With Great Power...

Comes Great Responsibility.

Along with an entire new Board!

Congrats to the winners of the new line-up in the Monroe Art League:

Vice President - Kinzie Harrison

Secretary - Becca Molina

Treasurer - Jon Womack

Members at Large are Sue Siebarth, Renee Spears and Tom Gerweck

I look forward to working with everyone!

But I especially look forward to working with the new Vice President--and newest member of the MAL--Kinzie Harrison!

Let me tell y'all a little bit about Kinzie:

She's my best friend and partner in crafting crime and has been for about 4 years now.

I first met Kinzie during my BFF Tiffany's little sister's wedding. She's besties with Kayla (the little sister in question), and we became fast friends when we both realized how crafty each other was.

It was a causal friendship, but a great one nonetheless.

It didn't really become what it is today until I got my job with Leo Burnett--now Martin Retail Group--and started working from home.

Y'all know I went through a depression when I started working from home, because I wasn't getting enough socialization and outside time from my room where I worked. This is when my therapist suggested I find things to do that would help me mentally and physically.

So, I joined book clubs. I went to the local game store for D&D sessions. I began to craft more--do more art, because to me it's a great way to spend time while getting that rush of good serotonin at seeing progress be made and then finally a finished product.

I did this crafting thing.

A Lot.

So much so that I could probably sell it if I wanted too--both to get things out of the house and to be able to buy more supplies without taking it out of my regular paycheck so much.

That's when Kayla told me that Kinzie did craft shows. She gave me her phone number and I texted her the next day like, "Hey, how do I start doing craft shows?"

She responded back, "you're welcome to join my booth when I do them!"

And the rest, as they say, is history.

You just become friends when you spend 6-8 hours with someone every other weekend or so for a year. And you become even closer best friends when you activally see them outside of craft show hours because you enjoy their company so much!

Kinzie is a great person to spend time with, and she's very active in her community (most of the shows that we do in the Summer are in Milan, where she lives)! She's also a great wife and mother (of three-- a 4  year old girl and two 1 year old twin boys) and her art is gorgeous! 

She can traditionally paint (usually acrylics), but she also crochet's, wire wraps bone art, works with polymer clay, sews, and makes a variety of "bookish art" (like the popular "Blind Dates with a Book")! 

Honestly, she's good at whatever she puts her mind to. And I'm damn proud of her! 

I think she's going to make a fantastic VP to the MAL, and I know that she's up for the challenge to make a difference in this community as well as support all the fantastic members that are already a part of the league!

I'm also excited to start this new chapter in my life as the President.

I've never been president of anything before, so this is super new to me--and I ask for your patience as I work on figuring things out.

I'm young, bright, and bushytailed enough to take on this role, but I'm also young, dumb, and inexperienced enough to need help at this role.

I also have plans that I'd like to accomplish during my tenure in the position, in addition to keeping up with all the things my mom and previous presidents have put into place.

For one, I want to bring back crafters to the league.

This does not mean I want to change the name to "The Monroe Arts & Crafts League" or re-write the by-laws from saying "Artists and Artisans."

I just want to make the space more available to people that would fall into the "artisans" category of the by-laws, and that means crafters.

"Waaaah, I don't like crafters," I can hear someone say.

Did you know that when the MAL was first up and running, it was called "The Monroe Arts & Crafts League"? And that there were A LOT of crafters involved in it?

I do. Because I read a lot of the history of the league when we were putting up the Angie Terrasi files to be archived in the Library.

The reason that "& Crafts" didn't stay in the title is because the Artists were angry and jealous that their work didn't sell as well as the crafters. And they didn't think they were "true artists" or something.

I'm here to say that I'm disapointed that some people would belittle an entire group just because they were jealous. Or that they didn't have the skills it takes to do some crafts. That's some prejudious garbage and I'm not about to toleratre ANY of that while I'm president.

I'd rather be hated for who I include than loved for who I exclude.

So, if you don't like crafters? Kindly see yourself out, I'm not making this a debate.

I know a lot of things I have to get approval from the Board, but as "Artisans" is already in the by-laws, this is one thing I'm going to completely take control over and find more crafters to welcome into this space.

Crafters...ahem, Artisans...will help bring more of the community into our League. It will will also help us sell ourselves in markets better, and that is another goal I have as president:

Do more shows.

I know we do the Open Air Market in the summer, but I want us to have more of a presence at the type of shows that I go to as Sweet Treats. I think it will allow more artists and artisans to shine and show off their work.

Yes, it's a lot of work and effort, but it will help spread our name around Monroe county and the surround areas.

Kinzie and I's rule of thumb is to only do shows that are no longer than an hour away from us. This means we can get shows in Monroe county, Washtenaw county, Lenawee county, and Wayne county as well as in Toledo/Lucas county.

For the sake of the League--because I know not everyone has the ability to drive that far--I'm going to suggest nothing outside of a 30-40 minute drive. Which means roughly Ann Arbor, Canton, Ypsilanti, Milan, Tecumseh, and Blissfield as well as the outter suburbs of Toledo (think Alexis rd, Monroe st., and Central Ave). (This is obvious, I'd hope, but this also includes ALL of Monroe County, not just Monroe the city.) I'd also be open to Detroit, as there are a lot of shows up that way, but it would be up to the league as a whole if we'd have enough people to travel that far.

The other thing with doing more shows is that I will need volunteers to help set up, run, and tear down.

I plan on doing those in shifts--and I will be there the entire time if I can--just like normal.

I would also like to have a wide variety of things available in these shows, not just original artwork.

I'd like things such as prints and stickers (and I can absoluelty help you get those) and other things that are under $40 so we can generate some income to put towards these shows, etc., as well as getting you all some income too.

Additionally, I want to do more traditional art shows at places--like the spot shows that we do--in those same areas I mentioned above.

I know Kinzie has a lot of connections in Milan, and I've got some in Ypsi thanks to college, and those places would just be perfect to show off some of our talented artists and artisan's work.

Another thing I'd like to do is get an intern of sorts in to run our social and online presence, since I'm not going to probably have time to run things in the way I want them ran.

Namely our Facebook and Instagram pages.

And what I'm looking for isn't some corporate-level analytical person, either. 

I just want someone to regularly post on our social pages about what we're doing, where we're going to be, who's presenting at meetings, and other fun things like that.

I'm hoping to reach out to the college to find this intern of sorts (no offense, but I'd rather have someone young in this position), and offer them a Lifetime Membership in exchange for about 15 hours of work per month (that's roughly 3.75 hours per week).

I also want an entire other person to run things like our website (general maintenance--I know we have a couple people on this task, but I want someone in a managerial role) and Redbubble (we still need 3 more pieces to be donated to us before I can officially get that up and running!). It would be the same offer: a lifetime membership for roughly 15 hours of work per month.

Both of these would also count towards volunteer hours and have an official title role on our Members page.

The final thing I want to do is have more classes, field trips, and general events open to members and the public. I love that we offer these things to people, and I want our Events and Classes pages to be booming with information in the upcoming year.



Anyway, those are my big goals that I want to achieve in the next year.

I also have some budget proposals and such, but I won't bore you with fancy spreadsheets and numbers and whatnots. They're more to present to the Board than anything else, and y'all dont need to see how the sausage is made.

So, to recap:

1. Get more artisans in the league. Which means crafters. Because I love, appreciate, and am myself, a crafter.
2. Do more shows. Both selling and showing work.
3. This means have a bigger variety of things to sell, price-wise!
4. Get a social media and online content manager.
5. Continue to keep the MAL up and running efficiently, like my mom and her Board have had it for the last couple of years.

I also gotta work on my email frequency writing skills, because that I think is going to be my biggest challenge to face.

I know y'all just *love* my mom's emails that she sends out so much!

And to end: I hope I do good by the League and all it's members as I venture forth on this adventure!

Until Next Time,

Sami