Central Shenandoah Arts - Board of Directors Meeting
Monday, December 18, 2017, at Director’s Home
Jen Tremblay called the meeting to order with the following members in attendance: Barbara Gautcher, Malea Gascho, Zach Gesford, Adriana Hammond, Jewel Hertzler, Sarah Lock, Aniko Safran, Eileen Shifflett
❏Jen Tremblay called meeting to order at 7pm.
❏Minutes from October, November, and board planning session were distributed and read over by each member.
❏Corrections had been made online prior to meeting.
❏Barb made a motion to accept the minutes as presented; Malea seconded.
❏Motion passed
❏Treasurer’s Report- Eileen Shifflett
❏Community Foundation was the main revenue item for November.
❏Eileen made correction to October salary number.
❏Silent Auction brought in $893.
❏Jewel made a motion to accept the report; Barb seconded.
❏Report passed
❏DIrector’s Report- Jennifer Tremblay
❏The board discussed budget for next year which Jen and Jewel have been working on.
❏Estimated expenses are at $25,878.
❏Estimated Income is at $27,274.
❏Discussed keeping money in savings or putting in CD
❏Jen will discuss with Eileen and she will report back during next meeting.
❏Expenses for estimated budget included assistant salary and property management fee
❏Cost of AC units, new ceiling fans, and electrical outlets included
❏A few of the studios only have one outlet so we may need to install more
❏Jen added some marketing expenses into the budget
❏Brochures, Facebook ads, Wordpress (one time cost)
❏7 air conditioner units would add an estimated $1,200, bringing yearly electric cost from $900 to $2,100
❏Since we already have one ceiling fan, we will take $50 from the listed $350 and put it toward installation of thermostat-goal, not of utmost importance
❏Adriana mentioned the idea of having an email domain for Spitzer included in the budget to make communication more professional.
❏Jen, Jewel, and Adriana met with Jane-Ellen Reid who does board training
❏She has offered to do workshops with board members on how to improve communication and interaction with renters, set clear goals, and have more efficient meetings at a reduced rate.
❏Workshops would be $50/hr
❏$25/hr to come talk to the board
❏The board agreed to add this to the budget
❏Aniko calculated the 2018 budget at $26,428 after the changes/additions
❏Barb made a motion to accept the proposed budget; Adriana seconded
❏Budget passed
❏House and Grounds
❏The roof
❏Jen has contacted Stanley Wenger; he is unable to do the job until Spring.
❏Jen wanted to get a few more quotes before making decision on this
❏Jewel mentioned the man who painted the house, Phil Way, would also be willing to do the roof.
❏His quote was $500
❏Jewel agreed to contact him again
❏Front sign
❏Jen said she will follow up with Muddy Feet Graphics again, since she hasn't heard back from them in a few weeks since initial email detailing what we want.
❏Jen met with Estland earlier in the day
❏They are able to work within the $1000 budget
❏Said she could work up some designs and instead of having it manufactured, a local artist or artisan can paint it
❏As far as zoning is concerned- we should have over 12 sq feet since we are not located downtown- but we will need to double check this. Muddy Feet will figure out zoning themselves and include permitting into their cost
❏Garage Sign
❏We need to decide if we will do it ourselves or hire someone to do it
❏We will wait until the sign out front is dealt with, that way they can tie together.
❏Indoor Workday
❏We can finish scraping the kitchen ceiling and the walls since they are cracking
❏We have some things that need to be sorted through and reorganized
❏We will do this sometime in January, the 12th and/or 13th, so that it won't interfere with Tori’s opening
❏Snow Removal
❏Legally, sidewalk has to be cleared 24 hours after snow has stopped.
❏The board discussed asking renters if they could do it if we paid them,or hiring someone else to do it
❏Wecan ask Isaac who works on our lawn
❏Could potentially be part of house rules for upcoming leases to remove snow from sidewalk
❏Stairs on front porch are not currently attached and will need to eventually be fixed or replaced.
❏Exhibitions and Events
❏Cask for a Cause will be Friday January 19th at Three Brothers Brewery
❏Membership table will be there
❏They will make the poster, but we should still do our own advertising
❏We will need to go choose the ingredients of our beer
❏All proceeds will go to Spitzer and they will sell it throughout the month if it doesn't sell out that night.
❏Jen contacted the renters to see if they wanted the gallery for the month of January; Tori responded and will be showing her work.
❏Jen is still waiting for a response from Rusty about the potential Veterans show in May.
❏Adriana created a survey the members to help gauge what types of classes, workshops, and events people would like to see.
❏Membership- Aniko Safran
❏We had one new member each month from September through November and two in December.
❏Some members have not gotten information sent out about 6x6x30, which means some of the membership forms may not have been updated.
❏We will need to go through the membership list and double check.
❏Publicity- Adriana Hammond
❏Vika on making brochure and rack card- Willing to do $30/page
❏Will approve this once we see template
❏Adriana is coordinating with Robert on search engine optimization and working on getting Spitzer up to date with content through blog posts and videos.
❏She is planning on creating smaller videos to post and diversifying content and feature renters and studios.
❏Aniko has some equipment and is willing to help edit.
❏Future of the shop
❏Adriana did a recent blog post on the shop
❏The board discussed taking down the shop as a permanent fixture and creating a pop-up shop or using the space as a members’ gallery where they can display their work and change it out
❏It could be beneficial to narrow down the amount of items in the shop so the space can still be used for classes and events
❏Decision will be made in January
❏Education- Jewel Hertzler
❏Jewel met with Teresa Townsend, who does photo and writing workshops.
❏She would be willing to do two workshops in the Spring and potentially more during the Summer.
❏She is willing to do the 80/20% split of profits.
❏Jewel mentioned that Elaine Hurst is interested in doing workshops.
❏She does oil and pastel painting workshops.
❏Jewel’s plan is to get class schedule lined up by the end of January so rack cards can be made.
❏Rusty Noesner’s drawing class and Howard’s lighting class are other potentials
❏Aniko is also interested in teaching a writing class.
❏Hospitality
❏Jen and Jewel built having a musician at least every other month into the budget.
❏Malea is considering taking over hospitality
❏Rentals
❏Mountain Valley Management is set other than one tax form Jen needed to complete
❏Fundraising
❏We have made $155 from the letter that was sent out.
❏Jen has more letters ready send out to art faculty of JMU, EMU, and Bridgewater.
❏Directors Search
❏We will need to decide who will be on the committee to run this search.
❏Jen has already provided timesheets on Google Drive and will send a position description so this can be discussed at next meeting.
❏Goal for January: Make changes that we need to the bylaws and get the new constitution approved.
❏Meeting adjourned at 8:55 pm.