Saturday, February 20 2016
Hunters Woods Community Center, Reston
The meeting was called by Jim Schlett, the President of LRA to order around noon with about 25 members in attendance.
Jim introduced himself and the Board and then each member of LRA gave a brief introduction of themselves and their involvement with LRA including several members who recently joined. Jim thanked the other Board members for all for the work over the past few years. Jim mentioned that according the the records and files that have been passed on to him, that next year, 2017, LRA will be celebrating 50 years as an arts organization. That means we will plan some special events for next year. He also talked about our association with organizing photography and painting shows at USGS which have been going on for 35 years.
By virtual every measurement LRA had a great year and the past accomplishments for 2015 were discussed including;
– Successfully organized several large groups shows with over $4,000 in awards,
– Held 2 art events at the new Harrison apartment location near the Reston Town Center,
– For the third year in a row, since the current Board was formed, provided $2000 in scholarships to local students,
– Held 2 “LRA book fairs” at Barnes & Noble in Fairfax raising over $3,000 for our scholarship fund,
– Initiated a strategic partnership with NorthWest Federal Credit Union (NWFCU) that has
resulted in substantial donations to LRA, Also held an “art event” at the NWFCU Headquarters last spring,
– Published several LRA newsletters with updates and happenings,
– LRA stories appeared in Reston and Reston Lifestyle 2 magazines,
– Despite our best considerable efforts, the new management (ARC) at the Parkridge 5 and Reston Corners Buildings,
terminated a long standing exhibitions venues at those sites,
– By end of year, had about 120 members,
– Explore the option of managing the Art in Public Places (AIPP) program with 15 new locations in northern VA,
2016, Jim then talked about the plans for 2016, including new potential venues and the need for more volunteers in order to take advantage of such opportunities. The 2016 includes;
– Eight group shows, which usually last one month long at USGS (2), Ernst Center (1), ArtSpace Gallery in Herndon (1), JoAnne Rose Gallery (3) and Hunters Woods Community Center (1),
– The LRA Board recent increased awards funding at all groups shows for 2016, starting in March
with at least $1,000 per show,
– LRA managed the initial AIPP program at 16 locations in northern Virginia in January with the next rotation
scheduled for end of March-early April, 16 different members displayed work at those sites,
– LRA will provide $4,000 in scholarships including a new joint effort with NWFCU,
– Reston Photographic Society (RPS) will continue to host presentations on photography on a regular schedule,
– We will probably hold one Book Fair at Barnes & Noble if we have sufficient number of volunteers,
– Looking at having an “outside review” of our financial records to ensure that we have adequate “checks and balances,”
– Reviewing several new inquiries for potential additional venues and partnerships,
– The need for additional volunteers to help with new partnerships, IT or technical support for LRA web page, support
with organizing administrative matters,and new exhibition venue coordinators.
Karen Hutchison presented $600 of awards for the current Hunters Woods exhibition.
After a short question and answer period, Jim introduced Lee Deege, a long-time LRA member, who gave a great talk about a new book he wrote concerning growing up under Nazi occupation in Europe and his own experiences as an Army Officer in the Vietnam conflict. He also had a limited number of his books, which sold out in a few minutes.
