The Association of Sculptors of Victoria is an inclusive, not-for-profit collective of contemporary artists whose purpose is to inspire,stimulate and advance the appreciation, creation, and exploration of three-dimensional art in society.

President's Message September 2008

International Encounters

I first spotted the young couple when I stood up and stretched my back. Digging with my spade to level the ground to install a sculpture takes its toll. They were looking at the details of one in the other row; he touching, she talking. We had been setting up the show under leaden skies with the odd spot of rain and keeping the steady trickle of visitors, who wanted to see the tulips and buy some bulbs, entertained; those who ventured among the sculptures that is. By the time we had finished the one we were working on the couple had made it to the end of one row and turned to come up the other. My glances followed their progress; they were clearly engrossed.

We met as I scraped the earth off my spade, puffed from digging. In answer to my, what I believed to be, rhetorical question as to whether they were enjoying the sculptures they both grinned and replied in the affirmative. ‘Great, wonderful’, were their replies, ‘such variety’.

Two young Americans from New York here on working visas, living in Chelsea by the beach up in the hills for the day, just called in to Tesselaar out of interest and found sculptures. She, Hilary (no, not that one) is a personal trainer, dressed as such in track suit, trainers and beanie; he, Aaron, a mechanical engineer dressed, well, like a mechanical engineer. He designs machines for a company that also has a foundry in which car parts and such-like are cast by the million. They also cast sculptures. These, usually one-offs, are more interesting and challenging, he said, and sometimes pushes their expertise to the limits unlike the routine of car parts; ‘drives them mad’, were the words he used but he said it with such a beaming smile that I knew he enjoyed the work.

They told me of Storm King, a sculpture park in New York State. I remarked that its title had a whiff of Disney about it but was assured of its superior credentials. Five hundred acres is home to hundreds of permanent outdoor sculptures collected since World War 2 they told me. Americans predominate of course but other big names are represented too including Calder, Moore, Noguchi and Goldsworthy; so many you cannot see them all in a day and you would definitely need meal breaks.

We talked of other big sculpture parks. Yorkshire, with its own particularly English flavour, was mentioned and, as you might expect in this Olympic year, so was China. The Changchun Sculpture Park is home to a similar collection of modernism, a little post-modernism and with a heavy dose of social realism thrown in. We agreed that these proportions of this combination would change, no doubt, as does China but thought it would be a long time before the distinctive flavour of sculpture parks would be overcome by the march of homogenisation.

I explained our purpose at Tesselaar and told Hilary and Aaron of the McClelland Sculpture Park. They assured me they will take their New York visitors there in November.

Who would have thought that a mechanical engineer and a personal trainer from the other side of the world and a puffing old man with a spade could be connected by sculpture, but then, you see, the most important characteristic of sculpture, like all the arts, is its ability to unify.

John Wooller President

ASV Diary Dates

Meetings are held in the Boroondara Community Arts Room, rear 360 Burwood Road, Hawthorn and start at 7:30pm.
1st September to 4th October
Annual Exhibition at Montsalvat
11th September to 8th October
Tesselaar Sculpture Prize exhibition.
15th October
Marija Patterson has kindly agreed to talk about her work. We'll set to and vote on the new constitution. Notice of this has been sent to members separately and some discussion put onto the news blog. As well as this there is further discussion in this newsletter.
12th November
This will be our AGM. Normally we call for nominations in the September newsletter – however this will be done after the October 15 meeting this year.
Please come and help set our path for the coming year.
Christmas party
Yes we will party! On Sunday 7th December at Diana and Tim Kervin's house in Hurstbridge.

Minority Report on the Proposed Constitution

A constitution is one of the important policy documents an organisation holds. So a change to the constitution needs to be regarded in the light of our raison d'être The proposed constitution that has been put before the members was only agreed upon after I left the constitution sub-committee. There is such a difference of opinion between my view of the ASV and that of the rest of the committee that there was no resolution or compromise possible. So for what it is worth - here is my commentary on the proposed constitution.

Membership

My contention is that to change the membership of the ASV from being an association of sculptors to an association of people interested in sculpture is such a radical change as to make it a different organisation. For example the change would make our website an invasion of privacy for non-sculptor members. Similarly enlarging the membership base is likely to exacerbate rather than ameliorate our problems in gaining a quorum at meetings. I made a proposal for the membership structure – it's on the Sculpere blog site.

Accountability

In general the constitution is very light on providing for accountability. This is something which we now have an opportunity to address.

I would like to move that the annual report (including the financial report and the president's report) of the association be sent out or otherwise (e.g. through the website) made available to members three weeks prior to the AGM

since the annual exhibition falls between the end of the financial year and the annual general meeting there is the possibility that a proper report would not be made until 18 months after the event. So I think it reasonable that for each exhibition and other major event the members should receive/have made available a full report including a financial analysis. This would not be particularly difficult to do if we develop a proforma for each event.

Governance

In general, annual elections and lots of elected officer bearers is a façade of democracy – in actual fact we have volunteers who offer to undertake tasks and they are “declared elected”. We have become so obsessed with filling the executive functions that we have lost sight of the policy decisions that need to be made in every organisation. Policy is made on the run by the volunteers without reference to either the membership – or the bigger picture of the mission statement of the ASV. If we are revising our constitution let's take a good look at governance and be creative about how we balance the technicalities of getting the work done against the need to keep our policy and motivation in front of us. I think we might consider a new way of running our organisation:

we could elect a board of three or five individuals to manage policy

that board would then appoint staff/systems/sub-committees/volunteers to undertake the tasks of running the association.

The board would be answerable to the members in the reporting system outlined above and at general meetings throughout the year. They could serve a three year term, with an option to serve longer if re-elected.

We would then need to define carefully what administrative standards we need – but taking time to think about this is an advantage: in the proposed constitution no mention has been made of the work of the membership officer. Few people in fact realise how much work is done by that officer or how important this work is to the running of the ASV. I don't say this is the only or even the best way of organising ourselves but it has the advantage that we put policy in the hands of elected sculptors and give greater flexibility in how we achieve the administration of the activities. I do believe that this is worthy of discussion.

Committee

I believe the proposed constitution is going to run into trouble here. The Associations Incorporation Act allows for the Public Officer to hold another position but says that a member may only nominate for one position on the committee – this would indicate that the clause allowing committee members to hold more than one position is invalid. If we are going to make a revision then we should look at the whole governance issue – as above – and discuss our plans with the relevant authorities and Arts Law.

Quorum

One of the reasons the ASV set about to change the constitution was to reduce the quorum required at general meetings – because we were having so much trouble achieving the numbers. At the moment the constitution states:

Eleven members personally present or 25% of membership members personally present whichever is the greater (being members entitled under these rules to vote at a general meeting) constitute a quorum for the transaction of the business of a general meeting.

What with having such a large country membership this is a fairly onerous requirement for a normal business meeting or AGM. On the other hand there is no separate quorum given for special resolutions such as amending the constitution in either the current or the proposed constitution. I suggest we reduce the quorum required for normal business and retain the more rigorous quorum for special resolutions where wider policy considerations are at stake.

Conflict Resolution

The existing constitution allows for an aggrieved member to appeal to a general meeting – I can't imagine the spectacle! So the proposed constitution reduces the right to appealing to a full committee meeting – hardly likely to lead to any resolution other than a resignation. The Associations Incorporation Act model constitution suggests external mediation – a free mediation service is offered by the Disputes Settlement Centre – so I believe this is an appropriate clause for us to adopt.

This AGM

I would like to move that membership fees be reduced by $15 per annum for those members receiving their newsletter via email. I think the current subscription rate is too high in the light of the directive given by the members some years ago that they preferred exhibition fees to rise rather than annual fees – a sort of user pays scenario. The treasurer said that this measure would “cost” the ASV $1,000. That $1,000 or thereabouts has been saved by the change to electronic distribution of the newsletter – if all the members elect to go back to postal delivery we can't deny it to them and then where is the $1,000? The distribution of the $1,000 is a policy decision that has never been debated at committee or general meeting level – hence my proposal.

Jenny Rickards

03 9836 2738

The Annual Exhibition 2008












The Annual Exhibition is still on at Montsalvat, and has been well supported by sculptors sitting the show and running demonstrations at weekends. Naturally enough the people's choice vote has yet to be counted. Prizes awarded at the opening were the Margaret Gunnersen and William Hoggan Thomas Award and Prize, the Andor Meszaros Memorial Medallion and Prize and the new ASV Prize. As of 28th September three works have been sold.

































Tesselaar Sculpture Prize Awarded



The Association congratulates its president, John Wooller, on being announced at the opening of 'Sculpture among the Tulips' on Sunday, 21 September as the inaugural winner of the $5,000 acquisitive Tesselaar Sculpture Prize. The judge, respected Australian sculptor Ernst Fries, also acknowledged the sculptures of Dean Bowen and ASV member Chris Vassallo as joint runners-up in the Prize. Ernst Fries agreed to his judging deliberations being published in this edition of the newsletter for your interest. 'Sculpture among the Tulips' has proven to be a huge success with the general viewing public who have flocked to the Tesselaar Tulip Festival in the Dandenongs in their many thousands. The People's Choice Award is also very popular among visitors with an enormous number of votes already lodged. There is no doubt that the Tesselaar Sculpture Prize has introduced a new and diverse audience to the world of three dimensional art, and this event is sure to be an annual fixture on the arts calendar. Congratulations to all the exhibiting finalists and to Tesselaar for sponsoring this unique sculpture competition and exhibition. The exhibition of sculptures by 15 ASV members and nine other highly regarded Australian and international sculptors is worth viewing, with the sculptures on display in the unique and colourful landscape setting of abundant blooming tulips. Both the exhibition and Tulip Festival close on Wednesday, 8 October.
Mark Cowie, Exhibition Co-ordinator.
Judge's Comments
A great variety of works are on display in the Tesselaar Sculpture Prize, which really demonstrate the enthusiastic and creative approach by artists to create for an environmental outdoor setting. The Prize is an acquisitive one and the winning sculpture will be permanently displayed in a suitable setting within the gardens of Tesselaar and accessible to the
public. Those facts are a very important force in formulating an opinion about the best and most deserving work in this competition. There are some delightful and sensitive works that address the natural environment, but would be more suitable in a more intimate setting. For example, Maria Coyle’s sculpture Friends is a very interesting and lovable work. It has a nice balance overall and the two figures communicate the feeling of a first encounter, a beginning of a friendship, a desire to come closer in body and spirit. The Water Lilies by Anna Meszaros are a delicate and aesthetic work, but the setting and the reason for it given in the artist’s statement do not work at all. If placed in a pond or on a reflective hard surface it would be a wonderful meditative work. Dean Bowen’s Boy with House and Tree is a wonderful work. It is approachable and witty, full of energy and mysteries. I would have liked to see a larger version of it, which would make a wonderful public sculpture. Craftsmanship is an important part of producing sculpture. Some material and even some forms of expression require a deep understanding of the limitations and its achievable possibilities. But sometimes the demonstration of skills takes over and becomes more important than the artistic expression. Figura by Faustas Sadauskas is one of those works in which exquisite craftsmanship is celebrated above artistic expression. Rudi Jass’s Memory of Water also alludes to similar ambitions, but the welding of stainless steel onto cor-ten steel does not enhance the work at all. There are other interesting and challenging works like Penthouse with a View by Robert Waghorn and Frank Barresi’s Bench Bitch. I wonder whether Robert’s Penthouse with a View is a parody of council planning? Houses being built in a scrambled manner on a council rubbish bin might suggest something of that nature. The Bench Bitch vaguely resembles a dog and is constructed out of left-over steel machine parts. Frank has indeed made a bitch of a seat. Other sculptures like Family Tree, Eggular, The Music of Unheard Souls and Halcyon Intercept are very interesting and worthwhile to look at closely. Grant Finck’s Halcyon Intercept with its entwined soft forms heralds the perfect harmony, which we all desire. The Music of Unheard Souls by Mark Cowie is a harmonious work. The curved interaction with other elements of the work, the elegant gracious composition of straight lines and curves and the inherent three-dimensional quality of it makes it very rewarding in experience and gives plenty of visual enrichment. To be fully appreciated Eggular by Chris Vassallo has to be looked at from all sides. The interaction of the different surfaces produces very interesting vistas and indicates the intention of the artist very clearly. John Wooller’s Family Tree is also a very successful statement. I was taken by its rugged harmony and the use of two different sections of material to express the essence of reproduction. The work shows the love of a family, its growth from its beginning, its dependence on each other and the strength inherent in the recognition of belonging. This strength is not weakened by individual expression and developments. Looked at as a whole it gives a handsome rugged Impression. There could be more said about other sculptures. This is a juried competition and Maudie Palmer of TarraWarra Museum of Art does not select unworthy work. Everyone exhibited must be congratulated on being shown on this occasion. I have chosen two runners-up to the acquisitive award, which are Eggular by Chris Vassallo and Boy with House and Tree by Dean Bowen. The winner of the Inaugural Tesselaar Sculpture Prize is Family Tree by John Wooller.
Ernst Fries

Notes from the September Meeting

Daniele Lamarche-Sarvia gave us a great talk and slide show of her work and her philosophy of art and life. Her website gives a fair idea of the breadth of her practice www.lamarche-sarvia.com. Unfortunately there was no discussion of the proposed constitution at the meeting, although copies of both the existing and proposed constitution were at hand.

Opportunities for Sculptors


Sculpture for the Long paddock has been reported on earlier in this blog: http://sculperenewsletter.blogspot.com/2008/09/artback-sculptures-of-long-paddock.html

Auto Artists at Morningstar Estate.

22-23 November 2008

MORNING STAR ESTATE, MT ELIZA, MORNINGTON PENINSULA

Retina Australia (Vic) invites artists to submit 2D and 3D works of Auto Art for exhibition and sale at the Morning Star Estate, Mt Eliza Retina Australia (Vic) also invites artists to donate unframed 2D and 3D originals or prints for the purpose of selling them in a ‘sealed auction’ with full sale price being kept by Retina Australia (Vic).

Retina Australia (VIC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing scientific research and support to people and families affected by inherited retinal eye degenerative diseases.

PRIZES

Prizes will be noted on the website by the end of August www.carsoftheworld.com.au/art.htm

TIMELINE

Deadline for receiving entries 31 October

address entries to Auto Art Exhibition Committee, c/o Retina Australia(Vic) inc. Ross House, 4th floor, 247 - 251 Flinders Lane. Melbourne 3000

Deadline for receiving donated ‘Sealed Auction’ works - 7 November

Please deliver to Retina Australia (Vic) office - above address. Pleasecall 9650 5088 prior to ensure someone will be there to receive the works

Deliver works Friday 21 November between 12pm and 4pm to Morning Star Estate, 2 Sunnyside Road, Mt Eliza, Victoria

Collect works Sunday 23 November between 4pm and 5pm from Morning Star Estate, 2 Sunnyside Road, Mt Eliza, Victoria

Exhibition Opportunities at Bulleen Art & Garden

Bulleen Art & Garden, 6 Manningham Rd West., Bulleen. www.baag.com.au (go to the gallery & art section)

BAG has a separate gallery space (Bolin Bolin Gallery), specialising in 3 dimensional work, particularly garden sculpture. There is also a shop with unusual local and imported art & handcrafts, and some outdoor display space.

Exhibitions in 2009 - we are interested exhibition proposals for 2009 for solo or group exhibitions. There are no exhibition fees, but a one third commission is taken on sales.

December 2008 We will run a group exhibition before Christmas, with a range of new work which can give ideas for creative gifts, or along a summer theme.

Christmas@Bulleen 5th to 24th December

Or you may have ideas for Christmas gift lines

Send enquiries & proposals to Meredith Plain Gallery Director meredithplain@baag.com.au 94398750 bh

Suzanne Kaldor is inviting members to visit her in her Studio every Sunday afternoon for an inspection, chat and afternoon munch at the next door Café.

EPSOM PARK MORDIALLOC

1/11 Hall Mark Rd at Epsom Tote Heritage Building.

she is looking for members to form a Co-op ------ to run an exhibiting Gallery and an Education Centre.

Her contact Phone number is 9598 4335 mobile 0419591046 Suzanne Kaldor


Spirit of Land Festival

24 -26th October 2008

Sculptors are invited to participate in the Spirit of the Land Art Festival 2008 including the NATIONAL SCULPTURE AWARD with $15,000 in prize money including a $10,000 first prize.

The National Sculpture Award is for art created from recycled or new farm materials and/or elements of the land in a new art form called “ farm art”; the first of its kind in the Australian Art world. Sponsorship by BBP Uranguinty Power, Siemens Ltd and Bilfinger Berger Services – who have widespread interests in Country Australia - is to enhance awareness of the impact of drought in rural communities.

The Arts Festival includes three exhibitions, entitled “ Elements, Expressions and Emotions of our Land” which includes an arts trail and art auction to be held in Lockhart in the heart of the Riverina District of NSW some 70 klms from Wagga Wagga and 90 klms from Albury/ Wodonga.

Information and entry forms can be obtained from http://www.spiritofthelandlockhart.com.au/registration.html


Next January, Khabarovsk in Russia will host the eighth International Ice Sculpture Contest. Information (in Russian) from http://feic.ru.


Report on the Sculpture Forum 3rd September

The forum was attended on behalf of the ASV by John Wooller and Jenny Rickards. This is the second gathering of groups involved in running public sculpture exhibitions and prizes. The topic of this meeting was sustainability. The issue of concern – not so much the environmental sustainability of sculpture practice as the sustainability of the exhibitions themselves. The event was hosted by Toyota and coincided with the opening of their annual sculpture exhibition this year entitled Cryptozoology and the announcement of the Toyota 2008 Community Spirit Artist Travel Award.

Our luncheon speaker was Yvonne von Hartel AM, director of ConnectEast who outlined the selected, construction and placement of the sculptures on Eastlink. Then Carol Atwell, Brecknock Consulting led into the issues of sustainability in terms of the sculptors' input to the major events such as the McClelland and Lempriere Prizes. She also alluded to vandalism, the long term capacity to support prize money and briefly touched on a “green star” rating for sculpture which is likely to be a future consideration.

William Eicholtz gave us the artists' perspective. He indicated the persistence needed to achieve recognition and the costs involved. He reminded the group of the reasons sculptors enter for these prizes with so little chance of reward, and listed the benefits that should accrue to make the effort valuable to the artist. These include adequate publicity and recording of the exhibition, an individual exhibition website capable of fielding discussion, appropriate assistance with transport and installation and acknowledgement as the important part of the show – too often the sponsors get the red carpet treatment while the artists are left out in the cold.

The organisers of the Lempriere Prize and the McClelland Prize then gave us some insights into the strategic changes to their respective events.

This frankness of discussion clearly indicates the value of Savaad Felich's work in bringing the forum together. The next forum will be hosted by Malcolm Thompson best known to me as curator of the Toorak Sculpture Festival.

Jenny Rickards

News from ArtistCareer



The latest e-news from ArtistCareer features Robyn Ayres of ArtsLaw.
Introducing Arts Law
An interview with Robyn Ayres
Arts Law is the national community legal centre for the arts and its in-house lawyers give free legal advice to around 2,500 artists and arts organisations each year. Visual artists make up 35% of the organisation’s clientele.
Executive Director, Robyn Ayres, says that to receive advice a client must be an artist or arts organisation with an arts-related legal problem. But the definition of arts is broad, encompassing such areas as design, media, filmmaking and jewellery, as well as more traditional artforms. If a person requires assistance with a contract or a complex legal problem, they join Arts Law to receive more detailed advice. more
More information can be found at their website: http://www.artslaw.com.au/
or Tel: (02) 9356 2566, Fax: (02) 9358 6475, Toll Free: 1800 221 457

Herring Island Summer Arts Festival 2009

Planning is under way for the 2009 festival. Records of last year's festival can be found on the festival blog site http://hisafnews.blogspot.com and the new program will go onto the main festival website as soon as it is finalised: http://vicnet.net.au/~hisaf. Amongst the improvements for next season are: improved gallery lighting, the faulty hot water service has been removed – so whilst we may have to boil the jug for hot water we won't be worried about burning the place down, the “trolley of doom” is being supplemented with more manageable trolleys to help with carting work to and from the gallery and we are currently investigating the acquisition of some sculpture stands – not enough for all of our exhibition but there should be enough to help out our less able bodied sculptors. The ASV will be exhibiting over Australia Day Weekend – this is BIG! We will run demonstration events, floor talks you name it – and we are pretty much guaranteed hordes of visitors. The ASV dates are: 24th, 25th, 26th January; 31st January, 1st February; and 7th and 8th February. Florence on the Yarra has changed hands so it is doubtful that we can arrange another Gala Preview opening as we did for the 2008 exhibition – however the door isn't closed and it was huge fun, so here's hoping.

Jenny Rickards 9836 2738

Interesting News over the past few weeks



Qdos in Lorne has sent the images for the Sogetsu Ikebana Sculpture Exhibition. And c3 gallery at Abbotsford Convent sent an invitation to their next opening. There is indeed a lot on. Well done everyone!

Membership

This month we welcome Bernie Tarr as a new member.

Are you financial?


Have you renewed your 2008/09 ASV Membership and Records check? Non-financial members will be removed from the ASV website, will not receive Sculpere Newsletters beyond September, and cannot vote at meetings or at exhibitions. If you can't find your renewal notice or do not intend renewing, please email or phone the ASV Membership Secretary Ronit Freedman 03 9816 3282
The results of the meeting on 15th October will be posted on this site - so if you are delaying until then - please keep checking here.

Artist in Residence Opportunity - Nillumbik Shire

Applications for the Laughing Waters Artist-in-Residence 2009 program are now open

Applications must be received by 4pm, 19 September 2008.
Before submitting your application, read the 2009 guidelines here.
To apply for a residency, download the 2009 application form here.

Emerging and established Australian artists and overseas artists, supported by reputable art organisations or institutions, are now invited to apply for a residency of up to three months, between April and November 2009. The residency is an opportunity to live and work in either Birrarung, a heritage mudbrick house, or River Bend, a newly acquired residence with spectacular views of the Yarra River. Individual, joint and group applications will be considered.


Both properties, are situated on protected bushland owned by the State and managed by Parks Victoria. They are both located on Laughing Waters Road, Eltham approximately 30 kilometres east of Melbourne, Australia, with the Yarra River in close proximity.

Artists Residence Program – Birrarung – east sideArtists Residence Program - Birrarung - living roomArtists Residence Program – Birrarung – entrance



The artist-in-residence program is designed to:
 provide the opportunity for contemporary artists to develop their practice in an inspiring natural and cultural environment
 contribute to cultural development within the Shire by providing the local community with access to high quality arts activity and local artists with professional development opportunities
 raise awareness of the residency site and its significance on a local, national and international level
 help conserve the environmental and cultural values of the residency site
 profile the Shire of Nillumbik as a leading arts location in Victoria.


Background information:

Birrarung is a heritage mudbrick dwelling designed in harmony with the natural bush. It was designed and built by landscape designer Gordon Ford and builder Graham Rose in 1970 using organic and recycled materials. Birrarung, and the neighbouring abode Boomerang, which was designed by Alistair Knox are situated on two hectares of protected bushland on Laughing Waters Road, Eltham, Victoria, Australia. The property is located approximately thirty kilometres east of Melbourne with the Yarra River close by.

The buildings have a long association with the art and design community, as they have housed a number of artists over the years. The buildings are an exemplification of the abode construction associated with the post-World War II period in this locality and evoke the Eltham lifestyle by the recycled materials used, the open plan design and the connection with the artistic community.


For further information please contact Catherine Dinkelmann, Cultural Development Officer, on (03) 9433 3126 or email
Catherine.Dinkelmann@nillumbik.vic.gov.au .




Links
Download Files
 Laughing Waters Artist-in-Residence 2009 application form
 Laughing Waters Artist-in-Residence 2009 guidelines

Artback - Sculptures of the Long Paddock


ARTback call for artists


The Long Paddock Committee (LPC) today released the Expression of Interest (EOI) for its ARTback project. ARTback – Sculptures of the Long Paddock will see five large scale public artworks installed at five different sites along the Long Paddock - Cobb Highway Touring Route.

The EOI outlines the budget and location for each of the five sites. Peter McCrabb, President of the LPC said "This is a very exciting opportunity for artists from across Australia and the world. ARTback will be one of the largest outdoor galleries in the world, which will showcase not only the history of the Long Paddock but also the talents of the successful artists. As a collection the winning artworks will be seen by over 100 00 people per year"

Submissions for ARTback close on Friday 10 October 2008. Each site has a corresponding Artist Brief, which needs to be addressed in the response. Once all of the responses have been received, three artists per site will be chosen to develop a design proposal and from there one artist per site will be commissioned.

"The LPC was fortunate to receive funding from the Australian Government via the Australian Tourism and Development Program (ATDP) to make ARTback a reality ." Mr McCrabb said. "Since the LPC's inception in 1999 there has always been a desire to capture the spirit of the Long Paddock in sculpture. ARTback will be a lasting monument to the importance of the Long Paddock, as a traveling stock route, in this area. ARTback also aims to see an increase in tourism to the area of 12.5% by 2010. This would see an increase in tourism dollars of approximately $1.7 million, a huge boost for the region as a whole." Mr McCrabb added.

The public artworks will be installed in June 2009.

For more information visit www.thelongpaddock.com.au

Or contact

Alison McLean

Project Officer

(02) 6993 8110

0429 938 110

info@thelongpaddock.com.au

The Constitution - a Minority Report

The proposed constitution that has been put before the members was only agreed upon after I left the constitution sub-committee. There is such a difference of opinion between my view of the ASV and that of the rest of the committee that there was no resolution or compromise possible.
So for what it is worth - here is my commentary on the proposed constitution.

Membership

I have a counter proposal for clause 3 (Membership) which I would like to put to the members. My contention is that to change the membership of the ASV from being an association of sculptors to an association of people interested in sculpture is such a radical change as to make it a different organisation. For example the change would make our website an invasion of privacy for non-sculptor members. Similarly enlarging the membership base is likely to exacerbate rather than ameliorate our problems in gaining a quorum at meetings.

Accountability

In general the constitution is very light on providing for accountability. This is something which we now have an opportunity to address.

  • I would like to move that the annual report (including the financial report and the president's report) of the association be sent out or otherwise (e.g. through the website) made available to members three weeks prior to the AGM

  • since the annual exhibition falls between the end of the financial year and the annual general meeting there is the possibility that a proper report would not be made until 18 months after the event. So I think it reasonable that for each exhibition and other major event the members should receive/have made available a full report including a financial analysis. This would not be particularly difficult to do if we develop a proforma for each event.

Governance

In general, annual elections and lots of elected officer bearers is a façade of democracy – in actual fact we have volunteers who offer to undertake tasks and they are “declared elected”. We have become so obsessed with filling the executive functions that we have lost sight of the policy decisions that need to be made in every organisation. Policy is made on the run by the volunteers without reference to either the membership – or the bigger picture of the mission statement of the ASV. If we are revising our constitution let's take a good look at governance and be creative about how we balance the technicalities of getting the work done against the need to keep our policy and motivation in front of us. I think we might consider a new way of running our organisation:

  • we could elect a board of, say, three individuals to manage policy

  • those three would then appoint staff/systems/sub-committees/volunteers to undertake the tasks of running the association.

  • The board would be answerable to the members in the reporting system outlined above and at general meetings throughout the year. They could serve a three year term, with an option to serve longer if re-elected.

  • We would then need to define carefully what administrative standards we need – but taking time to think about this is an advantage: in the proposed constitution no mention has been made of the work of the membership officer. Few people in fact realise how much work is done by that officer or how important this work is to the running of the ASV

I don't say this is the only or even the best way of organising ourselves but it has the advantage that we put policy in the hands of elected sculptors and give greater flexibility in how we achieve the administration of the activities. I do believe that this is worthy of discussion.

This AGM

I would like to move that membership fees be reduced by $15 per annum for those members receiving their newsletter via email. I think the current subscription rate is too high in the light of the directive given by the members some years ago that they preferred exhibition fees to rise rather than annual fees – a sort of user pays scenario.

The treasurer said that this measure would “cost” the ASV $1,000. That $1,000 or thereabouts has been saved by the change to electronic distribution of the newsletter – if all the members elect to go back to postal delivery we can't deny it to them and then where is the $1,000? The distribution of the $1,000 is a policy decision that has never been debated at committee or general meeting level – hence my proposal. Let's get it out there.

My Proposed Clause 3

    3. MEMBERSHIP

(1) There shall be two types of Members: Sculptor Member and Associate Member.

(2) Sculptor Membership is open to all natural persons producing sculpture of a professional standard. For the purposes of this constitution sculpture shall be considered to be of professional standard if it has been accepted for exhibition or commission. Sculptor Members may submit work for exhibitions, and shall have voting rights at all General Meetings.

(3) Associate Membership is open to both natural persons and corporations interested in sculpture and supporting the aims of the association, and to prospective sculptor members. Associate Members shall not have voting rights at General Meetings.

(4) Membership shall run concurrent with the Financial Year. Membership shall be continuous subject to approved leave of absence

(5) Membership is not transferable.

(6) Sculptor Member shall include the following categories:

    1. City Member – Members who live in the Melbourne Metropolitan area, as defined by Melbourne telephone STD codes.

    2. Country Member - Members who do not live in the Melbourne metropolitan area, as defined by Melbourne telephone STD codes.

    3. Student Members – Members who are full time Sculpture or Arts Students.

    4. Life Member – Any Member who has paid ten years in advance.

  1. Honorary Life Member – Any Member elected to the position of Honorary Life Member by the Members in General Meeting, in recognition of his/her services to the Association, and who shall be a Member for the term of his/her natural life, without the requirement to pay Membership fees.

  2. Honorary Member – Any Member elected to the position of Honorary Member by the Executive Committee (or board), in recognition of their services to the Association, who shall be a Member for the current Financial Year without the requirement to pay Membership fees.

  3. Any other type of Sculptor Member that the Executive Committee(board) from time to time shall consider appropriate.

  1. Associate Member shall include:

    1. Patron – Any person elected to the position of Patron by the Members in General Meeting, in recognition of his/her financial support or services to the Association, and who shall be a described as a Patron for a term decided by the Members, without the requirement to pay Membership fees.

    2. Friend – any person who wishes to join the association in order to support the purposes and members of the association either by donation or associate membership fee.

This blog permits you to make comments which will appear below the article for others to read. Alternatively you can contact committee members and voice your opinion, or ultimately you can vote either in person at the meetings or by proxy.

Jenny Rickards, 03 9836 2738

Sculpture among the Tulips - Tesselaar Sculpture Prize 2008


An exciting new addition to this year’s famous Tesselaar Tulip Festival will be an exhibition and competition of outdoor sculptures by some of Australia’s finest sculptors.
The Tulip Festival – in Silvan in the Dandenong Ranges ‑ has been well established for over 50 years, and runs for four weeks from mid-September to mid-October. The Festival attracts about 40,000 visitors to the many organised activities and popular events.
An Acquisitive Award of $5,000 is being offered by Tesselaar to the sculptor winning the Inaugural Tesselaar Sculpture Prize. A People’s Choice Award of $500, as voted by visitors to the Festival, will also available. One lucky visitor to the Festival will also be selected to win a voter’s prize.
Organised by Tesselaar and the Association of Sculptors of Victoria, the Tesselaar Sculpture Prize is an exciting new addition to Victoria’s arts calendar.
Rachael Pearce, marketing co-ordinator at Tesselaar, said, “As part of continuing our program of developing the Tulip Festival we asked the Association of Sculptors to assist us in establishing an exhibition, competition and sale of outdoor sculpture. The intention is to grow the prize into a significant annual sculpture event.”
Exhibition co-ordinator, Mark Cowie, said, “This will be a wonderful opportunity for visitors to the Festival to view and appreciate a range of sculptural styles and mediums in a unique and colourful outdoor setting. Visitors will be privileged to view sculptures created by some of Australia’s finest sculptors.”
Ernst Fries, a highly-respected sculptor, will judge the competition. The winner of the Tesselaar Sculpture Prize will be announced during the course of the Festival.
The Tesselaar Tulip Festival will be open each day between 10:00am and 5:00pm, from 11 September to 8 October.
For further information contact:
Rachael Pearce, Marketing Co-ordinator, Tesselaar Direct
9737 7777 / 0414 877 445
rachaelp@tesselaar.net.au
Mark Cowie, Exhibition Co-ordinator, Association of Sculptors of Victoria
5348 5696 / 0429 336 639
markcowie@aussiebroadband.com.au