COTSWOLD ART CLUB
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting December 2019
- Welcome
Our President Martin Bowden welcomed members to the 87th AGM of the Cotswold Art Club. Martin noted that he had attended a recent committee meeting and was impressed by the enthusiasm of the committee members and commended the work they do for the Club. He also noted that he was delighted that the number of members had increased.
- Apologies for absence
A total of 35 members attended the AGM. Apologies were received from: Lynne Mumford, Sylvie Fraser, Linda Barton, Ray Grobler, Pat Wayman, Sue Bryce, Jane Ware, Rosemary Frith, Jenny Hopkins and Susie Anderson.
- Minutes of the last AGM
The minutes were approved as an accurate record of the 2018 AGM.
- Matters arising
There no matters arising from the previous AGM.
- Chairman’s Report
Evelyn Howson presented the Chairman’s overview of the last year. Evelyn noted that we had had an interesting year and thanked the committee for all it’s hard work. It has been a rewarding year as we have increased our membership to 91, the highest level over the last 10 years, and we are hopeful of getting it to 100.
Evelyn thanked Martin, our President, for his general input and also for the very interesting and informative talk he gave last month. This took place against the background of races being held that day which made getting to the talk a bit of an ordeal.
Our thanks go the Paul, our secretary, for all his hard work producing the newsletters, taking the minutes and organising the coffee mornings which have been a rousing success. Unfortunately we had to cancel the last one due to a clash with the rugby world cup final, but there are more in the pipeline. David our treasurer is another stalwart and we are grateful for all the work he does. Our Club could not operate so efficiently without his efforts. He keeps our finances on an even keel and is also our membership secretary.
We thank Debbie and Dawn for all their continued hard work. It has not been easy for them as good venues for exhibitions are very scarce and much sought after by other artists. The Bath Road Market has proved to be a favourable venue for us this year. Unfortunately this will no longer be available to us due to redevelopment of the site. I am deeply sorry to tell you that Dawn does not wish to continue beyond this AGM. We thank her for all the tremendous work she has done for the Club for which we are very grateful. We are seeking a replacement for her as one of our exhibition organisers. Some offers of help have been received and we are hoping to conclude arrangements in the New Year. To all those who also help with and support our exhibitions our thanks, they are the lifeblood of the Club.
The Saturday talks continue well and Lynne has bookings up to next June, which is a delight to hear. We thank her very much for all that she does. She has found some really interesting demonstrations and speakers for us.
The post of Website and Publicity is well handled by Leanne and we have all been gladdened by the increase in membership. We have co-opted Lynda to assist with Facebook and Instagram and we hope she will be elected to the committee later on in this AGM.
Lastly our thanks go to Audrey and Heather and their helpers for managing the catering so well. We all enjoy our tea and biscuit breaks, plus the more lavish one we are going to have today!
- Treasurers Report
David Hooper presented the Membership and Financial reports.
Membership has grown over the past 12 months welcoming 10 new members, 4 of whom are now full members and the other 6 are associate members. Unfortunately we have had 2 members who are not staying with the club for 2020. The Membership numbers now stand at:
Full members – 70
Associate members – 19
Honorary members – 2
Total members – 91
Well done to the members who have been actively involved in recruiting new artists to join the club – it would be nice to reach the 100 mark by the 2020 AGM.
As is required the accounts for the club were closed/opened on the 31.10.2019 and audited by our secretary Paul Johnson, and found to be correct. There are copies of the account sheet available on chairs. The account itself is looking very healthy indeed. The account closed with a balance of £2307.89 and the current balance in the bank (as at 20.12.2019) is £2867.94. There is an additional £200 of subscriptions that will be added to that next week – plus any subscriptions received today. The health of the account is due to a number of factors, as follows:
- An increase in members and therefore subscriptions received
- Overall profit on exhibitions – £683.53
- Cost of speakers has been controlled very well by Lynne Mumford and the 8 speakers we had only cost £710 in total.
The account shows an overall loss for the year of £255.14 and the reasons for this are as follows:
- We paid £308.18 for a projector for use by the club to assist speakers at our Saturday meetings.
- We made a £200 donation to Open Studios – however the raffle we held for the painting donated by Celia Bennett raised £40 – so a net loss of £160 to the club.
Last year I was asked for a breakdown of the Miscellaneous payments – so here they are for this year:
- Expenses which included £308.18 for the projector – £331.18
- Subscription to Cheltenham Art Club – £20
- Donation to Open Studios – £200
- Web site rental – £96.95
- Teas and paper cups to Heather Woodward – £28.49
Total £676.62.
Finally I would just like to add that I have now been membership secretary and treasurer for 2 years going into my 3rd year and I am intending to stand down from the post at the AGM in 2020. So anyone who is willing to take on the task from the 31 October 2020 please make yourself known to the committee.
There were no questions raised on the Treasurer’s report.
- Exhibitions Report
Debbie Hooper presented the report on Exhibitions.
We held three successful exhibitions this year. Two were at the Cheltenham Market in Bath Rd. and one in the Gardens Gallery in Montpellier. Over the 2 exhibitions on Bath Road our members sold nearly £5,000 of art work and 2,000 people viewed our work and learnt about the Club.
Unfortunately, the Bath Rd venue has now closed as the site is being redeveloped. Dawn and I have been busy this year trying to find new venues for our 2020 exhibitions. We have secured a place in the Malthouse Collective in Stroud for the whole month of April and this will be similar to the exhibition we held at the Corinium Museum in Cirencester, a couple of years ago. We will not be required to steward at this event and they will take a percentage of the sale price, at source. Finer details will follow in Feb/Mar when I send out the application forms to everyone. I have also applied to Lower Slaughter Village Hall for a week (or hopefully two) in August, so I will inform everyone how this is going, as soon as I get confirmation.
As you know Dawn has decided to stand down from the Committee and her role as Exhibitions organiser, after several years and we are hoping that there may be some volunteers amongst the members that would like to take her place. I have been organising the exhibitions for 8 years now, ever since I took over from Martin & Jenny Bowden in 2012 and I am also hoping to be able to pass the baton on to someone else, at the end of next year. Please let any of the committee know if you are interested in helping out.
There were no questions raised on the Exhibitions Report
- Election of Officers:
It was noted that the Club Officers are appointed for a term of 3 years. The current Officers who have served for less than 3 years and have confirmed they are happy to continue in their current roles as follows:
Secretary Paul Johnson
Treasurer/Membership Secretary David Hooper – As noted above David has indicated his intention to stand down at the 2020 AGM.
Evelyn Howson has completed a 3 year term as Chair but has confirmed that she is happy to stand for re-election in this role. Evelyn’s nomination as Chair was proposed by Martin Bowden and seconded by Debbie Hooper. The appointment was agreed by the AGM.
- Election of Committee Members:
The committee member roles were discussed as follows:
Lynne Mumford has confirmed that she is happy to continue in the role of Saturday Talks Organiser. This role is not due for re-election until 2020.
Leanne Courtney-Crowe has confirmed that she is happy to continue in the role of Website and Publicity. This role is not due for re-election until 2020.
Debby Hooper has confirmed that she is happy to continue in the role of Exhibitions Co-ordinator for one further year, with the intention of standing down at the 2020 AGM.
Dawn Niven has advised of her intention to stand down at this AGM from her role of Exhibitions Co-ordinator. No nominations for this role were put forward at the meeting, however, a number of offers of help have been received. The committee will review the arrangements for this role and co-opt members on to the committee as required.
Lynda Merrett was co-opted on to the committee earlier this year to assist with social media issues. The AGM were asked to formally appoint Lynda to the committee in this role. This was proposed by Leanne Courtney-Crowe and seconded by Debbie Hooper. The appointment was agreed by the AGM. It was noted that Lynda had made a big difference since being co-opted on to the committee.
- AOB
There was no other business and the meeting ended at 3.00pm and was followed by a quiz, talk and the Christmas tea.