The next General Membership Meeting of Grand Clay Arts will be held on April 20, 2023, at 9:00 AM in the Hopi Room of Caparral Center.  This will be the last membership meeting of the season and we are looking forward to seeing you who are off to cooler climes over the summer months.

The summer season is rapidly approaching.  As temperatures climb, our seasonal members are preparing for their semi-annual migration.  Safe travels.  It's been a great season.  Hurry back!

2023 is developing into a banner year!

• Class offerings and participation are up
• Club membership attendance is up
• Resident pottery purchases are up
• Member clay and tool purchases are up

One of this year's most exciting developments is the Plates of Plenty (POP) charitable giving program.  Through the POP program, members donate their studio time to create pottery for charitable giving to help feed the hungry in our area.  All clay, glazes and kiln firing is donated by the club.  The finished pottery is offered for purchase through donations.  POP pottery is available to area residents attending the Grand semi-annual visual art events.

100% of all donations are contributed to the Valley View Community Food Bank.

In the first three months of 2023, The Grand residents have donated the same dollar amount as in twelve months of 2022.

• 2022 (12 months) POP generated $2,000 in sales
• 2023 (3 months) POP generated $2,013 in sales.

The $2,013 year-to-date donations (95 pottery pieces) were generated during the Arts & Crafts Faire held on March 25th.  The next POP event is the Fall Fest Art Walk scheduled for Saturday, November 11, in the Village Center.

Note the photo of Jesse Ramirez (Chairman) Valley View Community Food Bank and his son, Jesse Jr., accepting the $2,013.00 Grand Clay Arts donation check.  
 

On Monday, April 17, from 2 to 4:00 PM the Space Allocation meeting will be held in the Sonoran Ballroom.  This is an extremely important meeting and I want to encourage as many members as are able to be there to attend. 

• EVERYONE who made or donated plates, bowls, trays, vases...THANK YOU!  The large variety of quality pieces made it challenging for customers to decide what to buy!  But boy, did people buy!  Thank you for your time and talent!
• PARTY PLANNERS - Trish McGuinniss and Diane Palley - your fun and productive summer Plate & Pizza Parties produced dozens of great pieces.  You rock!
• SALES TEAM - What an awesome group!  You were each scheduled for a timeslot but when you say the huge crowd, ALL of you ended up working longer hours - without being asked!  You welcomed our customers, helped them with their purchases AND you had fun!  Thank you for your energy and dedication:  Judy Climan, Georgene Davis, Kelly Ehrick, Bob Foss, Denise Guida, Lisa Minton and Barbara Rosen.  You're the best!
• ADDITIONAL THANKS goes to Theresa Fritz, Nancy Quinlisk, Jean Zeidler and Bruce Lucas for their help and support with this wonderful event.

Would you like to create a piece for next year?  Check out the POP Shelf located on the wire shelving in the southeast corner of the workroom.  There you will find materials and instructions.  Remember, you can make MORE than just one piece - plate, bowl, tray - whatever you think will sell!  Thank you - have fun - and know that the piece you create will help our local community by providing food to those in need.

Over the summer, artists wishing to display their work in the gallery can submit up to five pieces.  In addition to your five pieces, you can now have an additional five backup pieces for the summer.  The procedure:

• Artists still submit requests online for all items they are putting in the Gallery. 
• Under special instructions, artist will mark the items in excess of five as "Backup" so they will be brought out when one of the five pieces is sold.  They may be marked as backup #1, backup #2, etc., to indicate the order in which they will be put on the Gallery.
• Backup pieces will be stored in the studio and added to the gallery display when one of the original five pieces is sold. 

Backup pieces will be stored on the Cone 6 rack in the hand-built drying area.  This new procedure will be in effect May through September.  In October, we will go back to the original five pieces.

White tags must be printed, no cursive or extraneous information or design.  Include the artist's full name, unique description of piece, and price.  Information on the tags must match exactly the information included in the online gallery submission request.  Any tags that are not legible will go to the reject area on the bottom shelf of the Cone 6 firing shelves.  You will be notified if your piece has been rejected because of the tag and you will have to submit a new tag.
Any questions, feel free to email me, sherrisinger@hotmail.com.

Our Grand Clay Arts Club has experienced several successful Market sales events.  Hats off to all who have been involved.

• Staging set-up items on Fridays
• Early bird set-up on Saturday morning
• Artists randomly assigned to display tables
• Artists assist customers, wrap items, assist with bringing set-up items back for storage
• Experienced cashiers and studio Monitors

Lessons learned have led to the following:

• Gallery and Market items MUST have tags provided by the studio
  • Artist name and description of item MUST be PRINTED on the tag
  • Price for the item MUST be clearly marked
  • Tags MUST be affixed to items with strong tape, NOT Scotch tape
• Artist's Gallery items CAN be displayed on Market tables (at the artist's discretion), tags MUST have the letter "G" clearly marked on the tag
• Capacity for number of artists confirmed to sell is dependent on space available
• A prominent common area for displaying a collection of all participating artist's work will be available as space allows

Winners of the post-meeting drawings last month were Leslie Friedman, Mary Wolke, Bob Singer and Karin Brambilla!  Congratulations! 

If you needed incentive to join us for the General Membership Meeting, drawings are held following our meetings and the prizes include 25 pounds of clay of choice, a sheet of  firing stickers or a sheet of glaze stickers.  Come join the fun!
 

My days are numbered as we are heading back to Canada this week.  A quick update on supplies before I leave.

New glazes for the glaze room will be coming in this week.  Enjoy trying out a few of the new colors that will be available soon.

Marjon's will be receiving a full shipment of Amaco products this coming week.  If you are in need of anything before you leave, be sure to make a trip to their store and stock up.  They have most everything on their shelves.  It is worth the drive.

Clay is available for purchase at the studio and you are permitted to take a few bags with you to your hometown to keep you busy through the summer months.  Our prices on clay can't be beat. 

Bruce will be handling supply while I am away so if you have any questions on orders, please connect with Bruce.

I will miss you all as well as all the activity and creativity of this great club of ours.  Let's keep in touch on our Facebook page.  I'd love to see what you're all up to during the summer!  Have a safe and wonderful summer my friends and I look forward to seeing you in the Fall.

When it comes to using the website, one of the most frequently asked questions is, "What do I do if I don't know my login and password?"

Be aware that I cannot fix this issue because no one has access to members' passwords.  There is a link on the homepage called "Member Help" which tells how to find out your Username and how to reset your Password.  There is a myriad of other helpful information available at this link.  Please give it a look-see!

• A scheduled Monitor cancels at the last minute and someone in the club agrees to cover that shift.
• Kiln loads are heavy and the volunteer needs to stay longer.
• A new Glaze member needs additional training from another Glaze member. 

In these cases, do use Log Service Hours for the additional hours worked.  Please make a note indicating the situation, so the Recorders understand the story.

Example:

Let's Stay Healthy!  Time for Spring Cleaning!

With the departure of our "snowbirds," many cubbies will be empty or with most items taken home for the summer.  Please help keep the air clean for those who are staying throughout the summer months.  Take time to wipe out your cubby with a wet sponge to get all that dust out and clean your cubby.

Update on CPR/AED Training

On 3/18/23 we had a small test group go through a CPR/AED training class in a member's home.  The class was excellent!  It was a combination of video learning and hands-on training.  I believe that all seven of our participants were equally pleased with the amount of information and practice they received in class.

We had a second class set up for 4/22 that has, unfortunately, been canceled.  We are hopeful that The Grand Board can agree and have a more positive result by next fall so we can continue our training.  We have 28 more interested members. 

Class Cancellations:

If you find you must cancel your registration for a class:

• First notify the instructor.  Contact information is available on the class description on our website (Events>Calendar of Events>class name or Classes balloon>class name).
• Second, if it is more than seven days prior to the class start date, request a refund for your class fee using the interactive form on our website (Engagement>Interactive Forms>Request for Reimbursement for Class Fee)

If cancellation comes less than 7 days prior to the class start date, you may receive a refund only in the case of an emergency.  The Education Director will make that decision.

Class/Event	Date	Time	Instructor
Outdoor Flowers 0420	4/20	6-9	Anita Britton
Basic Glazing 0425	4/25	3-6	Connie Johnson
Columns and Bottles	4/26, 28	3-6	Diane Niehof
Basic Clay - May	5/2, 9, 26	3-6	Connie Johnson
Sundancer Luminaria	5/3	6-9	Lynne Shanrock
Pinch Pot	5/4	3-6	Anita Britton
Beginning Wheel – May	5/8, 10, 15, 17	3-6	Pat O’Brien
Slip Trailing	5/10	6-9	Lynne Shanrock
Underglaze This!	5/22	3-6	Mary King
Basic Glazing	5/23	3-6	Connie Johnson
Textured Planter	5/24	6-9	Lynne Shanrock
Underglaze This!	5/30	3-6	Mary King
Basic Clay - June	6/6, 13, 20	3-6	Connie Johnson
Basic Glazing 0627	6/27	3-6	Connie Johnson

Please check Event Registration on our website for the most up-to-date information.