Artists' Group Meeting, April 2001

Those Attending: Nancy Beckman, Tom Bickley, Wendy Burch and guest John Steele, Brad Fischer, Brenda Hutchinson, Tako Oda, Jeremiah Moore, Abigail Sawyer, Katherine Setar

The meeting consisted of three general sections: greetings and the pot luck, a discussion of the overall aims of this artists' group, and two group improvisations.

An encapsulation of the overall aims of the POFBA Artists' Group are as follows:

  1. The group was overwhelmingly interested in having regular meetings. Brenda Hutchinson suggested that the meetings occur on a monthly basis, and the group determined that a specific regular date in time be set aside for this purpose. At present, the first Sunday of each month, from 3:00 - 5:00 PM, is to be set aside for POFBA Artists' Group meetings (unless a major holiday falls on that weekend). The meetings are to take place at rotating locations: so far, Katherine Setar and Brad Fischer; Wendy Burch; and Nancy Beckman have offered their homes as meeting places.
  2. The next meeting of the POFBA Artists' Group will be Sunday, May 6, at 3:00 PM. at Nancy Beckman's home.
  3. The group was overwhelmingly interested in having meetings which emphasize social interaction and music-making. Meetings will be informal in their nature and content, with optional pot luck dining. Everyone is welcome at the meetings, regardless of musical ability or training.
  4. Tom Bickley has offered to organize a workshop on grant applications at one of the upcoming POFBA Artists' Group meetings. Similarly, he has also offered to lead a Deep Listening Workshop-like event at one of the future meetings.
  5. The group also expressed a desire to be the "people power" behind POF fundraisers held in the Bay Area. Katherine Setar suggested one easily implemented way in which the POFBA Artists' Group could help increase revenues. At fund-raising concerts where a large turnout is expected (such as the Terry Riley concert last December) the POFBA Artists' Group could organize the sale of refreshments at the concert's intermission at appropriately inflated prices.

Finally, the two group improvisations after the meeting consisted of Tom Bickley leading several realizations of Daniel Goode's "Eine Kleine Gamelan Music," and a rather riotous free improvisation suggested by Brad Fischer and Katherine Setar for piano ten hands and ping pong balls.


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Next meeting report (May 2001)