Great idea from another gallery

Took a one day trip to Williams Lake and back yesterday to deliver artwork for a three-gal show at the Station House Gallery (opening March 4). After a nice visit with the assistant there, I learned that we here at SAGA are missing a key element in our art offerings - the lay-away plan. Not everyone can shell out $500 for a painting they've just fallen in love with. A 30% non-refundable deposit, plus a personalized plan for payment will help many bring home the piece they love.

Coffee Break

I am sitting in the foyer of the art gallery, updating membership files while visitors enjoy our free coffee break day, hosted and sponsored by the Arts Council. This is a cheap and easy program, costing us only about $40 per event. However, it would be nice to see more donations on the day. Typical door donations at the gallery total about $20 per day. On a slow day we might get nothing at all. There are a few people we only see on the third Thursday of each month, come to get their free cookies (eating one, pocketing two) but most are surprised by the offering and stay longer to view the exhibition.

Where Did January Go?

My life skipped a beat there... I was basking in my holidays, then lurched back into the pace of the gallery, trying to get the postcard exhibition installed and ready for opening on January 22. Then, meetings with DIA, OCP, OCAC - the month just whipped past.

The most excellent recent news is that the Downtown Improvement Association has enthusiastically agreed to partner with the Arts Council on Wednesday On the Wharf Summer Concert Series. They will provide the Coordinator (and pay his or her wages) for the five month position. The Arts Council has merrily brought WOW to the community for sixteen years, without too many hiccups, breaking even each year. However, with the loss of BC Direct Access, that meant that the $3000 or so for a seasonal Coordinator was not going to be forthcoming. Not only was a financial partner needed, but a human resources one. The seasonal Coordinator was changing each year, and often candidates had great skills in music management but very little in administration and promotion. Or, the other way around. This is why the partnership with DIA is so perfect - their promotions position already manages music events that happen in the downtown. I'm breathing a sigh of relief right now, and can't wait to get started on the 2010 season!

O'er the Holidays We Go

Hooray for holidays. I really needed some time off. The gallery and Arts Council office are closed until January 11. However, I have a few meetings and proposals to manage before then, so I'm not really on holidays the whole time. A solid two weeks is still fabulous. I look forward to getting to know my kids again, spending some time in the studio, and eating all the amazing food that my wonderful friends have gifted us. LF makes the most amazing chocolate-nut item, DPJ makes almond roca, MC makes salsa, LF2 makes peach jam, JA makes ginger shortbread... oh I have the best friends in the world!

New Gallery Hours

Gallery hours will be changing come January 2010. Beginning with our first open day on Saturday, January 23, hours will be 11am to 4pm. This will make our volunteer host shifts 2.5 hours in length instead of two hours. There will be only two shifts per day rather than three. One staff person has had their hours cut from 12 to 10 hours per week. We have been randomly tracking attendance between 10am and 11am, and the numbers have shown us that fewer than 5% of our daily visitors arrive between 10am and 11am. Therefore, looking for places to cut, this seemed a reasonable action.

All Through the Shopping

For many people, Christmas is about shopping and buying presents for all their loved ones. I almost got sucked in this year, as I browsed the Zellers toy section looking for a Barbie radio. Nothing. I thought, "hmm, where might I find such a thing?" but then quickly caught myself and vowed not to add to the carbon output of Canada by traveling from store to store looking for a plastic toy.

That said, I am running around town promoting the Affordable Art Fair at the gallery. 120 original works by local artists, all under $200. Each of these items holds a tremendous amount of energy, wild flowing artistic energy that continues to ooze out of the work for many many years. The same can't be said for that plastic Barbie radio. I realized that shopping can be a wonderful addition to the Christmas season because you can delight in finding the perfect personal gift for the people closest to you. The art of giving has its own energy. Done well, it makes everyone feel joyful. It's only the stress of line-ups, hot malls, traffic jams and cranky clerks or shoppers that spoils it. This is the best reason to come to the gallery and do your shopping there. We're much more relaxed. The Affordable Art Fair runs until Dec. 12.

Death by Chocolate

Two main themes dominated our discussion at the Arts Council's board meeting today: the job list for the Chocolate Reception we're having after the White Lights Christmas Studio Tour on Saturday, and the multiple wounds inflicted on us by the funding cuts via BCAC and Direct Access. We've been decapitated (or, as Jaci put it "the other way around, because 92% of us is gone) by the two major sources of operating funding. Technically, we have no secure operating funds. Of course, revenue generated from fundraisers like White Lights is ours to use as we see fit, and SAGA just received its news about CSA granting some operating funds, but overall there is no light at the end of the tunnel when it comes to stable funding just to stay staffed and pay the rent. Why, then, are we all just putting one foot in front of the other, celebrating, making music, having parties... I just shake my head and laugh, because it's who we are. I love what I do, it's fun. We'd all find a way to do it anyway. I fear the only major repercussion of the funding cuts is that we can't involve the broader community - children, seniors, low-income families - we can't provide the programs to expand the arts. That is a wound that affects everyone, one that can bleed a province to death.