This month a bit of a review of last year. Publishing Made ef Clay, as everyone is quiteaware, dominated 1998, While stress- ful, it has been a great propect to be in- volved with, particularly for those who have enthusiastically contnbuted to pro- duction, promotion and marketing, Book sales are now ticking along encouragingly and once we have retired our financial obligations later this year it should be a goxxd rewenue producer for the Guild. To facilitate selling the book one of our mem- bers Barb Duncan has agreed to collect, prictttize and initiate some of the market- ing ideas received during the past few months, On other fronts our planned renovation to the Gallery of BC Ceramics had to be halted midstream while we concentrated on financing Made of Clay. We will be able to pay for the remaining work through our ongoing fundraising program which includes Too Good For The Shard Pile, Rakw-U, the silent auction at From fhe Oven and Kiln and new ideas such as CORNER CHAIR A REVIEW OF THE YEAR having a nominal admission charge to our Made of Clay sules. In [938 one of our goals was to increase membership significantly. Debra Sloan and Celia Rice-Jones have taken on this propect with some success. We would like to en- sure that members renew on a continuing basis, [f you know someone whose mem: bership has lapsed or anyone who should or would Itke to be a member please en- courage them to join or renew, The more potters and enthusiasts whe are members, the better we will be able to represent the community. Gallery sales slipped in (998. Unfortu- nately this seems to be a general trend throughout the economy and continues this year. We will be taking steps to coun- ter this trend including completing cur renovation te give the gallery anew book. We will be counting on other sources of revenue to subsidize Guild activities again this year. Our gallery exhibition schedule has had many high points over the past year. With completion of our renovations the exhibi- ton area will be even better to showcase our members’ best work, April 30 is our Annual General Meeting. | hope to see a goexd turnout of members this year. As an inducement we have invited Maureen and Les Beardsley to bring thetr Tozan slide show. Come and have a look at the Made of Clay exhibition and sale which closes daily at 18:00; attend the AGM and cast your votes; and stay on to see the latest on Togan,. This ts great op- portunity to meet the new Board of Direc- tors. Finally for those travelling to Seattle in the next few weeks, it is an opportunity to see the retrospective of painter Chuck Close at the Seattle Art Museum. Viewing it caused me to muse about art and craft. It is an outstanding example of great art by an artist Who developed his craftsmanship over 30 years while pursuing a single course. This is afine exhibition from which you can see his journey from technical virtuosity to the complete mastery of ma- terial and subject. Ron Vallis, President SALES Like February, March Gallery sales were essentially flatcompared to the same month last year with only a marginal increase recorded. This brings our first-quarter 1999 sales within 1% of the total first-quarter sales of 1998 but compared to 1997 the Gallery isdown by 17%. Both the economy and the cold, wet weather have definitely had an impact on retail sales for Granville Island as a whole over the past few months. Our stormy days are not the best for strall- ing about, let's hope fora wart and sunny spring! STAFFING CHANGES [tas with mixed feelings that I accepted Julia Maika’s resignation as a Gallery Assistant in early March. Julia has been with the Gallery for four years almost to the day. During that time she became more and more involved with the Gallery ad- munistratron doing much of the inventory control, ordering supplies and arranging displays. Julia was a huge help with the GALLERY NEWS computer system changes in the Gallery almost two years ago; she spent endless hours and days re-entering the newly coded inventory. [ will miss her calming, sup- portive presence in the Gallery but I am thrilled she is moving forward and taking the next step in developing her own career as a potter. The Gallery has hired one new staff per- son, Pilar O'Neill and is in the process of hiring one other person as well, Pilar (pro- nounce pea-lar) will be working on Sun- days; she has astrong retail background, a love of art and ceramics, and a positive, friendly outlook. 'm sure she will be a great addition to our “family”. EXHIBITION SCHEDULE April 9-May 3 Tea Party Teapots, cream and sugar gets, cups and saucers and mugs by Guild members. May &-June 3 Tessa Wind June 3-July | Gordon Hutchens FEATURE ARTIST OF THE MONTH The Gallery hosts a feature artist-of-the- month space for any Guild member on a first-come first-serve basis. This is not an exhibition nor is it juried, it is an opportu. nity to have your work displayed and for sale during the month. The display usually constitutes a plinth grouping, similar to our other displays, with about a 6-foot square surface area, The feature artists for 1999 and 2000 are already booked but there are often cancellations; you are wel- come to put your name on a waiting List any time for this program. Call the Gallery at 604-669-5645 for further information, Since the Guild's group exhibition, the Tea Party, opens in April, there is no feature artist this month. In May, the Gal- lery looks forward to having Charlotte Lightburn’s work and Minam Aroeste featured in June. Jane Matthews, General Manager