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| Springtime in Northeast Oklahoma 9x12 oil on linen panel |
There have been two board meetings since the first of the year and last week I sucessfully got out the first edition of the newsletter. That all is not a problem at all and I think everyone was quite happy with the newsletter. The issue are the board meetings, in particular the last one. We had a discussion on a project that we've done for about three years now, the first one I was a part of. It was a film project with students from a local high school where the students make films about artists and they're posted on YouTube. I loved mine but it's a film that I must promote myself from their YouTube channel. Our organization funded the projects, well, not really funded but supported financially and it has gotten out of hand money wise, money we, as a group really don't have. Oh, we want to support the students and the program and want to do the films but one of our art members has facilitated the project, setting it up to where WE, the group actually pay the students and I have a problem with that. The thing is a class project and should not be a "paid" project. At the last board meeting, after lots of discussion I made a motion that we not support the project financially for the year 2021, but that if the students needed people to interview and make films then by all means we are there, just not monetarily. But truly, the last year the person faciltating the project could NOT even get participants. She had to beg and plead people to send in their applications so the teacher (if the teacher was even choosing) could choose the next subjects.
Everyone, EVERYONE in that meeting voted to accept my motion, there were NO nays, not a one. Since the board meeting one of the board members went back to the project creator and told her I WAS THE ONE who made the motion and that we were not going to back the project again. The proverbial S**T hit the fan this week. OH MY GOSH, now the person who went tattling is planning on coming back to the next meeting and having us RESCEND the vote and vote again, that she has more than 2/3 of the board on her side, all being prompted by the offended creator of the project. I really doubt that is true but we will see. The problem with that little scenario is that our president went to the teacher and told him everything, every email, that has taken place and guess what, he doesn't want the crazy either. He told the president that he wouldn't take a million dollars to do the project with us anymore. So, the rescend the motion, re-vote and all the hoopla is a moot point. It is done, finished, over!
Then this morning I saw on Facebook that the creator of the project, a person of which I am in two groups with, has unfriended me. Really, I don't care but GOOD GRIEF! Let's be vindictive why don't we. She is taking this all so personally and the bottom line is that WE DON'T HAVE THE MONEY as a group to continue doing the project. There are accusations that the treasurer has stolen some of the donated money (we have donators for the project sometime) and that is going to go over like a lead balloon in the next meeting. If that happened it is possible that it is just a coding mistake, easily fixed but truly, not that many people have donated money to the project. We could possibly have the treasurer, president, vice president and me, newsletter editor walk out the door. And, now that our organization is a 501C3 or 5013C organization we could have problems with all that. It has taken a terrible turn and frankly I don't need it. I am voluntering my time as is everyone on the board to make this 90 year old organization do what it is intended, bring art to the world, share art. It is not a self-promoting group, we are not going to feed these egos that seem to prevail in the art world.
I am just going to paint and try to ignore the stupidity of all this crap. Please enjoy my paintings and ignore my ramble that I had to get off my chest so I COULD paint!
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