AiA Co-op Information

Initial starting point from AiA:

• Keep our core shows in the 444 Gallery – Outside the Co-op
  • Springtime Exhibition
  • Paint & Write the Town
  • Something Red
• Outside the Box is not included in the Co-op
• Will need to create a Co-op Committee to organize/run the Co-op (4-5 people)
• Would need to hang the shows – with a hanging sub-committee
• Establish the shows/focus, including shows such as:
  • Featured artists – May have more space for a featured artist
  • Working with retirement homes for education/show
  • Veteran Show
  • Theme or Group shows rotated with Consignment shows
• Rotate the artwork so artists have balanced access
• May want to write a grant to initially help support

Co-op Basic Information

• Organizing documents are being reviewed
• Everything is subject to change as we create and refine these documents
• All members are expected to work on committees or provide support in some way
• Dues are expected to be collected via AiA Membership
• We would like to get a 6 month commitment from artists

Fee Structure – Subject to change

Note that the above fees are for the AiA Co-op membership, which is in addition to the AiA Membership. For example, the standard AiA Membership is $40 annually. This fee will be broken up into monthly and 6-month increments for the billing. See the Membership page for more specifics. For instance, a $35 AiA Co-op monthly fee will show up as an AiA Co-op Membership monthly fee of $38.50 ($35.00 as Co-op, and $3.50 for the monthly portion of the AiA standard Membership of $40 per year). Note that the monthly memberships have an initial combined first and last month payment per the AiA Operations Agreement, so are higher (doubled).

Relationship with Elsinore – Subject to change

Elsinore

• Will collect sales
• Will make payments to Artists minus commission
• Will report Artist income to IRS
• Will report sales information to AiA/Co-op
• Will stand in for gallery sitters when not available
• Will provide advertising
• Will maintain a set of web pages for the AiA Co-op for displaying artwork and artist profiles

AiA Co-op

• Will collect Artist Fees
• Will make payments to Elsinore for gallery space
• Will organize and hang artwork
• Will provide gallery sitters
• Will provide commission % details to Elsinore
• Will provide advertising and signage information to Elsinore
• Will provide inventory updates and images for website and sales management

Committees and Responsibilities

• Curatorial Planning Committee
  Shall be responsible for recommending to the Members for approval an annual list of all regular and special exhibits
• Public Relations/Media Committee
  Shall be responsible for generating PR/Media opportunities, advertising, marketing, website management and signage for the Cooperative
• Curating Committee
  Shall be responsible for curating the gallery and hanging the artwork
• Reception Committee
  Shall work with the Curatorial Planning Committee & Members to ensure receptions are held for regular and featured artists exhibitions
• Membership Committee
  This committee shall be responsible for establishing and maintaining application forms for Memberships and Consignment and reviewing applications
• Work Scheduler Coordinator
  This person shall be responsible for managing the monthly gallery sitting calendar for the AiA Co-op
• Basic Operations/Supplies
  This committee ensures that the gallery has basic supplies purchased and also monitors the gallery to see that maintenance of the gallery is brought to the Membership’s attention and that once agreed upon, schedules completion of that maintenance.
  

Frequently Asked Questions

• Do you need to be a member of AiA to join the co-op?
  – Yes and No
  • When you apply for membership into the AiA Artists Co-op, you will automatically also become a member of AiA.
  • The co-op fees also pay for the AiA Membership fees.
  • You do not need to already be a member of AiA to apply/join the AiA Artist Co-op.
  • All members of the Co-op are a part of AiA, but not all AiA Members are a part of the co-op.
• Do you need to be juried into the Co-op?
  – Yes, there will be a committee to review applications
  • You can submit your application for as many mediums as you like, all at the same time as long as you also submit images of each medium in the application. It does not have to be one at a time.
  • It is only if you submitted for some mediums and wanted to add another that  you would need to submit a new application for the new medium or mediums.
• How long can you show artwork?
  – As long as you would like and you are a member in good standing of the AiA Co-op.
  – There may be themed or group exhibitions.
• Is there rotation of the Artwork?
  – Artwork will be rehung each month by hanging committee
  – Artists responsible for changing their artwork
  – Limit artwork to 3 months before changing it out
• How about 444 Gallery, the existing gallery for shows?
  – It is outside Co-op – for existing shows (P&WTT, Something Red, Springtime Exhibition and other shows, and Elsinore shows)
• There is an existing Watercolor Society show. What happens to that?
  – We need to move out of the main gallery for the Watercolor Society Exhibition in October. Our monthly fees are actually amortized over 12 months for the 11 months of actual use to make the recurring billing simpler.
• That is the time commitment for gallery sitting?
  – Target ~8-12 hour. Depends on the number of sitting co-op members.
• Do we need Insurance?
  – All exhibiting artists (Member, Consignees and Special Exhibit Guest Artists) are expected to insure their art against damage, theft or loss. You may self-insure.
• Is the parking for the gallery sitter?
  There is no dedicated worker Parking. The Parkade is available and there is no time limit – 2 floors. Wells Fargo Bank is available after hours. There is a Limit of 3 hours for street parking, except Sundays, so move your car to another block. A space in the back of Elsinore may be available for AiA Sitter? Check with Brent.
• Is there a computer available in the Gallery?
  – Brent will have a laptop available to assist with gallery and co-op committee tasks.
• How many artists are we looking for to be in the co-op?
  – ~20-26 artists. We are working on refining that number. We will keep a waiting list of approved artists. We want to make sure that each co-op artist has adequate space to display artwork.
• When do we want to launch the co-op?
  – We are expecting a soft launch around March.
• What happens to the Gallery memberships?
  – They will continue. Artists in the co-op and those not in the co-op can continue to have a Gallery page on the AiA Website. The AiA Co-op members will have a separate set of web pages designated specifically for the AiA Co-op to advertise/sell the artwork in the co-op.
• What happens to an AiA Membership that is paid ahead for months?
  – A refund will be issued for the unused portion of the AiA Membership when an Artist becomes a member of the AiA Co-op. For example, for a member that has purchased an annual membership for $40, but has only been a member for 6 months of the term of membership (1/2), a refund of $20.00 will be issued to the member and their new membership as an AiA Co-op member will start. A member of the AiA Co-op may pay for an AiA Co-op membership on a monthly or 6-month basis.
• How about websites – where will the AiA Co-op live on the web?
  – A new domain name (something like AiAcoop.com) will be created and point to the Elsinore hosted AiA Co-op pages where the items for sale will reside (The external AiA Co-op facing interface). The existing AiA Website will remain largely remain unchanged, except for the AiA Co-op information, scheduling, and membership information (the internal facing AiA Co-op information/management). There will be links from the AiA Website (artistsinaction.org) that will point to the AiA Co-op web pages on the Elsinore website.
• What about the AiA Co-op committees?
  – There are multiple committees in the AiA Co-op to support the operations of the co-op.
  • Members are expected to be on one of the committees, depending on their abilities/talents.
  • You must be accepted into the AiA Co-op to serve on one of the committees. One can rotate from one to a different committee after a set amount of time for get a change of pace and not get complacent. This allows members to learn new skills and to not become complacent.
• All members of the Co-op are a part of AiA, but not all AiA Members are a part of the co-op.

AiA Co-op Next Steps

• Organizing Meeting
  – A group of members interested in helping run the co-op will be formed
  – A meeting will be held in early December to review and refine organizing documents
  – Elsinore will be part of the review process
• Documents will be provided for comment, feedback and finalizing
• Agreements will be made with Elsinore to solidify the relationship
• We will target to initiate the Co-op in the 1^st quarter or 2023
• Test out the forms and scheduling. For the test schedule, click here: https://signup.com/go/uoBNSEq

Draft AiA Co-op Operating Agreement

This is a working document in a very rough state. It has not been reviewed nor approved!

Draft AiA Co-op Member Agreement

This is a working document in a very rough state. It has not been reviewed nor approved!