Two Guild Events September Potters Guild Social Friday September 13,7:00-9-:00PM Mickey McDougall Rec, Centre 123 BE 23" Street, North Vancouver An evening of ceramic demonstrations and socializing. Come forthis FREE event. Get to know Guild members, and talk shop with other potters! Take the Upper Levels Highway and exit south on Lonsdale Ave to 230d. For more information call Markian at 604, 254 40035. October JOHN CHALKE WORKSHOP at the Shadbolt Centre, Burnaby In this weekend workshop featuring dem- onstrations, discussions and a slide pres- entation, John shows why he is considered one of the most important and influential ceramists of the last 50 years. Co-spon- sored by the Potters Guild of BC and Shadbolt Centre forthe Arts. Sec page 10. Sw/Su October 5/6, 10200AM-4:00PM, $64.20 (carlybird price to September 15) or $74.90 (after September 15). Student rates also available, Call 604.291.6864 for registration or information. Made of Clay at Christmas [have had an amazing number of applica- tions this summer and have already rented 2/3 of the spaces. There are only 5 islands and 2 duplexes left. I may be able to squeeze in one or two more islands, but that is still yet to be decided. Please apply soon if you want to participate. Karen Opas will be approaching the mar- keting students so that we can access mont of the downtown and Yaletown markets. Pll have more on this in the next issue, With the show approaching full occupancy we will have lots of people to promote it. We may then have enough revenue from rentals to offer free admission on Friday to raise altendance and to give industry bay- ers a chance to buy commercial gifts. More to come next month. Jim Stamper Scepiember 2002 Potters Guild of Bnitish Columbia Newsletter President's Report [hope you all had a great summer. I'm really glad that I assumed the role as president at this time of year; it has given me a couple of months to think about Guild matters from a different perspective, Whal was once a small grassroots organization has grown into a million dollar venture. The gallery has taken a great deal of focus and the financial books have had to be dealt with under a totally new light. Kimecha and the Gallery Committee have things well in hand. As always, the staff is working hard to increase revenues, which means nothing but good news. Ron Feicht has been working hard to sort out the mess that has slowly amassed with our accounting, but we see an end in sight so that issue is also well under control. The fact that the Guild can again address the issue of promoting our craft means that we are back on track. This is where we as a group have the most power. When we promote qurselves We also have the chance to promote each other and the craft in general. Qur focus could be redirected at those people who don't know how much they love pottery. Tt seems to me that the East Coast amd the States have stronger craft industries because the general public has been more educated about the importance of handcrafted articles, My first thought is that there is no harm in having more public awareness. As a group we should be able to access more of the general media. Many of us write well or know someone who does. Articles in as many publications as we can get would be beneficial tous all. Encouraging people to take courses just for the fun of it will make converts out of both the studemts and the people close to them. Once they realize how spiritual and difficult itis to make good pots, they should have a greater appreciation forthe work that the rest of try so hard to perfect. Encourage people to use the pots they buy and get them to realize that food books and tastes better when served in handmade dishes. I'd be more than willing to discuss ideas on how to raise our public profile. Having said all this 'm going to ask mentbers to help us fill some Committees that need help. Rachelle has done @ great job with the website and we have been talking about expanding it lo promote us to the global community. If anyone knows Dreamweaver or HTML it would help, We may be able to assist with Dreamweaver training. Membership could also use another body. Someone who would be willing to keep ontop of all the literature needed to solicit new members would help Ronna out. She’s got no problem with keeping track of us, bur it's a litle too much to go and find new members. Our 50" anniversary is coming up in 2005 and now is the time to start the planning. We have a great catalyst in this milestone to promote what we do. I would like to sec a really hig project connected to this, which means a lot of help and volunteer hours. Nothing has been firmly planned so this would be getting in on the ground level. There are several grants to help fund these activities. We need someone to prepare the applications. You wouldn't need to be a board member to volunteer for these positions. A willingness to purticipite and a caring for our craft are a preat start. The Board of Directors could use a few more bodies as well. We are currently running on a skeleton crew. If you have some good Ideas and a few hours each week to donate we could use the help. [have some ideas for new committees but can't discuss them here without running them past the Board first. I°d like to see the Board grow back into the active, progressive organization that it has been several times in the past. If you have any ideas on something that would be beneficial to the Guild and would be willing to put in a little time to help organize it, then contact one of the Board members and we will do our best to support the idea. Happy pots to you all Jim Stamper President