Athens Area Arts Council
Proposed Agenda, June 25, 2013
5:30 p.m., Lyndon House Arts Center
Present: Kristen Morales (President), Kate Cook (Vice-President), Mae Castenell
(Treasurer), Melody Croft, Nancè Daniels, Sharron Hannon, JoAnn Kolbus, Leslie Litt,
Amy Miller, Joelle Ré Arp-Dunham, Farol Nesmith, Yvonne Studevan, Jay Underwood. special notes : Celia Brooks sat in for Claire Benson as Liaison to ACC Leisure Services
Nancè Daniels kept minutes for the meeting in KShelton’s absence
Absent: Kisha Shelton (Secretary), Sally Ross Past President, Elizabeth Hovell, Kay
Stanton, Katy Stephens
Old Business (5 minutes)
• Minutes of last meeting on May 28 2013. ( Compiled by Sharron in Kisha's absence) – Motion to approve, seconded, passed with one opposed: Nancè Daniels.^
• Treasurer’s report (Mae Castenell) –
New Business omitted from this meeting
• New AAAC nametags/banner (Jay) (5 minutes) – as discussed at the May 28,
2013, meeting, the AAAC would like to be recognized by its members wearing AAAC pins when attending cultural events. Also discussed, the necessity of a banner to have on display when AAAC is present at conferences or sponsored events. Jay Underwood confirmed that his contacts were available to execute these requests.
•Pulaski Street Art Crawl update (Kate) (10 minutes)
– Vice President, Kate
Cook announced the timeline she has drafted for this year’s art crawl, which is to take place October 5, 2013. It was decided that the crawl would begin at the north end of
Pulaski (at the Leathers Bldg) and travel south, culminating at ARTini’s. There is a FB page to like: Athens’ Art Crawls. (confirmed as per previous discussion, Nancè will organize sculpture segment) Kate will contact Stan Mullins via Hart Sawyer.
• Fall arts event discussion/working with UGA Arts Council (Kristen) (10 minutes) Given the conflicts and overlapping efforts of UGA and Classic Center, the
AAAC arts event previously proposed for fall 2013 has been postponed one year to 2014.
Sharron Hannon, speaking as an integral member of the UGA Arts Council, described their fall event (Music, performing, visual and literary arts will be highlighted for 9 days in November, straddling homecoming weekend, with an attempt to incorporate and forge relationships with the community at liaison on the UGA Arts Council would be beneficial.
Sharron concurred and explained that the idea was on the table while UGA restructuring falls into place. More information is at arts.uga.edu.
• Discussion of changes to umbrella sponsorship application (Joelle) (15 minutes)

Changes to the application included the AAAC mission statement and questions such as,
“How is this arts related? How will this benefit the community? What is your specific experience and training? Will you submit to a background check?” Other suggested edits: The addition of the name of the organization applying; a question of how applicants planned to raise funds. Email discussion of safety and expertise when working with children was revisited. We agreed that the parameters of application required greater specificity and that using the Town & Gown project application would be helpful.
Also suggested: create a rubric for potential applicants to follow. We proposed that an attorney review the language of the application in order to protect AAAC from liability.
Also proposed that AAAC membership of at least one of the applying officers be required in order to apply for umbrella sponsorship. (Post-meeting discussion suggested that we set one deadline per year to accept applications and that a sub-committee review them before presenting them to the AAAC Board for vote.)
Yvonne Studevan made a motion to create a rubric (including a completed example) for accepting/rejecting future sponsorship applications. MC seconded. Motion passed by a quorum.
• Discussion of new umbrella sponsorship applications (Kristen) (30 minutes)
• George Favors
Yvonne Studevan made a motion to reject the application on the basis that it does not meet the necessary critieria. KBM seconded; motion passed by a quorum.
It was suggested that he seek sponsorship from the church.
• Terra Headrick
YS made a motion to reject the application on the basis that it does not adhere to AAAC mission statement. Farol Nesmith seconded; motion passed by a quorum.
• Upcoming Lunch-n-learn workshops (Kristen) (15 minutes)
Sign-up sheet for committee, delegating specific jobs to make events happen (KBM has this) We still need a photographer for the August event.
• AAAC meeting calendar for remainder of year (Kristen) (5 minutes)
• July ?? for social/board member binders
In lieu of a formal meeting, the AAAC board is invited to attend a casual pot-luck social gathering at ARTini’s from 5pm-7pm on Friday July 26, where members will be presented with the temporary gift of a binder of AAAC history.
• Aug. 27, Sept. 24, Oct. 28, Nov. 19, no meeting in December
KB made a motion to accept the AAAC Calendar. Nancè Daniels seconded; motion passed by a quorum.
• Adjourn

KB made a motion to adjourn. Joelle Ré Arp-Dunham seconded; motion passed by a quorum. Meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m.
^ A copy of Nancè Daniels’s May 28, 2013, presentation notes to the AAAC Board:
I went to the final day of the 3-day Georgia Area Network Conference on Tuesday
May 7 at the Hudgens Center for the Arts in Duluth, GA.
The theme was Advocate. Advance. Achieve: Thriving in the New Economy
Mission : To strengthen, connect and advocate for the arts, artists and arts education in
Georgia.
What’s New?

Uneven levels of arts education in K-12 education (result of music education being cut) – the domino effect – arts moved to “after school”

Economy affecting non-profit & arts BUT – new for-profit arts rising

Less money, more competition

The arts community should pay attention to the for-profits – “nonprofit arts” needs to recognize change

Concern with new arts entities reinventing the wheel

New demand for literary arts/poetry

Aging donor base
Mark 2 dates on your calendar:
Georgia Arts Advocacy Day at the Capitol: Monday, January 27, 2014
Georgia Arts Network Conference March 30-April 1, 2014, Savannah
(coincides with the Jazz Festival)
People I met: Teresa Osborn, Elizabeth Weaver, Ife Williams, Wayne Jones (Tifton),
Chris Appleton (WonderRoot), Renee Fitz, Penny Lewis (Carrolton), Melinda, Brenda,
Susie Surkamer (South Arts)
They remembered and remarked on the Classic Center and the Leisure Services
Conference they had attended, particularly the living sculptures at each of the tables.
Thus, Athens made an indelible memory as an intrepid creative place.
PRESENTATIONS
Chris Appleton, Executive Director, Wonderroot (Wonderroot.org)
Collaborating with the community, Bringing them into the Programming rather than programming for them

The Arts unite across all demographics.
Ask your community for input and be willing to alter your agenda.
Find ways around duplicating efforts.
Mission: Uniting artists and community to inspire positive social change
Arts resources
Arts programs
Parnerships with non-arts organizations
Example 1 - Success: Anti-Violence, anti-crime, inter- multi- generational progam:
-stipend for project
-safe gathering spaces
-sharing stories
Turned a place of violence into art with stage, sculpture, oral history of overcoming crime and violence.
Example 2 - Failure (Boys & Girls Clubs) – with Leadership Atlanta, should have had better guidance from arts org. and communication throughout with B&G Club failure to communicate.
Example 3 – Success: Beltline Urban Redevelopment (Beltline.org)
1 st
: Mark it with signage and markers
Renegade artwork
Public Art (citations, detainment)
Strategic communication with press & awards
Ultimately, sanctioned program
Exercise in considering how to overcome community displeasure with Living Walls
- involve community not just in project, but get at least one liaison in the project
Susie Surkamer, South Arts
The Arts are in a phase of Crisis Management – Leaders must be reminded that the arts are an important part of economic development.
2012 Arts Impact on Economics Statistics:
200k people employed by the arts in Georgia
$461M brought into the state via arts projects
$1.7B in Assets

CulturalData.org - Cultural Data Project Georgia has expressed an interest in participating, but is not yet accounted for – see NY, IL, CA, MI, PA, OH, MA, etc. – information on disciplines, budgets, revenue, contributions, attendance, workforce, etc.
Power 2Give.org - Matching Program via Crowd Sourcing
Information I gleaned from post-its left over from earlier days’ brainstorming/discussions
Advocacy (19)

Research, grassroots organizing, coalition-building, and government relations to build support for arts, culture, and arts education.
Professional Development and Capacity Building (15)

Connecting arts and cultural organizations, artists and communities with resources and experiences that make them more effective, informed and engaged.
Communication (14)

Facilitating interaction among a network of arts and cultural organizations, artists and art supporters where news information, best practices and promotional opportunities are openly exchanged.
Goals and Priorities Strategy (13)

Positioning arts and culture as essential to individual and public well-being and the economic development in Georgia.
Arts Education (11)

Facilitating interaction among a network of arts and cultural organizations, artists and art supporters where news information, best practices and promotional opportunities are openly exchanged. o work with other educational organizations o focus on department of education o need best practices for distribution to educational organizations
Recommendations and Suggestions to AAAC :
Let’s get AAAC (same as Asheville, btw) listed and linked with as many Arts
Organizations as possible. (begin with South Arts)
Research our “new ideas” so that we don’t think we’re inventing something that already exists.
Artists want money. Resident grants consultant who gets a percentage as an individual and entity? listings of capabilities on website, awareness of value added by artists to businesses, grants and calls for art.

Let’s become known as creative representatives and agents especially to entities that host visitors and tourists, demonstrate the value of creativity and connect artists with these entities.
Let’s have a presence and be recognized at arts events. I propose that as council members we each commit to attending two cultural events each week.