Berkeley Arts Council Programs

Fiscal 2010-2011 Annual Meeting/Report to the Members

The Berkeley Arts Council designs programs around the three principles of communication, collaboration, and opportunity.

Communication:

The Berkeley Arts Bulletin provides consolidated communication to the public and within the arts community about scheduled arts events and opportunities for artists in Berkeley County and the surrounding area.

The web site www.BerkeleyArtsWV.org is the official web site of the Berkeley County Arts Council.

The Berkeley Arts Council Blog at berkeleyartswv.wordpress.com is updated on an ongoing basis to provide timely news and information about the Council's activities. The blog is also linked to Facebook.

Collaboration

Starting with the first steps in planning the Berkeley Arts Council we have reached out to individuals and groups in an effort to build collaborative relationships.

Partnerships with organizations such as ArtBerkeley, Inc., The Apollo Civic Theatre, and The Heritage Craft Center of the Eastern Panhandle have united the key arts organizations to a common purpose.

Collaborative relationships with other arts and community organizations have begun to deliver dividends in the form of expanded arts experiences throughout the community.

Opportunity

The Berkeley Arts Council works continuosly to expand opportunities for artists to perform, display and develop their art forms and to provide members of the community greater opportunites to experience the arts in all of its forms.

The Arts Council is developing an Artist and Artisan Resource Program, which will seek expertise in areas such as the use of technology, business practices, promotion and marketing, web sites for artists, presentation of artwork, photographing artwork, preparation of submissions to juried exhibits or other competitions, and other areas that may be identified. The Program will offer workshops and possibly individual counseling that would be free or low cost to artists, artisans, and arts organizations.

Education

With the support of the West Virginia Commission on the Arts and the Eastern Panhandle Community Foundation, the Council will be launching a pilot project to bring teaching artists into the classrooms of a number of Berkeley County schools.

Funding

The Arts Council has developed expertise and resources about grant opportunities for organizations and individuals and offer workshops and possibly individual counseling for grant applicants.

During fiscal year 2010-2011 the Arts Council applied for and received approval for $5,000 in grants with an additionl $1,900 grant pending. This funding has been or will be returned to the arts community for arts programming and arts education.

The Arts Council is conducting ongoing research into community needs through its "Amplify the Arts" grant program.

Certified Arts Community

The Arts Council is actively pursuing “Certified Arts Community” status through the West Virginia Commission on the Arts. A special working group has been set up specifically to guide and track progress toward achieving “Certified Arts Community” status.

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Berkeley Arts Council
Annual Meeting, June 20, 2011

Report to The Membership, Fiscal Year 2010-2011

Board of Directors

The annual meeting of the Berkeley Arts Council was held on June 20, 2011. The members present unanimously confirmed the slate of Board Members, which consisted of:

Malinda Shaver
Jane Horst
Paula Frank
Rip Smith
Leia Wood
Donn Marshall
Christine Kuban
Susie Sayre

The Board will choose officers at the next meeting.

The Board presented reports on the activities of the past year. The reports reflected substantial accomplishment and growth for the organization.

Berkeley Arts Bulletin and Other Communication

Malinda and Rip continue to edit and produce the email Arts Bulletin, which passed its second anniversary in March 2011. It is currently distributed to over 800 addresses.

We have used the Bulletin, our blog and Facebook to provide continuing and updated information on our activities.

Exhibits:

The year started out with two exhibits.

The first was called “Neighbors” and was an exchange of exhibits with the Hampshire County Arts Council. Through the month of July 2010, 13 Berkeley County artists showed approximately 30 pieces in the Bottling Works, the combination Visitor Center and art gallery in Romney.

In August 2010, seven artists displayed 13 paintings and photographs in the “Berkeley County Scenes” exhibit at the Martinsburg Berkeley County Library.

In April 2011, The Berkeley Arts Council collaborated with The Arts Centre to produce the “Art and Earth – My Art, My World” juried art exhibit in conjuction with the Art and Earth Celebration, an event produced by ArtBerkeley. The Juror selected 36 works in a variety of media by 29 artists from around West Virginia and 4 other states. There was an excellent turnout for the opening reception on April 8 and the exhibit was very well received. The exhibit was on display from April 8 through May 1, 2011.

In May 2011, for the second year, the Arts Council provided judges for two categories in the James Rumsey Technical Institute’s VIZZI Awards. High school students throughout the Eastern Panhandle compete for awards in eleven categories of visual art, including graphic design, photography and video production, and fine art.

Also for the second year, the Arts Council facilitated an exhibit of the winning entries in each category in the atrium space in the Dunn Building, outside of the County Council offices.

Artisan Workshops

Several workshops were presented in the late summer and early fall, including, “Photographing Your Artwork”, “Building a Web Site with Wordpress”, and “Tax Issues for Artists.”  “Matting and Framing” and “Writing to Promote Your Art” were scheduled, but were cancelled due to lack of enrollment.

Birthday Party

To call attention to our first successful year of existence, we arranged a party. With the assistance of Susie Sayre and Michael Noll, it was held at the Apollo Theatre on October 7. Invitations were mailed to a VIP guest list and emailed to the Bulletin list. Members contributed food and beverages. A 50/50 raffle raised about $100. Local band 7DC performed. Several artists exhibited their work, and Heritage and ArtBerkeley set up information tables on stage.

Holiday Art and Craft Market

The Berkeley Arts Council collaborated with ArtBerkeley and The Heritage Craft Center to produce a Holiday Art and Craft Market in an empty store at 116 N. Queen St. that was made available to us by the building owner, Carlos Niederhauser. Randy Lewis of Main Street Martinsburg put us in touch with Carlos.

The market was open Wed. through Sun. beginning Fri. Dec. 2 through Dec. 19. Eighteen local artists and artisans participated in the market. Each organization contributed $100 toward promotion and each artist paid $30 and agreed to help set up and clear, and to spend some time gallery sitting and processing sales.

The effort received high praise for the range and quality of work from everyone who visited the shop. The market was considered a success by all of the participants even though some did not have any sales results.

Sales totaled approximately $2,000 with just over $1,600 being returned to the artists. A minigrant from the Convention and Visitors Bureau helped cover some promotion costs. The 20% commission went to cover expenses and ultimately a small profit was returned to the three organizations. The building owner generously asked only a minimal reimbursement for utilities expenses. Carlos also allowed us to continue to exhibit work in the windows of the store until May.

Art Appreciation Day – aka “Arts Expo”

In September 2010 Rip Smith suggested that we hold a public event including demonstrations by artists and that we submit a grant application to the WV Commission on the Arts so that the artists could be paid for their work. Leia Wood and Kristin Nelson prepared a contract and application and recruited artists to participate. Malinda assembled the grant package and we applied for $1600 to be matched from sponsorships or our funds including artist fees and promotional costs. In December we learned that the grant had been approved.

To provide an easily accessible public location, Malinda met with representatives from Mountain State University and the Martinsburg Mall to set the date of March 19 for the event. MSU assisted by lowering the setup fee to $300 from $500.

In addition to the 15 demonstrating artists, six sales tables were set up. Arts and music organizations were on hand to provide information.

A significant element in the success of the event was performances by the Berkeley County Orchestra’s String Program (over 30 students); by the Spring Mills Middle School girls chorus, “The Blues”; and by the cast of Musselman High Theater’s production of “Once Upon a Mattress.” The Musselman Theater Booster Club arranged a table with craft activities for children that was very popular, as were all the children’s craft activities.

The Berkeley County Council passed a resolution declaring March 19 “Arts Appreciation Day” for 2011.

Also important was the promotion of the event, including flyers distributed to middle and intermediate schools and at Musselman High. Roadside (“bandit”) signs were placed around the county, and a banner and a large sign at the Mall created visibility. The Journal published several articles about the event including a front-page wrapup the next day.

Rip Smith photographed and took video of the day’s events, then edited a DVD that we will use to promote the organization and a possible event for next year.

“Show Us You Can Dance” Competition

The “Show Us You Can Dance” Competition was held at Musselman High school in two parts.  The Auditions were held on Sat. April 10, and the finals were held on Sat. May 7.  There were 28 registrations for the competition.  Candy Reid handled the Dance component and Jane handled the organization and volunteer recruitment. Malinda and Leia handled the publicity, program and ad sales.  Studios from Pennsylvania and Maryland also participated. The Program was established to be a fundraiser for the Arts Council and to provide a stage for the many talented dancers in the Tri-State area.  Cash prizes were awarded for the top three etnries in solo, duet and group divisions.

Six individual dancers received special awards as selected by the three finals judges.

The event was co-sponsored by the Martinsburg-Berkeley County Parks and Recreation Board. We were very happy to have several business sponsors to cover the cash awards. Advertising in the program also produced revenue.

The event netted $1,300 dollars for the Arts Council after all the costs were considered.

Arts in Education

In October 2010, the Berkeley Arts Council Board discussed and agreed upon looking into and starting an Arts In Education program in the Berkeley County Schools.  Board members Leia Wood and Paula Frank met with Donna Miller, Assistant Superintendent of Instruction, to present the idea to her. Ms. Miller gave us her support to proceed with trying to set up the program.

The BAC then put out a call to artists to see who would be interested in teaching in the schools. Four artists responded, Leia Wood, Tom Romero, Judy Jeffares and Chelsea McBee.

Ms. Miller then sent emails to all of the teachers with information about the program and the list of artists available along with their plans for the classrooms. The teachers then contacted Paula to set up meetings with the artists they would like to work with. Next, Paula and Leia met with teachers and artists to plan activities for the 2011/12 school year.

We have a total of eight projects planned for Mountain Ridge Intermediate, Tomahawk Intermediate, Opequon Elementary, Hedgesville High School, Tuscarora Elementary, and Berkeley Heights Elementary schools.

A grant application was submitted to the West Virginia Commission on the Arts on March 1st for at total of $1,948.87. This amount would cover half of the artist fees and supplies. We should know around the first of July if we got this grant.

In April we applied to the Community Foundation for the funds needed for the match to the state grant. We asked for a total of $3,400 which also included funds to cover the expenses for administration of the Arts In Education program. We were awarded the full amount of the grant.

If for some reason we don’t receive all of the funds from the state, we will try to find other funding for the program, or scale down the eight programs we hope to do in the schools.

We will start meeting with the teachers and artists in August to make the dates for the programs for 2011/12.

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