President’s Report 2024 Annual Board Meeting
Greater Norristown Art League, Sunday, August 11, 2024, 4 p.m.
Welcome, and thank you for attending today.
First, I’d like to take a few moments and have the Board introduce themselves.
Our Secretary, Teresa O’Rourke, decided to step down due to personal matters. As such, we have a vacancy on the Board. Should anyone be interested in serving in this role, they may reach out to me directly. As a reminder all Board positions are 100% volunteer.
Projects underway:
Grant work - last year we were awarded with a Grant from Representative Capaletti’s office. The grant is specifically focused on making several needed building repairs.
Last fall, we replaced the roof on the porch. This was prioritized due to the unsafe nature of the structure and the impending winter season.
Our next plans involve water remediation of the building. As you may or may not be aware, water damage caused mold in the basement in previous years and much of the wall had to be removed. With the remediation efforts, we will be able to repair the basement walls, and revamp the interior for additional classroom and work space.
In addition to the water remediation, we will be building a walkway from the back parking lot to the front--connecting with the handicap ramp. This will afford a safer experience. We will also be looking to install back lot lighting, and remove the tree damaged fencing.
Additional work includes replacing the floor in the classroom and upgrading our classroom lighting.
As work is progressed updates will be shared via email, the website, and social channels.
Approved Board Updates:
Re-Branding: After much review and analysis of the Art League, our membership, and prospective membership, a decision was made to re-brand this year. Our aim is to refresh the look with bold, bright colors and a more modern logo that attracts our community demographics more effectively.
As part of the re-brand, we plan to replace the sign out front, in addition to revitalizing the gallery walls to have a continued exhibition of artwork for sale and student work.
Membership: After several years of not increasing the membership fees, the decision was to make a slight increase this year to membership fees for individual and family memberships. Senior and Student rates will remain unchanged. These changes in fees were necessary in accordance with the rising costs associated with maintaining our non-profit league.
In addition, the decision of a previous Board to implement a “lifetime” membership program for many members has created a longer-term deficit. As such, we are exploring, with legal advice, if there is a lifetime term that can be applied to expire this legacy program. We are not yet saying that we will definitely do this but want to be open with the membership that this is an area of exploration. Should we decide and are able to expire the Lifetime Memberships, there will be a grace period allocated to ensure value of price paid--it will not be an immediate event.
Instructors pay: The board recently approved a yearly increase in instructor pay and contractor pay for those who have been in service at least one year. The Art League operates on a minimal part-time contractor-status staff, and the Board continues to be 100% volunteer.
Service fees: Due to the increase in service and processing fees, the decision has been made to assign a processing fee to all debit and credit card transactions of up to 5%. By assessing this fee, we are able to lessen the overall raise in annual tuition this year. This does not impact the cash rate which can be paid in advance during business hours and open studio.
Classes: With the increase in tuition, we are sensitive to the budget of our membership and those who recognize the value in our classes. As such, we will also implement an early registration discount that will give a minimum of two weeks when classes are available for registration at a discounted rate.
We will also be establishing regular gallery and business hours in which you may come in and register in person paying in cash or check.
It has also become necessary at this time to institute a policy around refunds and late cancellations. There will be no refunds one week or less prior to start of class, GNAL will issue a credit for another GNAL class in the form of a gift certificate.
Full refunds (less processing fee) can be issued prior to one week before start of class
No refunds for membership ... It is considered a donation and fully tax deductible.
We have incorporated more children and teen opportunities this year. This comes as we have had more demand in the last year for additional class and programming opportunities.
Open studios will continue to be held on Sundays throughout the fall with varying demos provided. We will also work to create additional opportunities for open studio time based on when the classroom is open.
Adopt a Highway: We are in process to adopt a nearby roadway--with the hopes of Germantown stretch that goes in front of our building.
Member Art show
Our member art show will be the biggest event of the year for GNAL. We are excited to announce the following changes for this week-long show:
Inclusion of a kid's art section. If you look around today, you will see just a tiny bit of the art our kids have done throughout summer camp.
Winning pieces will be marked for the opening reception. The awards reception will still occur at the end of the show.
We will have instructor demos each evening during the week. This will provide an opportunity to meet some of our newer instructors, get a sense of what the class is about and register for that class at a discounted price with your paid membership.
Marketing strategy
A few of you have noticed the difference in how we are promoting some of the events and that you are starting to see some more of our posts.
But we know we can do better. We have branched out on our marketing and will continue to do so throughout the year. Including our events in local community newsletters and publications, posting flyers (they actually work) in nearby businesses, and creating new partnerships.
We will be doing more as we unveil our new branding this year and are excited about the possibilities so that we can keep quality, affordable art education in our community. This is our main driver. We are actively working to bring in the next generation of artists while ensuring that our current members continue to have the classes they have come to expect and look forward to.
The Art Happens Here podcast. As part of these efforts at increasing visibility and education, we are launching a podcast: Art Happens Here. The goal of this is to provide short conversations between myself and Ria--and an occasional special guest, to look at the aspects of art that are not always covered in a classroom. We are, in effect, talking about the other side of the canvas. We have been busy recording and our first episode will be released in just a few weeks.
As always, organic marketing requires our members to share and spread the news. Share our posts, events, and classes with your friends and network. Give us a shout out on Google reviews, and Facebook every so often. This place is yours too, and let’s show our pride!
New Exhibitions and partnerships
In addition to our ongoing exhibition opportunities at Braemer and Plymouth Meeting Dermatology Associates, we have opened partnerships with the following locations for exhibition opportunities:
Central Montco Tech High School Bistro - This is a multi-artist exhibition in their public Bistro during the school year
Spring Pointe Mill in Lafayette Hill - Recently added, this space is open for a 3-month exhibition for 1-2 artists in the bistro of this retirement home
The Pinnacle of Plymouth Meeting - This partnership features 1-2 artists for a 3-month exhibition opportunity in their public bistro. In addition, the Pinnacle is a sponsor for our upcoming member show.
Sponsorship Opportunities
We have implemented a tiered Sponsorship program for individuals and businesses that we will be rolling out over the next several weeks. Our aim with sponsorship is to increase programming availability, enhance our art shows, and create more community awareness.
The program will consist of 6 tiers depending on contribution level. We will also consider custom arrangements with interested parties.
Platinum Sponsor ($5,000+) Gold Sponsor ($2,500 - $4,999)
Silver Sponsor ($1,000 - $2,499) Bronze Sponsor ($500 - $999)
Community Sponsor ($101 - $499)
Friend of the Arts ($100)
Our Volunteers
What can I say… we would be nowhere without the volunteers who make GNAL operate. From the Board to those of you who help out on committees, run our art shows, exhibitions and fundraisers, and show up for Earth Days, MLK Day, and our other community events -- we cannot thank you enough.
If you want to get involved, or know someone looking for an opportunity, we are happy to have you join us on this journey. We have opportunities for assistance with our events, fundraising, and more. Simply let us know today, fill out the form online, or simply send an email.
We hope to have another “thank you” event for our volunteers again this fall.
Thank you!
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