Feature Page

A Message from your new President, Shauna Holiman

and 2006-07 Annual Report

Dear Members of the Greenwich Art Society,

Below you will find the Greenwich Art Society’s 2006-2007 Annual Report. We have had a wonderful year under the direction of Douglas More and Liana Moonie and have accomplished many of the goals we had set for ourselves.

Our advances forward have been many. In the last few years, we have revitalized our public relations and marketing effort by creating a new logo, letterhead, general brochure and class catalogue and substantially increased the number of press releases and advertisements we generate. We created and launched a multi-faceted website and reduced costs through the use of electronic mail. We overhauled our studio and office, recruited new teachers and now offer more, and more varied, art classes including Saturday classes for children and Sunday classes for high school students. In the realm of management, we created a comprehensive, computerized database, switched to computer-assisted bookkeeping and conducted a comprehensive member-student survey. Doug and Liana, who retired this year, are leaving us well positioned to take the next steps forward.

The future holds some opportunities (bigger and better gallery and classroom space) and challenges (higher rent) associated with the possible move, in 4 to 6 years, across the street to join the Greenwich Center for the Arts. We also face possible “homelessness” due to a change in the usage of our current residence. Either way, the Greenwich Art Society must plan for its future now and work actively to shape it.

I am, personally, of the opinion that artists have a valuable and worthy product to sell: our art. Although I have no problem with fundraising; we are, after all, a not-for-profit organization and can take advantage of raising money if we need to. However, I would prefer to work toward self-sufficiency through the sale of what we do best. During my tenure as your President, I plan to do everything possible to find markets for our art and ways to get it before the public.

Your Board of Directors has created a “Plan of Action” for the 2007-08 year that will bring about many changes, large and small. Chief among them is the creation of online galleries for all of our shows. Photographer and Society member, Lucia Ravens has joined the Board of Directors as Official Photographer and will photograph, at the discretion of the Board, all the art we exhibit. These will be posted on our website for the duration of each exhibition. We are developing an extensive emailing list of people whose business involves buying art and we will email them every time the website is updated inviting them to take a look. We hope to become a leading source for reasonably priced, high quality original art. We have arranged to accept credit cards (over the telephone to begin with) to make purchasing easier.

We are also changing the way exhibitions will be awarded. A 5-person committee of board members will screen art from Society artists, invite artists from our juried shows to screen their art and award all exhibitions at the Greenwich Art Society Gallery, the Nathaniel Witherell House, the Greenwich Hospital Café, the Barnum Financial Group and any other additional venues. The Committee will work together to manage all aspects of our exhibitions including determining the form of all exhibitions (one or multiple person shows, shows by medium, invitationals, etc.), choosing themes, finding corporate sponsors and awarding solo and group shows. The goal is to make all exhibitions benefit the Society and its members in as many ways possible. We intend for this group to be creative, dynamic, forward-looking and fair.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THE NEXT SCREENING WILL BE HELD ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 24TH. Receiving will be from 9:30-12:30 and 7-8. Removal the following day during the same hours. Screenings will occur, at most, only 2 times per year so if you would like to try for a show, it would be good if you dropped by.

We would like to work to make the Studio School a place where artists of all ability levels can go to “feed their heads”, learn new skills, advance their artistic careers and socialize with other artists. The idea is to “knock down the walls” between the Studio School and the rest of the Society. Artists are lucky in that we are all students of and for life. The Greenwich Art Society will be developing a group of classes to help our members come fully into the digital age. Topics include those that most of us need to focus on: developing a website, photographing and photoshopping our artwork, the fine points of framing our art and hanging our show, creating a portfolio, marketing ourselves and our work, etc. etc. etc. Ultimately we hope to make the Studio School the “go to” place in the area for artists to develop themselves, in every way, in the digital age. We will, of course, continue to offer our high quality classes in the traditional fine arts.

All this is a LARGE undertaking but hopefully we will all benefit handsomely from our success. We will need your help – and lots of it. Please volunteer to help with projects large and small. We will find a place for you, your skills and time constraints. Not unreasonably, artists who are selected for shows will be expected to volunteer to chair or co-chair one of our juried exhibitions. Be assured, we are taking active steps to make sure your volunteer experience will be as painless and efficient as possible.

In the midst of all the WORK of this, we have NO INTENTION of losing touch with HAVING FUN doing it together. Just for starters, please come for cocktails at my home in Old Greenwich on October 18th from 6-8 PM. (The exact address was emailed with the notice of this update. You understand – security stuff on the internet.) Just so we’re sure to have enough wine, please email me at hackaho@optonline.net and let me know you are planning to attend.

I have said very little about myself in this introduction to you. The only important things for you to know about me are that I am a musician and an artist, that is to say a collaborator and a supporter, as well as someone who works independently. (I confess, as a young musician just out of conservatory crashing on the shores of New York City, I got good and scared and spent 2 years at Columbia University getting an MBA to be certain that I could support myself at something other than waiting tables should all things artistic fail. I am lucky in that 1) all things artistic didn’t fail, 2) I had that educational opportunity and 3) I have had the experience of writing business plans for artistic organizations of many stripes. These have made all the difference.) I think competition has very little place in the arts and all the positive things that the greater artistic community does help us all. A strong artistic community makes for strong individual artists and vice versa. I urge you to join me in whatever ways you can in strengthening our community of artists. We do live in a magical place.

Hope to see you for cocktails on the 18th!

Your President, Shauna Holiman

Click here to download the 2006-2007 Annual Report

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