This month's meeting was begun by current Ellenville Director of Visual Arts Judy Sigunick who introduced their guest speaker, Loretta Spence, the Dutchess County Arts Council Director of Programs and Arts Services. Despite the name, the organization covers both Dutchess and Ulster counties, and Spence spoke to the group about the various options for obtaining funding through the programs and services her organization provides.

Spence described different funding programs in detail, including the Arts in Education/Local Capacity Building Grant Program, the Community-Based Project Grant Program, the Dutchess Arts Fund Individual Artists' Fellowship Program, and the Fiscal Sponsorship Program, among others. These programs can be found with more detail on the organization's website, www.artsmidhudson.org.

News And Notes�

EA3 To Become ArtsWAVE: The group approved the organization's new name, ArtsWAVE, which stands for Arts in Wawarsing and the Village of Ellenville, in an effort to ensure greater cooperation between the town and the village. Marty Rabkin announced a logo-design competition upon the official adoption of the new name. Look for details in the Ellenville Journal.

Financial Reports: Visual Arts Treasurer Iris Friedman discussed the financial status of the organization and the arts initiative as a whole, passing out a two-page financial statement. The statement is broken into four separate categories: Ellenville Area Arts Alliance, MarketStreet Art Center, the village's position of Visual Arts Director (held by Sigunick), and the budget which was submitted for the $10,000 budget item from the Town of Wawarsing. Friedman also asked representatives from the group's different committees, who each reported on the status of their various efforts.

Legal Issues: Denise Kasell, speaking on behalf of the group's legal committee reported that the group's 501c3 application, which establishes them as a not-for-profit organization, was waiting on the group's action to both approve a mission statement and a new name. The 28-page application also required the inclusion of a 3-year projected budget for the organization, which would be worked on by Kasell, Friedman, and Hal Brill at a later date.

Resource Directory: Joy Weber passed around a 'work-in-progress' copy of the registration form for the organization's future resource directory, which will enable artists and suppliers within different disciplines to contact each other as well as the entire group.

Calendar of Events: Sandy Kapela will be working on a calendar for different art events in and around the area.

Fundraising: The fundraising committee's Carolyn Peters-Baker said there were tentative plans to hold a fundraiser by screening films documenting last year's E6 mural event and also Roger Baker's field art pieces.

MarketStreet Art Center: The Shadowland Theatre's Brendan Burke, speaking on behalf of the MarketStreet Arts Center, read a statement that defined the center's relationship to the village and town, as well as the broader arts initiative: �Our organization is renting the arts center at least through December 31, 2008. For at least that period, there will be no rent charged. We will be responsible for all utilities during that period, including, but not limited to, heat, electricity, insurance, etcetera. The Town of Wawarsing has earmarked $10,000 to be used for specific expenses such as those utilities for this arts center. We have a detailed budget of those funds. We need to note that these funds are only for 2008 and may or may not be available if this relationship continues into 2009, and at that time, at the end of 2008, we would need to decide whether to continue this relationship with the arts center and incurring those considerable expenses that we just talked about.�

10x10x10 Already Underway - AWE To Return: Sigunick discussed the current situation of this year's upcoming 10x10x10 art event, which will be the third annual installment of the summer program. She also asked for volunteers to help document the event, design publicity materials, and to help clean the windows of the empty storefronts. Also, AWE, or Artists in the Windows of Ellenville, is also going to be brought back this year after taking a one-year hiatus. When Sigunick asked the assembled group for volunteers to run it, WELV radio host Dennis Warner volunteered.

Second Collaborative Mural Discussed: Chuck Davidson discussed this year's next improvisational mural event, called E6, which has been allotted a $200 portion from the Town of Wawarsing's $10,000 budget item. The event is still in the planning stages, but it will likely take place in the late-summer/early-autumn of the year and will feature the same six Cragsmoor artists from 2007's event: Chuck Davidson, Roger Baker, Charles Broderson, Andrew Reed, and Phil and Judy Sigunick. Davidson also said the group was considering a name change to the C6, to reflect the artists' residing in the hamlet of Cragsmoor. Judy Sigunick mentioned that the Ellenville Library's gallery may be able to host an exhibit of the six artists' work as a way to allow people attending the event to become more familiar with the participants.

The next meeting for the newly dubbed ArtsWAVE organization will be at 10 a.m. on the first Saturday of next month, February 2, on the fourth floor of Village Hall. The meetings are open for all who wish to attend.

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