LYME REGIS ART SOCIETY

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Held at 2pm on Tuesday 3rd December 2024 at Woodmeads Halls, Lyme Regis

1. Apologies: Ed Havid, Ros Hipkiss, Monika Kinteh. Number of attendees 44, 42 members and 2 visitors.

2. Minutes of Annual General Meeting held on 5th December 2023: Proposer Mary Noon. Seconder BrendaGibbons. The minutes were accepted by the membership by a show of hands.

3. Matters arising: There were no matters arising.

4. Chairperson’s Report:

It’s been a wonderful year for Lyme Regis Art Society, with so many enthusiastic new members joining us. Sometimes we’ve been pleasantly overwhelmed with high attendances, and it been great to see the hall buzzing with lots of discussion. Our demonstrations have been particularly interesting this year and a huge thank you has to go to Jane Spencer for ensuring that we have a wide range of different artist styles in our programme, to keep us all creatively inspired. Jane will go into more detail about this later. Thank you especially to Martin and Jo for managing the technology behind the scenes and keeping the demos running smoothly. It can be rather fraught when technical problems arise, but their calm and reassuring manner always wins out in the end.

Thank you to Chris Bath for writing our demo reports. Whether you wish to catch up on a demo that you missed, or you want a reminder of the techniques the artist used, her reports are always beautifully written with so much useful information. Thank you very much Chris.

This year saw the introduction of our “Inspired by” table. Please don’t be shy in bringing your work to show – it’s fantastic to see the different styles and interpretations that everyone has of our visiting artists.

And a last mention regarding our demos – we’d like to say a special thank you to Brenda who is stepping down from being our Refreshments Organiser. Brenda, along with her team, has provided our tea and biscuits for many years, and we’d like to say a special thank you to her. Mary has some flowers to show our appreciation. We are going to need a little more help with teas after Christmas, so please come and have a word with us, or speak to Brenda, if you feel you could join the tea team in the New Year.

Moving on to our Annual Exhibition. This year saw a really high standard of work on the walls, so thank you to all who entered and helped with the stewarding. There was a great turnout for the Open Evening, which was attended by the Mayor of Lyme Regis alongside our judge this year - Howard Flanagan from the gallery Art Unlimited in Bridport. The Annual Exhibition was extremely well organised by Mary Noon. It’s a huge task and along with Terry, who managed all the entry form submissions and sales, and the hanging team of Jane, Martin, Hilary, she did an incredible job, so thank you very much for that. We’re already looking forward to next year’s, which will be slightly earlier in May than normal. Another behind the scenes thank you has to go to Pat Dench, who has very kindly hosted our Committee meetings at the Old Black Dog for many years. Unfortunately for us we have clashing commitments in 2025, so we have to take a break from Pat’s hospitality. We want to say thank you for being such a thoughtful and friendly host and we have a little something for you Pat.

And now I have one final thank you, before I draw my report to a close. As you will know from reading the Agenda, we are losing our longest standing member from the Committee, as Hilary Buckley is standing down after more years than she can actually remember herself. Hilary’s formal role has been Social Media Organiser, but she’s always been so much more than that to the art society. From her unstinting contribution on the RNLI stand every July, to her valuable advice on hanging the Annual Exhibitions, she will be very much missed at our meetings. We hope you’ll be sticking around, Hilary, and look forward to seeing you in a less formal role helping out when you can. We’d like to give you a special token of our appreciation.

Finally, to wrap up, I’d like to say how much I’m looking forward to Jane Spencer’s “Art Sharing” demo in January as it really is a great New Year’s Resolution for us all. I’m sure you’ll agree, Jane’s vision of creating a better sense of community within the group, by finding out about the different art we have in our lives, is a very exciting way forward. And in whatever way you contribute towards making this a great art society, even if it’s just by supporting our demos and turning up when you’re able to, may I say a big thank you to you all. Sue Hodgetts Chair Person Flowers were presented to Brenda Gibbons for leading the ‘tea’ team for several years. Flowers were also presented to Pat Dench for hosting the committee meetings over a significant period of time. A further present was given to Hilary Buckley for her long standing period on the committee and for her input into the social media input.

5. Treasurer’s Report:

This is the Treasurer’s Report for the year ending 31 July 2024 As with the previous year, the society has continued to maintain financial stability through the program of monthly demonstrations and the annual exhibition. The bank balance increased by £156 for the year and closed with a balance of a £3652. This increase shows that we continue to manage the society’s funds prudently despite the continuing climate of rising costs. Total income for the year increased to £8886, a rise of £317 on the previous year due to the increase in subscriptions in September last year. Total expenditure also increased by £177. Our decision to increase the annual subscription in 2023 enabled us to absorb some rising costs particularly the cost of demonstrations and the hire of the Malt house for the exhibition. An additional necessary expense was the purchase of a card reader to enable us to better take payments. The Annual Exhibition is self-funding through entrance fees and commission on sales retained by the Society. I am happy to report that last May’s Exhibition made a small profit. We sold 19 paintings, 202 cards, 13 prints and an assortment of coasters, magnets, clocks, books, bowls, and bookmarks. The Annual Exhibition is an important society event not only for the contribution it makes to our bank balance but also for the huge amount of publicity it gives to us and the chance for our membership to display their considerable talent.

My thanks to the members for the stewarding duties and excellent recording of sales. It helps enormously for bank reconciliation purposes. I would urge any of you who are yet to try stewarding duties to do so if you can. I would also like to say big thank you to the members for your prompt payment of subscriptions, it helps make my job that much easier, We had another excellent weekend in July and raised £91 for the RNLI, greatly helped by the continuing contribution of Hilary Buckly.

Finally, I would like to thank Sharyn Walker for her review of the accounts and for her helpful and constructive input in preparing the Receipts and Payments account. I now offer the accounts to you for your formal approval and acceptance. Thank you. Terry Gibbons Treasurer.

Proposer to accept the Treasurer’s report was Pat Dench, Seconder was Martin Pennycott. The report was adopted following a show of hands. [a thank you present to Sharyn was presented at a previous meeting].

6. Programme Organiser’s Report:

My Second AGM report on the Art Demonstrations and my last as I hand over the organising to Gill Burbidge. The demonstrations are at the heart of what we do as an art Society and I have thoroughly enjoyed organising 24 demonstrations (6 still to come). It!s quite a challenge and I have tried to arrange a variety of artists, mediums and subjects to offer interest. I think it is good to hand over after organising so many demos for a fresh approach but I will still be very involved in the activities at the demonstrations. So we had a wonderful talk last AGM from Martin Stanniforth from creative beings on engaging community through Art and that is what I am hoping to grow within our own LRAS over the next year. In our demos we have seen artists approach landscapes in a variety of ways – Anna Brewster returned to focus on seascapes using mixed mediums. Libby Jukes used acrylics for her abstract landscapes. A firm favourite in our demos – Jake Winkle produced two landscapes using inks. We had Stephen Foster – sharing his wealth of knowledge from studying and teaching Art History, use a palette knife for his dramatic skies and seascapes. James Tatum had us gasping at times with his bold brushstrokes for his acrylic semi abstract landscapes. Rebecca De Mendonca finished the 2023-4 season with pastel depictions of Dartmoor. Trisha Haymen mesmerised with minute detail in her botanical art as did Hannah Twine with a pastel portrait of Sky the springer. I was thrilled to finally persuade Russell Coulson to demonstrate his wonderfully bright crayon portraits. Finally – a passion of mine – it was great to have two textile artists demonstrate – Jo Whiteland with her Art of Batik and Gill Burbidge with the art of nuno felting. I am looking forward to seeing what Gill arranges for us in the future.. I have really loved seeing art inspired by the demonstrations and hope to grow that sharing and connecting at the demos and through the website and facebook group in the coming year.

Thank you to everyone who contributes to the demos – the committee who sort out the hall, the technical support, the financial support and signing in, Thank you to Chris Bath for the reports, to members putting chairs out and back in and those who provide the wonderful tea and biscuit interlude. Thank you to all members for coming along to see the demos! Any feedback is always welcome! We conclude this year with a talk from Claire Nuttall and open next year on 7th January with Lisa Takahashi and lino/woodcut printing. Jane Spencer Programme Organiser

7. Election of Officers: The following officers are presently serving on the committee: Sue Hodgetts - Chairperson, Terry Gibbons - Treasurer, Jo Clarke - Secretary and Assistant Camera Operator, Jane Spencer - Programme Organiser and Website Manager, Mary Noon - Exhibition Organiser, Hilary Buckley - Social Media, Irene Usher - Venue Bookings and Martin Pennycott - Camera Operator. The following members have served one of two years and have agreed to continue in post. Sue Hodgetts - Chairperson and Jo Clarke - Secretary.

The following members are seeking re-election: Terry Gibbons - Treasurer, Mary Noon - Exhibitions Organiser, Martin Pennycott - Camera Operator, Jane Spencer - Website Manager, Graphics and Facebook Group and Jo Clarke - Assistant Camera Operator. Proposer to this was Kay Hicks, Seconder was Jane Avery. A majority show of hands passed the re-elections. The following members are stepping down from their roles on the committee: Jane Spencer - Programme Organiser, Hilary Buckley - Social Media and Irene Usher - Venue Bookings.

In order to complete the Committee, we are lucky enough to have some new Members. The following people have put themselves forward to election onto the Committee: Gill Burbidge - Programme Organiser, Jayne Avery - Social Media. Mary Noon who I already Exhibitions Organiser will also undertake Venue Bookings. Proposer for Gill Burbidge to join the committee was Irene Usher, Seconder was Pat Campbell. Proposer for Jayne Avery to join the committee was Anya Driver and Seconder was Hilary Buckley. The vote was carried by a show of hands.

8. Constitution:

There are no changes to the constitution.

9. Exhibition Dates: The annual Exhibition dates are 10th - 22nd May 2025 inclusive. The RNLI (exhibition stand) are 26th - 27th July 2025 inclusive.

10. Notification of 2024/2025 Annual Subscription: These will remain the same at £30 for members and £6 for visitors. All members are eligible to show work at our exhibitions.

11. AOB: Committee positions are filled, show further help be required members could be coopted if necessary.

The meeting closed at 2.29 pm.