06 Jun July 2018
What an amazing year it has been serving as your president. I “stood on the shoulders of giants”, as past president Liz Coviello laid the groundwork for the successful year we have had. We have overcome some challenges too.
We have continued our adjusted opening hours; being open market night and extending our hours during the holiday season. Membership has increased and is now valid for a year from the date you join. Adult Education, under the enthusiastic leadership of Linda Willason, has truly blossomed with a huge variety of classes and workshops. Children’s education, led by Suzanne Burke is also thriving.
Receptions for our shows, especially when combined with the featured artist receptions, have been very well attended and lively. I hope you have been to some.
Our marketing team led by Kim Munkres has done a marvelous job of extending our customer base by producing a quarterly postcard and an informational brochure.
The gallery staff provide additional visibility by keeping a Facebook page and Instagram up to date with photos of art work and announcements of receptions, classes and workshops.
Our film series of four independent films in the spring and fall, which funds the MCAEEF (Margaret Clark Art Education Enrichment Fund), underwent a big change this year. Due to the Krikorian changing to Studio Movie Grill, with different seating, I had wondered how this would affect our incoming funds. I was relieved to discover that the movies are now shown on two screens, so we have continued to supply grants to local schools for art projects. Many thanks are due to Annette Weiss for her unflagging enthusiasm for this worthy cause.
So, I am overjoyed to report that the combined results of these efforts has meant that our sales are at a record high and have continued to climb throughout the year. We are solvent; a very gratifying place to be.
More details will be available at our annual meeting on June 12th. at a different venue from usual, The Contemporary Club, from 6-8 pm. I hope there will be excellent attendance.
I would also like to thank Candy Glendening for compiling our newsletter (and for keeping the website up to date) and to Grace Fermier for artfully designing it and every other publication. She will be retiring after many years of service to RAA and will be greatly missed.
I will be passing over the presidency to Kris Bussard, who will be an outstanding leader with innovative ideas, aided by our marketing expert Kim Munkres. What a team! I look forward to where they will take us. Sadly, there are several amazing people whose terms on the board are complete. They are: Shirley Harry, Gail Brownfield and Francis Wiley. Their experience and expertise have been invaluable. However, due to a combined effort, we have 7 new board members joining us which will bring us to our allowable total of 15.
I have been proud to be able to say I am president of Redlands Art Association.
I look forward with excited anticipation to the unfolding of another year under new leadership.
I thank all of you for your contribution, however large or small. May your art making be fruitful!
Maggie Macro