The October Artists' Group Meeting was held Sunday, October 7, 2:30-5:00 P.M. at the home of Maryliz Smith. Those Attending: Nancy Beckman, Tom Bickley, Brad Fischer, Phil Gelb, Suzanne Parkhurst, Katherine Setar, and Maryliz Smith. Also in attendance: Anne Brodzky and Tony Williams of the Meridian Gallery.
The meeting consisted of pot luck snacks, and discussions regarding the 2002 Pauline Oliveros retrospective.
The meeting began with introductions between the POFBA members and Anne Brodzky and Tony Williams. In addition to running the Meridian Gallery, Anne and Tony are deeply involved with other nonprofit artistic projects. These include the Meridian Interns, Meridian Music, and the publication of an art magazine. Anne and Tony were also instrumental in obtaining the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre, the three hundred-seat performance space for the Oliveros retrospective.
Philip Gelb announced that the pieces selected for performance at the retrospective has been updated. The list now includes the following:
Some of the ensembles scheduled to be performing will be: The Space Between Trio (Pauline Oliveros, Dana Reason, Philip Gelb) on Friday, May 31, 2002; The Deep Listening Band (Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, David Gamper and guests) on Saturday, June 1, 2002; and the Circle Trio (Pauline Oliveros, India Cooke, Karolyn Van Putten) on Sunday, June 2, 2002; and a large pick-up orchestra for each night's concerts.
Phil announced the performance of one of Pauline's huge outdoor works at Mills College. This work would be open to any interested participants.
The program and the participants will be finalized at the end of October.
A scholarly symposium on Oliveros's music will also be offered at Mills College during the retrospective.
Anne stated that she needed a list explaining Oliveros's historical significance as a composer as a part of the justification for grants and other funding. Katherine Setar offered to e-mail this information to Anne, Tony, and Phil.
Grant application and fundraising was a major topic of conversation. The overall budget is currently estimated at $44,000. Tickets are tentatively set at $15 per performance, with a possible 3-day-pass ticket priced at $35. The list of organizations to be considered for grant applications include the Arts Hotel Tax Fund, the NEA, and the City Assessed Fund. Also, Toyoji has compiled a significant list of arts foundations. A wide variety of possible fund-raising ideas were suggested; Nancy has offered to act as the "Special Projects Activator," where she would attempt to find valuable objects, services, or "musical notables" as a source of donations. Incidentally, the Oliveros retrospective has already received one donation: Andrew Hoyem, a letter-press printer of artists' books (Orion Press) has offered to donate his services.