FREDERICK HORSMAN VARLEY

ART GALLERY OF MARKHAM BOARD

TOWN OF MARKHAM

York Room

May 12, 2003 - 4:00 P.M.

MINUTES

Attendance:

Members	Staff
Stewart Coxford, Chairman	John Ryerson, Director
Howard Back	Sharon Gaum-Kuchar, Curator
Karen Chadwick	Vicky Choy, Volunteer Coordinator
Jennifer Deacon	Judi Kosch, Committee Secretary
Patti Loveland	Barb Roth, Director
Brent Mazelow	Jim Sales, Commissioner
Bob McCulloch	Regrets
Mary Pan	Michael Chortyk
Bill Pickering, Vice-Chairman	Councillor Joe Virgilio
Brian Roman
Michael Rothe
Donald Hindson
Stan Neal
Regional Councillor Tony Wong (5:20 pm)

The meeting of The Frederick Horsman Varley Art Gallery Board convened at the hour of 4:03 p.m. with Stewart Coxford presiding as Chairman.

1. ADOPTION OF THE MINUTES OF THE FREDERICK

HORSMAN VARLEY ART GALLERY OF MARKHAM BOARD

MEETING HELD ON MARCH 31, 2003

Moved by Don Hindson

Seconded by Patti Loveland

THAT THE MINUTES OF THE FREDERICK HORSMAN VARLEY ART GALLERY OF MARKHAM BOARD MEETING HELD ON MARCH 31, 2003, BE ADOPTED AS AMENDED.

CARRIED

2. CHAIRMAN’S OPENING REMARKS

a) Chairman Coxford thanked all those members who attended both the recent exhibit – All About Water” and the Art Auction. They were both very successful events!

b) 2004 budget process and strategic plan – deferred to June meeting.

3. BUSINESS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

a) Gallery Print – Chairman Coxford advised that the 50 prints are done and are in safekeeping at the Gallery. The Chairman advised he is in receipt of a thank you note from D. McClure and he has responded back. 25 of the prints have a mat and 25 are without a mat. There was general discussion on who potential recipients should be and what venue would be appropriate for presentation of the prints. It was agreed that the Chairman would proceed with the following potential recipients: Mayor Cousens, Bill Withrow, Fred Schaeffer, Esther Beaupre, Ruth Redelmeier; J. Markson and Chris Varley.

b) Meeting with Committee chairmen to discuss priorities – deferred to June meeting.

4. NEW BUSINESS

a) Director’s report: J. Ryerson expressed his thanks to the members and volunteers for their work on the Auction. He mentioned that participation in the March-break activities was 20% higher; hours of operation have been changed – open 6 days instead of 5 and open all of July and August then switch back to winter hours in the fall; with respect to being open on holidays – he will be guided by the BIA; entrance fees are to remain in effect; has met with Minister Tsubouchi who is quite supportive of the restoration of the McKay House and will be touring the House with him along with the Chair of the Heritage Foundation and the Mayor; he advised that S. Swayze is working on the application to the Trillium Foundation for a grant to assist in the restoration work; has met with William Ho, who is a brush artist at the AGO, to build on relations with the Chinese community in Markham. A suggestion was made to possibly have the housing industry involved in the restoration efforts through donations; this project is an important one and should proceed.

b) Curator’s report: S. Gaum-Kuchar gave an overview on the Ontario Society of Artists show with its emphasis on the International Year of Water; the William St. Thomas Smith on June 12 also has a marine theme; York Region Juried Exhibition – 3 jurors are confirmed and confident of an even larger turnout this year. She advised that the Civic Centre enhancement is almost in place – pieces of work will be on display throughout the Civic Centre and at other Town-owned facilities across Markham. The International Stone Sculpture Symposium is proceeding and will be able to report further on progress at the June meeting. It is with regret that she advised the acquisitions of both a Harris and Riopelle have been retracted by the owners and will not now be donated to the Gallery.

5. COMMITTEE REPORTS

a) Operational Committee – H. Back advised the Committee did not meet in April; he has just received the financial statements for the first quarter from the Town – numbers are down. There was general discussion on where monies go that were raised by the Gallery at the recent Auction – they go into the Town coffers with a portion being forward to the Foundation at a later date.

b) Development Committee – J. Deacon briefly reviewed the ongoing plans for the restoration of the McKay house; there has been a meeting with Capital Assets along with an architect to get an estimate on necessary repairs; an assessment of the floor tile in the basement in the House along with the blown-in insulation is being carried out to ascertain if there is any toxicity. Jennifer invited any members out to the House on May 14 to help to do a yard clean-up of the site; she also advised that an Event Planner has been in to look at the House as a potential to hold special events, i.e. weddings, etc.

c) Volunteer Committee – V. Choy reviewed the success of the Auction and called on all Members to let her know of any concerns with respect to the evening event, i.e. venue, food, etc. to ensure further improvements could be made for the next event. Vicky called on everyone to come to the May 20^th Volunteer appreciation night; the Buffalo excursion is going forward but the Montreal trip is cancelled; there is also an excursion being planned to the AGO. It was agreed that a suitably worded plaque be placed under the recently acquired watercolour by Varley which is being dedicated to the efforts of the volunteers.

d) Program Committee – B. Pickering gave a presentation on the progress of the ISSS project; 70 applications have been received from around the world to participate in this initiative next year which is set to coincide with the Unionville Festival; Councillors Virgilio and Shapero are on a sub-committee that has met twice to deal with this project; it is a tremendous fund-raising event which will be managed by ECHO. Regional Councillor Wong expressed concerns relative to the fundraising capabilities of ECHO and the Council’s desire to see this project go forward. Bill explained there might be the necessity to call a meeting of the Program and Art Committees. He asked B. Mazelow for an update on the Innuit collection and was informed that a meeting is yet to take place between the Curator and the donor. Brent agreed to call Bill when further information was available.

6. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next regular meeting of the Art Gallery Board is scheduled for:

MONDAY, JUNE 16, 2003, AT 4:00 p.m. IN THE YORK ROOM AT THE MARKHAM CIVIC CENTRE.

7. ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 6:00 p.m.

Q:\MINUTES\ARTGALL\Art030512.doc