Los Amigos del Arte Popular
Minutes
October 1, 2016
Present:
Bill Roe, President
Robin Grensted, Treasurer
David Garcia
Macon McCrosson
Bill Owens
Gayla Pierce
Kathi Prado
Jo Ann Ward
Absent:
Laurie Brannen
Cathey Merrill
Mary Mohr
John Waddell
The meeting was called to order at 8:05 am
Action Items Before Next Board Meeting:
Jo Ann agreed to develop a clear motion regarding use of organizational resources for an electronic vote at a later date.
Macon to update a potential December 2017 Oaxaca trip with Linda Hanna
Bill Owens to send revised By-Laws to the board for review and comment
Bill Roe to send insurance information to the board when received
Finalization of trip guidelines
- Tax deduction status of trip donation
Kathi Prado to work on a revised logo
Minutes
Robin had one correction to the minutes. He pointed out that he had not changed any records; he had merely made discussion points to clarify the record going forward.
Bill Owens moved and Kathi Prado seconded that the board approve the minutes with Robin’s clarification of his previous comments. The motion was carried, no abstentions.
Treasurer’s Report
Robin reported that donations are up for 2016. He also suggested the Los Amigos may want to consider better gratitude for people making donations. JoAnn suggested asking donors if they’d like to be recognized.
Trip revenue for 2016 is up and it will be a good year
Membership dues are up 15% over 2015
Grants totaling $22,500 were made during 2016 which is in line with the $23,600 in grant funding that was made in 2015. The 2015/16 grants will help in reducing LADAPs excess cash
As of Oct 1, 2016 there is still approximately $19,000 in expenses to be paid. This includes insurance, both the Puebla and Feria trips and the Van Deeran Coke award
Projected cash at year end is $53,000 which is a $7,000 year over year reduction.
Robin also raised some questions he’d like the board to consider moving forward
- How does LADAP view excess cash?
- What should the core amount in the treasury be?
- Suggested LADAP keep a minimum cash position of $6,000
- Trip expenses and contingencies need to be included in that core amount, but what are the contingencies?
Bill Owens moved and Macon McCrosson seconded that the Treasurer’s report be accepted as reported. The motion carried and there were no abstentions.
(Treasurer’s financial reports are attached to these minutes)
Membership
Kathi Prado reported that as of September 18, 2016 there were 288 members in good standing. There have been 31 new members year-to-date, which includes 5 – 1 year membership and 15 life members.
There were 64 non-renewals and Mary Mohr had contacted many of them to determine why they had not renewed. 10 people replied that the trips were too expensive. Illness, no participating and too elderly were some of the other responses she received
$660 was received as donations through the membership (renewal) process. Robin cautioned that LADAP needs to be careful in how it refers to those donations with regard to tax deduction status. There was also a short sidebar discussion here regarding the language in trip and tax deductions as well. Since this meeting was on a tight time schedule, this topic was flagged for further exploration and discussion.
Bill Owens moved and Jo Ann Ward seconded that the Membership report be accepted as presented. The motion passed and there were not abstentions
Newsletter
(This topic was discussed in the Newsletter section because it dealt with the use of one of the LADAP resources related to the Newsletter-Constant Contact)
Jo Ann presented a request that she had received from a LADAP member to use member names for a personal business event.
Several board members expressed concern that the use of LADAP resources from which the individual would profit was not consistent with the core values and state goals. In other words, a member should not be permitted use of LADAP member information, money or resources for their own benefit. A comparison was made to grant awards which are specifically not made to support individuals but to support groups, co-ops, communities from which many folk artists can, or will benefit. If we do not support single folk artists in grant applications, why would be allow individual members to use LADAP resources for their own benefit.
For purposes of the discussion, organizational resources were defined to mean the treasury, membership data (i.e. names, addresses, contact info) and Constant Contact.
The board was in general agreement that the request to use member information for marketing was not consistent with organizational goals but a definitive motion was not placed on the floor for a vote. Jo Ann agreed to develop a clear motion regarding use of organizational resources for an electronic vote at a later date.
Nominations
Before the floor was opened for the discussion about nominations, Kathi Prado mentioned that there were several people on the Puebla trip that had qualities that would make them good board members. She was not suggesting that they come on to the board at this time, but that we as board members could begin talking to them about being part of the board and putting the idea in their mind that they could be a valuable and contributing member of the organization. Kathi’s sentiments were echoed by almost every other board member.
Bill Roe then announced that he had received a resume from Marianne Schick who was interested in becoming a board member. He also said he had spoken with Trinie Garcia about the board. Gayla reminded the board that if she was moving into the Secretary position, her Director at Large position would be open.
This facilitated a discussion as to the number of board positions that were actually open and that fact that we may really need more than 1 new board member.
Trips
2017 Trips
(John Waddell had to leave Puebla due to illness, Jo Ann Ward and Gayla Pierce reported for John and the trip issues he had been planning to present)
Jo Ann reported on John’s trip to Tenancingo which was one of the first LADAP trips to limit participation to a small group. The small group format was very well received and John wanted to stress there is a lot of value in them, not only for building relationships within the organization, but for the artisans as well. Jo Ann said John really hoped that LADAP could consider them as a valuable alternative to the large scale trips we normally do.
Jo Ann then presented John’s new small group trip. This would be a 1 week trip in July 2017 to Tenancingo that would include textiles, food, local crafts and a trip to Taxco. Macon commented that John has a good resource on the ground in Tenancingo in Peter and felt like this might be a good fit.
Robin reminded the board that LADAP has an annual income limit of $50,000 before it has to file income taxes and more trips with more income could raise our visibility, require tax filings and possibly change our filing status.
Robin Grensted moved and Bill Owen seconded that John’s Tenancingo trip be approved. The motion carried and there were no abstentions.
David Garcia presented 2 proposals for short 3-4 day trips
Jorge Quintana at Mata Ortiz has expressed interest in hosting a LADAP tour there. David said this would be in the Spring of 2017 and probably be a 3 day trip
The 2nd trip was a 4-5 day trip to Tonala and Tlaquepaque with visits to artist’s homes. Because of accessibility in Tonala, this trip would probably be limited to 14-15 participants.
There was quite a bit of interest in both trips but timing was a concern specifically with Tonala/Tlaquepaque in part because Ajijic for Nov 2017 was not yet on the calendar.
Macon reported that in the wake of John’s successful Oaxaca trip last April, Linda Hanna was researching another small group trip for Oaxaca that would most likely be in December 2017. She didn’t have a lot of details but said she would report back once Linda had more information.
When the dust settled, the proposed trip LADAP calendar for 2017 looked like this:
February – Tonala/Tlaquepaque
March – Mata Ortiz
April – Guatemala
July – Tenancingo
October – Fort Worth
November – Ajijic (tentative, pending proposal)
December – Oaxaca (tentative, pending proposal)
Gayla moved that the board accept the proposed trip calendar and Kathi Prado seconded. The motion passed and there were no abstentions
2018 Trips
The discussion then turned to possible trips for 2018. Jo Ann Ward was interested in putting together a domestic trip to Denver. She has a strong contact at the Denver Folk Art Museum who has already express interest in working with her on this trip and has assured Jo Ann that there is a reasonable amount of Mexican folk art in the greater Denver area
Gayla moved that Jo Ann be given the go ahead to explore the options for a Denver trip and Kathi Prado seconded. The motion passed and there were no abstentions
David Garcia proposed doing another Chiapas trip in January 2018 and Robin suggested replicating Tom Pirazzini’s trip since it was so successful. There was strong interest from the board in a Chiapas trip
Gayla presented John Waddell’s proposal to increase the number of local “pop-up” functions. These are small functions with little or no registration fee, usually 1 or 2 day events, very casual and low key. Their purpose is to promote cohesion and comradery regionally between LADAP members. Bill Roe proposed that we approve the concept of pop-ups but that they should require board approval. The concept was passed
(There is no record of who seconded Bill’s motion)
Gayla reported that she had gotten several, i.e. more than 2 or 3, suggestions from members on the Puebla trip that LADAP should consider doing a Yucatan trip. The last Yucatan trip was in 2009, so we may be due. She also indicated she is investigating options for a Michoacán trip at a time other than Semana Santa when we could visit artisans in their homes and communities at a time when things are less hectic for them.
David commented to the board that having a contact on the ground in an area we are visiting is very helpful. Having someone local is who can go and make payments, work with local agencies, help arrange transportation, check out hotels and restaurant is an invaluable aide for trip organizers.
Miscellaneous Trip Info
Jo Ann suggested that the board think of a way to recognize Lynn who is organizing the Fort Worth trip coming up in October. Both Bill (Roe) and Jo Ann said she was doing a fantastic job of getting this organized and very enthusiastic about the event.
Jo Ann reminded the board that the Feria 2017 was not on the Board agenda and how did we want to address it. Macon said it sounded like it might fall into the pop-up category.
Trip Guidelines
Bill Roe reminded the board that guidelines are just that and not requirements and that the guidelines remain a work in progress. Robin commented that we need to identify which items are suggestions and which are the items to which the board expects compliance.
Due to time constraints, further discussion of the trip guidelines was tabled
By-Laws
Bill Owens indicated that the revision of the LADAP By-Laws was also a work in progress but that he has condensed them down into a 3-page version. There was a lot of prescriptive material included in the original By-Laws that he was able to remove. He also said we are not functioning per our By-Laws in that we are a self-perpetuating board which we need to change and allow our membership a larger voice. There was general agreement with Bill on this point.
Bill said he would send the board the current revision for review and comment
Insurance
Bill Roe told the board insurance coverage through a California non-profit was available and that he has an option to discuss with them a hold harmless agreement as well. He indicated we still need coverage for when LADAP is out of the U.S. and that a quote for Mexican liability insurance is pending. He will send that information to the board when he receives it.
Kathi Prado asked about the error and omissions coverage. Robin said we weren’t specifying what we’re being protected from so he wasn’t sure we needed that coverage.
2017 Grants
Jo Ann presented a report on 2016 grant awards. A total of $22,500 was awarded to grant applicants.
Jo Ann presented the following grant applications:
FOFA (Friends of Oaxacan Folk Art) - $3,000 request
Martha Turok/Ruth Lechuga Collection - $4,000 for office equipment. JoAnn also said the Ruth Lechuga collection was not available for research and folk art researchers by appointment only.
Robin Grensted moved that both grants be funded and Macon McCrosson seconded. The motion carried and there were not abstentions.
Bill Owens asked if would be possible for LADAP to support certain organizations on an annual basis. Bill Roe liked the idea of LADAP being identified with specific organization or projects over time. JoAnn asked that any further discussion be postponed as she had a committee meeting coming up and it’s a complicated topic.
Logo Revision
Bill Roe asked if we could take the logo that we approved at the last board meeting, move forward with it and get a high resolution version. Since many members didn’t recall what had been approved Bill agreed to e-mail it to the board.
Kathi Prado asked if she could take a stab at developing a new, revised logo and was given verbal approval to go ahead and try.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:55 am.
Recap of Passed Motions
October 2015 minutes were approved
October 2016 Treasurer’s report was approved
October 2016 Membership report was approved
John Waddell’s July 2017 Tenancingo trip was approved
The 2017 LADAP trip calendar was approved
Jo Ann Ward was given approval to start researching Denver for a domestic trip
Small group, regional pop-up events were approved
2017 Grant funding for FOFA and Martha Turok/Ruth Lechuga was approved
No motions failed
Tabled Discussions
Treasury
- How does LADAP view excess cash and what should our minimum cash position be
- Status of tax deductions related to membership donations and trips
- What if we exceed the $50,000 income limit for small non-profits
Trip guidelines, in depth review and comment
Annual grant funding for designated organizations
Logo revision