Board Meetings

Minutes Board Meeting/ Nov 14, 2017:

Arts Alive Chicago Bi-Annual Meeting
November 14, 2017

Present: Cyd Smillie, Anna Zolkowski (Chicago) and via internet: Shannon Kemp Passero, Tony Passero (Florida)

Meeting called to order at 11:25 AM.

1.   Minutes of last meeting reviewed. Kemp makes motion to approve as presented; Zolkowski seconds. All in favor.

2.  Old Business—reports
  •     Have-A-Seat, Amy Jo Arndt, had successful chair program last year. $200 profit. Want to repeat in 2018.
  •     Mini murals installed at Six Corners.
  • Mural maintenance: cleaning, repairing, etc. being done proactively.
  • Membership—move to New Busines
  • Fundraising—move to New Business. Currently raising funds on case-by-case basis for each project.
  1.              New Business

Smillie previously emailed drafts of strategic plan, press kit and budget for review and comment. All agreed to weigh in with comments within one month.

Discussion: create media plan prior to painting murals/starting projects to create more brand recognition and consistent social media presence. Ideas include: signs stating when project begins, with title, URL, hash tags, location tagging, etc. Ensure Arts Alive Chicago is credited in all projects it assists with and creates.

  1. New board members: ask Jerry (Jerzy) Rogowski to join AAC board; Smillie to contact him. All in favor of doing so.
  2. Advisory board members: all in favor of asking Amy Jo Arndt, David Given and Linda Vidmar to join Advisory Board.
  3. Election of officers for 2018: all current officers re-elected for another term.
  4. Adjournment at 12:20 PM.
Arts Alive Chicago (AAC) board meeting minutes
11/28/2016 – Shannon Kemp and Tony Passero’s house
Present:  Shannon Kemp, Tony Passero, Cyd Smillie, Anna Zolkowski Sobor

Meeting called to order at 1:00 PM.
Agenda

  1. City of Chicago has withdrawn culinary arts as a funded category. AAC is no longer affiliated with the Schurz H.S. Food Lab and is re-focusing on visual arts. Jaime Guerrero is not on the AAC board.
  2. AAC has obtained a Chicago Public Schools (CPS) vendor number, which enables it to lead art programs in schools and get paid. Possibility of creating a mural at Prussing School; Cyd Smillie and Catherine Marchese involved.
  3. Murphy School is interested in doing a mural. Tony Passero is in contact.
  4. Discussion about involvement and implementation of City’s Year of Public Art program. Individuals apply as artists, but AAC may apply for interns for summer work.
  5. Relationships with new Aldermen and new wards in the city are being sought and developed.
  6. Other public art projects: painting piano which is in pop up people spot at Six Corners; creating/painting something at the Independence Park playground.
  7. Passero floats idea of using the garage space at Independence Park’s Women’s Bungalow as a pop up gallery.
  8. Further discussion of “fundable idea”  for the area under the Kennedy Expy on Irving Park, proposed by Passero. Concept is for people/companies to donate to sections instead of funding the whole.  Many logistics to consider.
  9. Discussion about creating sister entity to maintain, clean and restore murals and surrounding areas for a fee. One proposed business model is CleanSlate.
  10. Additional ideas on how to fund operations without doing consuming fundraisers are being explored, noting that government grants permit a % of costs charged for operations (including insurance costs).

Meeting adjourned at 1:30 PM.