Past President’s Report I have stepped down as president. The position was proving to take more time than I had. I'm trying to establish a suc- cessful pottery career and it is too difficult to do both. I'd like to thank all the Board who worked with me on those matters that we did get resolved and on others that we helped along towards resolution, It was a great relief to see Keith Rice-Jones step forward and become: the chair. The influx of other board members has also been very encouraging. I'll still be remaining on the Board as Made of Clay chair and feel fortunate to be working with this group. I'm booking forward to working through challenges and feel that something really great is going to come out of all this. Thank you. Jim Stamper Kimcha Leaves the Guild We are sorry to have Kimche Rajkumar leave her position as Gallery Manager and Guild Administrator, We consider our- selves fortunate to have had her through three years of Board evolution and dewel- opment It has not been easy, Faced with challenges of a dinosaur computer system, the unravelling of a convoluted account- ing system and a constantly cash -strapped honzon, she has proven she has strength and ability to deal creatively with reality and initiate necessary changes even if they prove wmpepular. In all situations, she worked for the best interests of the Guild, Gallery and potters. Her effervescent personality has been in- strumental in bringing the Gallery and Guild a long way forward. She could be relied on to be a welcoming face in the Gullery, a strong leader and supporter of her staff and a reliable, helpful and co- operalive resource to the Board. Kimcha has infused the atmosphere of the Gallery with vitality through her own personality and skills. She brought together and honed a loyal and committed staff, volunicer team, and Gallery committee, by recog- nizing and tapping into their multiple and various individual talents to create a Gal- lery that is an inspiring environment, Kimecha leaves February 22 to become Exhibition Co-ordinator at the North Shore Arts Council. We know that she will be an assct to them and we wish her well, Board, PORC March 2003 Family Matters Borrowing from Rohinton Mistry's new novel, families rarely run without sonve lensions and offen encounter times of rela- tive crisis. Our family, the Guild and as part of that the Gallery of BC Ceramics, is at one such point now and as usual it's financial, We have weathered difficulties before and we shall do so this time be- cause, a6 with all farnilies, we believe in ourselves and our relevance in the greater scheme of things. To put things as simply as possible, after months of work from Ron Feieht and Kimcha Rajkumar under the direction of ah accounting firm, we have finally an unravelling and a clearer financial picture of the Guild and Gallery's operation. In essence it indicates we have to raise sone immediate cash through furdraising and tuilor our operation to ensure we work within budget. Jim Stamper is to be credited for keeping things aflowt under such difficult circum- stances capecially with a Board that has suffered unusual attrition for various rea- sons. Jim has co-opted a new influx of really strong people to take us up to the AGM with an interim board. Jim will step aside from the Presidency in order to con. centrate on the huge job of Made of Clay. The new revitalized Board has lote of great energy and ideas both forGuild fundraising and a more efficient, self-sustaining op- cration of the Gallery. In order to remain viable, the Gallery will need to look at its whole mandate of operation and address issues such as the jury process, areduction of the space for featured exhibitions and other difficult and uncomfortable deci- sions regarding work in the Gallery. As already noted, Kimeha is leaving the postion as Gallery Manager. There will be an immediate job search for a replace- ment. The Guild is accepting applications now, Inthe meantime, we have thankfully the expertise of former Assistant Manager Anes Chung who will be serving as In- tenm Manager. There are so many great ideas for Guild activities bubbling up. The fundraising efforts arc to be grounded by reliable events such as Raku-U, Too Good for the Shard Pile and some other fundraising Potters Guild of Botish Columbia Newsletter activities. What we need from the rest of the family is for you bo let us know what you want the family to work toward, in however small a way. It’s pust about a bit at atime. We all know that families work best when everyone acids something to the mix and pulls in the same direction. [f you have suggestions for the fundraising pot or can donate pots for Too Good for the Shard Pile in April, please contact Linda Doherty at 604.430.0415. See more infor- tation and drop-off places below. If you want to know more about the di- mensions of the issues, feel free to call me at (M_522.8803_ As ‘head of the family’, part of the Board's future considerations must be encouraging and fostering a con- tinuwation of mew input from the rest of the farnily. Put the Annual General Meeting on your calendar: Friday May 2, 700PM, Perform- ance Works, sane site as Made of Clay. The next board meeting will be Monday, March 17 at 6:30PM in the Gallery. We ane encouraging all members to attend this Open mecting as many important decisions are being made. All the family is welcome. Keith Rice-Jones Too Good for the Shard Pile Sale It's time again to clear your shelves of unwanted pots for the Guild's popular fundraising Shard Sale. Pots may be dropped off at Studio 3, 360 W Ist Vancouver (please call ahead 604.708.3390) or the Shadbolt Cen- tre for the Arts, Mather House, in Deer Lake Park, Monday to Wednesday from |L:00AM - OOP M. Call Linda Doherty at 604.420.0415 for other times amd locations oF if you can volunteer to help. The sale is at the Lougheed Mall, 9855 Austin, Burnaby, on Thurs- day through Saturday, April 17-19, during regular Mall hours.