a $75 People's Choice gift certificate that will be voted on throughout the show.
Judy Sell will be developing a postcard for this show and our summer show.
You may pick up your work the last day of the show and thereafter.

June 13 Guild Meeting:
Tentatively at the Edina Arts Center, Barb Steen is exploring that venue.
Topic - Inspiration from other media/artwork; bring samples

Annual Guild Member's Summer Show:
Gallery 310
310 South Main Street, Stillwater 55082
651-439-6246
Drop-off dates, July 14, 15 and 16. We will use the 3rd floor gallery; no elevator, so consider the weight of your pieces when delivering. The gallery takes 50% commission, consider that when pricing your work. Typical paperwork will be on hand.
Reception Dates:
Friday, July 20 and Saturday, July 21, 6:30-9:30 PM
Wine provided by the gallery; the Guild has budgeted some for snacks.
Show dates:
July 20 through September 15
Gallery hours - Mon.-Sat., 10-6, Sunday 10-5:00
Closing 2 days of show coincide with quarterly Art on Main Event that draws around 10,000 people. The Gallery and Art on Main folks will do some local promotion. The Guild is also developing postcards. The Guild my also develop a sandwich board, provided that it is OK with the city.
Pick up after September 15.

Additional minutes will be posted at a later date.

February Guild Meeting

Wednesday, February 8, 2012, 6:30 PM
Barb Steen's home
4013 Basswood Rd.
St. Louis Park 55416-3844
612-618-5603

Directions to Barb Steen's home -
From I-394:
Take the Penn Ave. Exit going South
Going straight, head West on South Wayzata Blvd. (along the South side of I-394)
Take the Theodore Wirth Pkwy. ramp going South (left) on Cedar Lake Parkway
First right at Cedar Lake Road
Cedar Lake Road becomes Ewing Ave. South
Ewing becomes France Avenue South
Turn right on Basswood Rd.
4013 Basswood is on the left

From Minnetonka Blvd. going East, or West on Lake St. out of Mpls.:
Turn North on France Ave. South
After about a mile, turn left (West) on Basswood Rd.
4013 Basswood is on the left

Main topic:
Let's each bring an 8x8 inch sample of our style of work.
Many of us have done them, but a new batch would be fun.
We can discuss our inspirations and the evolution of our styles.
Let's have a fresh new batch for our Stillwater show (we'll still show the old ones)
Judy Sell is the keeper of the current batch. We can add to the bunch.

Agenda items:
Membership Dues
Updating member list
April Show at Mosaic-on-a-Stick
Pick a theme
Summer show in Stillwater
Shows for 2013 - Barb and Janine
Collection, purpose and distribution of digital images
June, September and November meeting topics; and November location
Status of Haitian Project
September Tile Festival at American Swedish Institute
Community projects
Field trips

A more detailed agenda will be circulated at the February Meeting.

Holiday Pot Luck & Tessarae Exchange

Wednesday, December 14th Holiday Pot Luck
Our annual holiday pot luck is fast approaching. Trudy Vrchota will be hosting the party this year. Hope to see everyone there.

Trudy's address and directions to her home:
6943 Sand Ridge Road, Eden Prairie, MN
Telephone - 612-865-6323
Directions:
Traveling West on Hwy. 62 (Crosstown), just West of Interstate 494
Turn South (left) on Baker Road (County Rd. 60)
Turn left again at Sand Ridge Road, about 1 1/2 mile

Trudy is planning to serve sliced ham for sandwiches. Please bring a dish, a beverage, or something scrumptious to share.

Also bring a small bag of tessarae for our exchange.

This will also be a good time for collecting 2012 dues.

November Meeting Minutes

Our November meeting was held at Jo Shaddy's home on November 9,  Thanks for the hospitality, Jo.

We had a good exchange of ideas about plans for 2012 along with some action items as summarized below.
1. Gil Gragert was re-elected President for 2012.-- MANY CONGRATULATIONS, GIL!

2. The 2011 Holiday Party will be held at Trudy Vrchota's home on December 14 at 6:30.  This will be a potluck celebration so please bring something tasty to eat or drink.  We will also have our annual tesserae exchange so please bring a small bag of tesserae to exchange at the party.  More details about the party/meeting will be posted well before December 14.

3. 2012 meetings have hosts for the following months.  If anyone would like to host the November meeting, please raise your hand!
--February: Barb Steen
--April: Susan will ask Lori Greene if she would like to host this meeting and if we can change the show date to April (rather than September).  We had a discussion that we are likely to have better participation in the Mosaic on a Stick Show in April rather than September.
--June: Barb Napawocki
--September: Janine Irrrisarri
--November: OPEN
--December Holiday Party: Susan Mathis

4. Our 2012 Summer Show will be in Stillwater and our opening reception is scheduled for the same evening as the Stillwater Main Street Art Crawl kicks off.  The show will be June/July.  -- Gil will be providing more details.

5. September Tile Festival: Guild members would like to participate in this in September 2012.  We will show and sell a variety of 8 X 8's at the Tile Festival at the newly-renovated Swedish Institute.  This is the CALL FOR 8 X 8'S FOR THE FESTIVAL. We'll call our pieces a "Style Sampler" which will showcase the diverse styles of our talented members.  Please bring your 8 X 8 to the February 2012 meeting  (well in advance of the Tile Festival). -- We would also like to display and sell our 8 x 8's at the Stillwater Show.  Judy Sell is the keeper of the existing 8 X 8's so she can bring them to the two shows as well.

6, We need to make arrangements for our 2013 Summer Show NOW!  -- If we do not get space reserved now, it will be impossible to get a venue.  Action Item: Sandy Bartel will contact Hopkins Art Center as well as others (Bloomington, Minnetonka) and she will report her findings at the at our Holiday Party.

7. Mosaic on a Stick is celebrating it's 7th birthday this month.  Happy Birthday, dear "Stick"! Several of you want to be on the email list to receive Mosaic on a Stick's newsletters which broadcast information on special sales, upcoming classes, new products, community projects, etc.  Please contact the store at 651-645-6600 to get your name and email address on the list for newsletters.  Also, please remember that Guild members ALWAYS receive a 10% discount on purchases at the store. Just remind them that you're a member when you check out.

8. Guild members will continue to receive 10% discounts on glass and beads at J. Ring.  However, due to low profit margins on larger items like grinders, we will not receive the discount on those types of items.

9. Community Projects:  There was an exciting exchange of ideas about potential community projects for 2012. Some of the ideas were: aligning with a local nature center and making a piece for them; aligning with a local women's shelter and make an upbeat piece for them; have an electronic auction on "Bidding for Good" to benefit the charity of our choice; partenring with "Free Arts Minnesota" to teach children the art of mosaics. We'll revisit all community art project ideas at our February meeting and make a decision on what to do.  Bring your ideas, please.

10. Haiti Project: The children's hospital in Haiti is ready for installation of our quilt, having painted the lobby walls to complement the colors in the quilt.  Unfortunately, one board member was concerned that Catholic people who bring their children to the clinic will not like the Vodou theme of the quilt.  (96% of the population is Vodou and 4% of the population is Catholic).  All were shocked by the decision - especially Michele Boston who heads up No Time for Poverty.  Michele is looking for an alternative location of the quilt in Haiti.  If  that doesn't work out, we'll look for a home for it in the Twin Cities such as International Market Square would be one possibilty.  We're all disappointed but we will find a place for it.

11. 2012 Field Trip Idea: Suzanne Demueles is interensted in leading a field trip to a church in St. Michael, MN, where there a lot of mosaics in a church there.  Suzanne will keep us advised.

12. We want to have all dues from existing members collected no later than February 1.  Those who attend the December Holiday Party may their dues at that time.  After that, there will be an aggressive email campaign to collect all dues from existing members by February 1.  New members may join at any time during the year.

13. Contact Information:  We all agreed that it would be helpful to have an up-to-date contact list of Guild members. When members pay their dues, they will be asked to provide their email address and phone numbers.  A member needs to take responsiblity to keep the contact list up-to-date.

Barbara Benson Keith

Check out the fabulous video of Barb on you tube.  It was on t.v. on Sunday.  She is an inspiration!http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgU0CBMfhAc

November 9th Guild Meeting

November 9 Guild Meeting - See meetings tab for agenda


Guild meeting will be held at Jo Shaddy's house.

Meeting time 6:30-9:00 PM.

From highway 62 heading west from Minneapolis
exit Shady Oak Road (this is the exit just past the 169 exit)
turn left onto Shady Oak Road and go about 1 mile
turn right into Rowland Road (toward Bryant Park) go about 1/2 mile then
turn right into Fallbrook Road then an immediate
turn right onto Dunhill Road (my house is the corner, brick house on the left side on Dunhill) 11896
Agenda: Next Year Planning