AGM
The 2018 Annual General Meeting of the Ku-ring-gai Art Society was held in Turramurra on the 5th March 2019
The meeting was well attended this year and also featured a lively and creative demonstration by one of our members, Kobie Bosch. (see separate news feature report)
Incoming President..
Our outgoing president, Charmaine Philips, delivered her annual report, (attached and printed below), and was well acknowledged and thanked for her outstanding service to the society in the past 3 years by a very appreciative audience.
And Charmaine’s final act as “El Presidento” -“M” , was to appoint Robyne Berling as “Life Member of the Society” in appreciation of her extensive and wonderful contribution to the Society over many years as Exhibitions Manager.
There followed the formal proceedings of of the previous committee stepping down, and a new committee being dutifully elected and installed.
.. a little Presidential banter.. now here is how it works Liz..
Our new President, Elizabeth Harriott, took the microphone and thanked the Society for the privilege of being President of such a wonderful Art Society.
Elizabeth Harriott
President Charmaine’s 2018 AGM Report.
March 5th, 2019.
2018-2019 Presidents report.
Welcome everyone to the 2018-2019 Annual General Meeting.
Firstly, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all Members of KAS for making 2018 another successful year.
It has been an absolute pleasure to have held the role of President for the past 3 years, which have gone very quickly I might add, must have been having a good time!
Although I would be more than happy to continue the Constitution states that the President hand over after 3 years. I am very happy to hand over to Liz Harriott (if elected unchallenged) and am confident that the KAS will be in very good hands under her Presidency.
Working with such a dedicated team on the Committee and having the backing and support of those Members in auxiliary roles has made the experience (note I didn’t call it a JOB) most enjoyable and satisfying.
Starting at the end so to speak we are now the fortunate owners of a very slick new Website as you will all be aware.
After researching other avenues, Bryan Freer’s son Shane whose Company Bright Bird Media was awarded the contract at the end of last year to build our new website at a cost of $5,000. Due to many hours extra work and complexities involved an additional $1600 was approved by the Committee.
Shane, has managed our old website for several years and with the assistance of Bryan and an intimate knowledge of how the Ku-ring-gai Art Society is run, was the obvious choice to build this new website.
He has worked tirelessly over the Xmas break to deliver a fresh, easily navigable and interactive website for KAS. Of course, there are teething problems and many things to learn and refine but this is all happening in an orderly manner with very pertinent input from specific Members where necessary.
Eventually we intend having an on-line Exhibition Entry form, but more research needs to be done so as an appropriate and easy to use form is chosen.
I would like all members to feel comfortable using the website so please feel free to comment on any aspect that you think may need attention.
Thank you Shane and Bryan, you are doing a wonderful job.
Exhibitions.
Once again, our 3 exhibitions have been a great success with many paintings sold and positive comments regarding the high standard displayed.
In all we sold 153 paintings for a total of $94,655.
Thank you to Robyne Berling and her team who always present a beautifully hung Exhibition. This is a huge job and they are to be congratulated.
Our thanks go to the St Ives Village Management for their continued support and assistance especially on Awards night and Meet the Artists evenings at the Spring and Autumn Exhibitions.
Our raffle painting “Cox’s River Reserve “was generously donated by Baith Aynsley- Lewis and the raffle money of $835 was topped up to $1000 and donated to the Art Gallery of NSW to help with the purchase of the X-ray Fluorescence spectrometer. A cause we supported in 2017 following our visit to the Conservation Department.
$1000 was also donated to Drought relief.
The Awards Exhibition in July was judged by Matilda Michell and Patrick Shirvington and the Margaret Wills Golden Jubilee Award for Best in Show was won by Geoff Buckle for “Old Bungle Gum “.
Geoff’s painting was sent via email to all our Sponsors wishing them a Merry Christmas.
Matilda also attended the Awards Ceremony and was able to present some prizes.
The Honorable Mr Paul Fletcher MP chose a painting “Just don’t think about it “by Linda Joyce for his Christmas card.
We also had representatives from the Wills, Gomes and Irwin Families who along with the Ku-ring-gai Council are our main Sponsors.
The Mayor Jennifer Anderson purchased a painting for Council by Eva Barry titled “First day of creation” and the Silver Jubilee award was won by Tony McClure for “Bush walking Ku-ring-gai”.
KAS thanks all our sponsors most sincerely for their generous support.
Congratulations go to all new Exhibiting Members, we are thrilled to have you on board and look forward to displaying and selling your work this year.
Welcome to all the new Social Members and I encourage you to come to our General meetings so as we can get to know you, and to apply for Exhibiting status when you feel confident.
I will now mention and thank all the following Members who are on the Committee and those who make up the support team.
Firstly, the Committee. My sincere thanks go to a great team.
Jan HJ our Secretary for the past 12 years does an amazing job despite working full time.
As well as setting the agenda for all the meetings she handles all the mail outs both e and snail and keeps Members well informed of relevant events. Jan has also been honoured as the KAS artist showcased in CASS Exhibition.
Liz Harriott and Thomi Graham our 2 VPs who support me and are responsible for organising the sponsors for the Awards Exhibition.
Liz also assists with judging the St Art Competition which KAS sponsors each year and
Thomi also writes up the Guest speaker presentation at each General meeting.
Susan Smart our Minutes Secretary who keeps the records straight and knows the Constitution backwards. Last September, Susan was nominated by KAS and honoured with a Lions Club of Pymble services award for Services to the Community.
Caroline Oesterheld our Treasurer, keeps us honest and our finances up to date and makes sure all payments to artists are correct and prompt.
Robyne Berling as our Exhibition Manager who as mentioned previously curates all 3 Exhibitions and with her team ensures that everything is done to provide all Exhibiting artists with equal exposure.
Daria Hahn our Selection Manager who is responsible for making sure the high standard of the art exhibited is maintained. Daria is non-judgmental diplomatic and very helpful to all entrants, giving good advice and feedback as necessary.
David Hammersley who has been our property Manager for 2 years and is stepping down now for medical reasons. David has done an exceptional job, getting the banners organised for the Exhibitions, lighting the Gallery and making sure the grog is topped up.
Lana Leigh Lombard also a full-time worker and mother of young boys, collates your Newsletter and gets it out to you each month. Her creativity and sense of humour knows no bounds when asked for.
Now I would like to thank the following Members who constitute the Support group without whom the KAS would come to a grinding halt.
Once again, I thank them most sincerely for carrying out myriad tasks throughout the year.
Kobi Bosch roster coordinator for all the Exhibitions.
Sadhana Desai Social media and Library assistant.
Rosemary Ombler and Diana Dean Library Managers.
Diana Hallows, Veronica Turner and Drini Quinn Suppers.
Geoff Buckle, property assistant.
Anne Carpenter workshop Co-ordinator and her team of assistants, Barbara Lions and Chris Williams.
Pru Finlay will also be helping with workshops this year.
Our 7 workshops last year were diverse and well attended with an overall profit of $400.
Bryan Freer our Webmaster who as mentioned before is on a steep learning curve with the new website and assists Robyne Berling with Exhibition admin.
Suzanne Lane, also Robyn’s trusty exhibition assistant for many years.
Maurice Kelly our in-house photographer.
Harry Monty who has been Membership Secretary for at least 5 years and has done a phenomenal job learning new methods of storing data and has mastered the intricacies of the new website in regards to Membership. Harry is also stepping down this year and will mentor our new Membership Secretary Angela Ferrera till she is familiar with the new system. Thank-you Harry very much.
Sylvia Davies organises the canapes for the “Meet the Artist “evening at both the Autumn and Spring Exhibitions at the SIVSC and always delights in her colourful outfits.
Bill Filson our AV expert who also sets up the equipment for the Guest Speaker at General Meetings.
Jan Brassil and Louise Surmon have been working to sort out the archival material with a view to having it accepted by the State Library.
Exhibition selection committee Melinda Berliner, Yvonne Langshaw, Linda Joyce and Diana Hallows who all assist Daria Hahn at Exhibition intake.
Dee Jackson our CASS representative who along with 3 other members opened their homes last October for the Open Studio Month.
There are many members (and partners) to thank who help hang and assist at exhibition intake and those who help out at General meetings to set up and clear away. When everyone plays a part no matter how small it is very much appreciated.
We have had a varied selection of Guest speakers in 2018 and they have all been enjoyed immensely, many have then gone on to conduct a workshop for us.
Once again, my thanks go to everyone for making my 3 years as President a breeze.
One last very pleasurable duty to perform.
We are very happy to bestow Life Membership to our hard-working long-time dedicated Member Robyne Berling. Congratulations Robyne.
The Committee will now step down and allow new elections to take place.
