Corner Chair by Ron Vallis Happy New Year to everyone! | will take another opportunity to thank those who participated in the production of Made Of Clay and particularly with the book launch on December 10th, It was a great evening complete with celebrity experience. | think we can be very pleased with the book - it is a very professional product. The work continues, however, as we must now pay tor it. While sales have been encouraging it is time for members to rally around and support the Guild by buying a book and encouraging pottery enthusiasts you know to buy one. | have noticed that it is easier to sell books if you are in it, so those who are please hit up your friends and relations! It is also membership renewal time and if you know potters who may be lapsed members please encourage them to rejoin. I would like to acknowledge and thank the current board of directors for their continuing efforts on behalf of Made Of Clay. It has been very stressful coming to terms with the large sums involved with a publishing project while maintaining involvement with all our other programs. Everyone has and continues to contribute above and beyond the call of duty. This is an excellent group of people, the best in some time. We still have one board position available for a member who feels they have some time to contribute. Don't wait to be asked ... volunteer! Because we are still in a financially tight spot the need for our annual fundraiser is imperative. To plan a strategy for this year's effort, | have arranged for a joint meeting of the boards of directors of the Potters Guild of BC and the North-West Ceramics Foundation. We will assess the viability of Lottery for Pottery and other ideas, and come up with an action plan. [If members are called upon to donate | hope they will see the usefulness of supporting the Guild and its initiatives and realize that your contribution is for the good of all. Membership Renewals Due! Please look at the label on your envelope - it will tell you when your membership is due for renewal. Thank you to those members who have already renewed for 1999. Membership can be paid over the phone with a visa/mastercard, or send us a cheque in the mail. Of course, we would be happy to see you in person, tao! page 3 North-West Ceramics Foundation by Tam Irving The North-West Ceramics Foundation has had an active and successful year managing to raise over $24,000. Of this amount, $11,285 was donated to the Potters Guild of BC to help finance Made Of Clay - Ceramics of British Columbia. Over the year scholarships were awarded to: Jumpstart Scholarship - Tessa Windt to study ceramic sculpture at ECIAD. Potters Guild of BC Scholarship - Fnederike Rahn to attend the Archie Bray Foundation Summer Program. Maureen Wright Scholarslup - Marguerite Ko to take an altered extrusion course at Mudslinger Clay Studios in Vancouver, and Sarah Beck to attend a majolica workshop in Williams Lake. The balance of funds remaining after donations and awards is being held in two endowments: the North-West Ceramics Foundation Fund and the Potters Guild of BC Scholarship and Education Fund. Accounting for From the Oven and the Kiln event held in September 1998 is as shown. Funds from _ Ticket Sales $3942.50 the Silent Auction formed part of the donation to Silent Auction 1769.00 bls Total Revenue 5711.50 the Potters Guild of BC for the book publication and the balance of the total net profit was added to jc {pemses 1380.68 and the palance of che total net pro it Was a ite) Net Profit $3750.87 the Potters Guild Scholarship and Education Fund. D’arcy Margesson has resigned from the Board. We are grateful for his contribution and wish him well for the future. We are pleased to welcome Julia Maika to the board who will continue to provide a strong voice for potters. Julia is well known to many of you since she has worked regularly in the Gallery of BC Ceramics for almost four years. Julia graduated from ECIAD in 1996 and is currently committed to the production of majolica in her studio. We look forward to another energetic year and wish you all the best for ‘99, Made of Clay ‘99 by Ron Feicht On December 9th, we conducted a draw for booth allocation to the subscribers and were very pleased to see that all booths had been rented except rwo (which were subsequently rented the following day). I understand chat this is a new milestone! In the November Newsletter | indicated that a $2 admission fee would be charged at the door and that this revenue would be retained by a co-operating charitable organization. Ata subsequent meeting of the Board, we resolved that this fee would be retained by che Guild. Our rationalization for this is chat the revenue potential to the Guild from this show is limited solely to the excess of booth rental fees less all operating expenses. Any funds spent on promotion would reduce revenue to the Guild. With this additional revenue, we will be looking at a significant increase in advertising promotion - this should have a positive impact on attendance and, hence, in revenue to both the Guild and to the exhibitors. [ have requested each exhibitor to contribute (on a strictly volunteer basis) one ceramic piece as a door prize. With 20 - 30 prizes any negative reaction to the admission fee should be dispelled. The Board will review at its forthcoming meeting in late January the invitation cards designed by the collaborative team of Ronda Green and Judy Weeden. We hope to have the cards ready for the special 20th Anniversary “Island Showcase” of Granville [sland on March 12 - 14th where we may possibly have a feature table and a raku sale. Early indications are chat we will be assigned space for a Raku-U sale in a prominent location on the Island during our Made Of Clay event. We are still looking for someone with “media savvy” who can feature our show and potters in local newspapers, radio, TV, etc. The hunt is on!