Gallery Committee Self Study

Name of Committee:  Gallery Committee

Current Committee Members (please indicate chair and any other officers): 

Elizabeth Brown

Don DuMont

Tom Lee

Susan Maakestad

Hannah Park

Bill Price

Jennifer Sargent - Chair

Zark Strasburger

Cynthia Thompson

Leandra Urrutia

Jennifer Gonzales

Cat Pena

Part 1:  MCA Faculty Handbook Description

1) The 2011-2012 MCA Handbook includes the following description of the Committee:

Gallery—Will assist in the hanging and installation exhibits for MCA’s galleries for the academic year. Membership: Ten F-T faculty members and Work Study assistants.

2a) In the opinion of the committee, does the handbook description accurately describe the function, purpose, and membership of the committee? Please explain.

For most of the Fall ’11 semester there have been 8 members and two graduate TA/work study assistants. There are currently 12 members (including chair) but this number has not yet been tried in practise. More members have become necessary because of varied teaching schedules and the difficulty of having enough people to help at any one time.

The committee does what is stated

2b) Please suggest changes/edits/rewrites for the Handbook description of your committee.  If the Handbook does not currently include a description for your committee, please write one. (Answers to this section of the self-study are suggestions only. They are intended to help the faculty move toward Handbook revisions, but they should be regarded as draft versions at this stage. Please don’t spend an inordinately long time trying to craft the perfect description—they can be changed and edited as we go through the process.)

(Elizabeth) should read “Will assist in the hanging and installation of exhibits for MCA’s . .”

We could include de-installation in the description

(Cynthia) some weekend and/or weeknight hours are necessary for the installation of exhibitions in a timely manner.

Add: This may entail working evenings, weekends or during the holidays in order to fulfill exhibition schedule

Part 2:  Committee Charge, Duties, and Goals

1) Does the committee operate under a clearly stated committee “charge” (that is, a statement of purpose explaining what the committee is charged with doing on behalf of the faculty or college—this may be different from the catalog description of the committee)?  Is this charge written down and made available to the members of the committee and the college community at large?  Please explain. (If you feel that the current catalog description or any revision to the description that you made above functions adequately as a charge, please say so).

(Tom) No. description is adequate for now.

(Cynthia) Not sure if it really states it clearly but the committee is charged with, under the direction of the chair, seeing that the exhibition schedule is accurately implemented and completed.

2) Does the committee maintain a set of specific duties? Are these written down? If a set of such duties exists (written down or in the minds of the chair or other members of the committee), please list them here.  (In other words, what is the committee specifically responsible for? What does the committee do?)

(Tom) No.  The chair asks ahead of time if we (or I) am able to do such and such which is usually an individual requirement related to a specific need.

(Elizabeth) The chair of the committee sends a written list of specific duties via email to all members asking for their preferences.  (These duties change from year to year based on the current exhibition schedule.)  Tasks are delegated to the entire committee by dividing the workload as evenly as possible. 

Generally these duties consist of moving and placing work, installing work, possibly working at the opening of a show, taking down work (including patching, painting and plastering), packing work for shipment,

(Cynthia) The committee follows the set of duties for each exhibition listed by the Chair. These include receiving and unpacking works arriving for an exhibition, making sure they arrive in good condition – filling out a condition report, placing the works with the assistance of the Chair,

hanging the exhibition, clean up, assistance with receptions if necessary, attendance at said events, de-installing exhibitions, prepping walls for next exhibition, packing works to be return shipped. Clean up, maintenance of storage and gallery equipment etc…

3) Does the committee have a set of goals (short and/or long-term)? If so, please list them and briefly explain the process the committee used to arrive at these goals.

(Elizabeth) Our unwritten major goal seems to be to enable the installation and deinstallation of professional exhibits in all of the MCA galleries to share both with the MCA community as well as the public at large.

(Tom)We have not normally met as a committee. There are sometimes “meetings” at the beginning of an installing session.

(Cynthia) The director in association with the pr and director of development/VP Kim Williams should construct goals together to meet the mission of the college.

This committee carries out all the practical work necessary to ensure that exhibitions are installed/deinstalled according to the schedule set for the school year in the preceding Spring semester.

4) Other than verbal reports at faculty meetings, does the committee make reports in verbal or written form to the faculty or administration? How often are these reports made? Where are written reports housed and are they available to other members of the college community?

no

(Tom) Chair meets with administration or staff to request and report. No written reports that I’m aware of.

5) Please add any additional comments about the charge, duties, and goals of the committee.

(Cynthia) A yearly schedule of duties and who works when would be nice to have planned out in advance so that we can each plan our schedules and know when we are needed to work.

I list exhibition tasks together with number of people needed at either the end or the beginning of each semester. I know teaching schedules before I send out this request to committee members

Part 3:  Committee Membership

1a) To the best of the committee’s knowledge, how are faculty members of the currently committee chosen?

(Susan) appointed

(Elizabeth) I believe it is decided by the Dean and the Faculty Representative based both on a faculty member’s preference and where there is a need for members. 

(Cynthia) The dean places people on committees, supposedly after talking to faculty to determine if they would be best to serve on that particular committee

(Tom) I volunteer but I’m not sure that’s normal.

1b) If it is not explicitly stated in the description/rules/by-laws of the committee, how do you think the members of the committee should be chosen?

(Cynthia) I think EVERYONE should at one time serve on this committee. It is a lot of work but supports our mission of the college. Even if you are a liberal arts prof you have something to add by being on this committee and can gain experience. Too often this committee is made up of the same people over and over. It is not fair to be honest.

(Tom) Volunteer first, then draft.

2a) Do the faculty members on the committee have limited terms of service?

(Susan) no

(Elizabeth) not that I am aware of

(Cynthia) Not sure

(Tom) Don’t know.

Don’t know

2b) If it is not explicitly stated in the description/rules/by-laws of the committee, should there be terms of service? Please explain.

(Elizabeth) Not for this particular committee since there is always a need for help with exhibitions.

(Cynthia) I think so

(Susan) Yes, there should be term limits. Have people cycle in and out. If someone really enjoys being on the committee he/she could elect to remain.  It’s a good experience that others at the college should experience.  It is truly a service-oriented committee. Without the committee, there would be no shows hanging in the 3-4 galleries.

3) Does the current committee membership structure make sense? Is the committee too big, too small, the right size?  Please explain.

(Elizabeth) It seems to be the right size.

(Cynthia) This committee should be made up of a lot of faculty because exhibitions are in multiple galleries and we all have varied teaching schedules – it’s difficult to hang a show with only 3 people when that is all who can show up.

(Susan) I have no idea why I was originally appointed to this committee, as I had no background in the duties involved.  I have learned a lot.

(Tom) It’s a good size when everyone shows up.

I will be able to tell at the end of spring semester as committee is now larger than it has been before

4a) Does the committee as it currently exists have faculty members from each of the Divisions of the College?  If so, do you feel (or is it a requirement of the committee) that it always have representation from each of the Divisions? 

(Cynthia) No, it could have more

(Elizabeth) I do feel having practicing artists/designers on the committee is important.  There is plenty to do however, so having some members from Liberal Studies seems fine as long as they are willing to learn. 

(Tom) Don’t know but it’s a good point that any area required to put anything on a wall (or floor, or pedestal…) should be available to help…..or learn and help….or at least pick up stuff.

It’s a good theory but having faculty members who hate doing the work makes the gallery job harder for all members of the committee and particularly the chair. There are also faculty with physical problems who cannot do the work.

4b) If the Committee does not include members from each Division, should it? Please explain.

(Susan) Representatives from all divisions makes sense, service-wise.

5a) If there are administrators on the committee (according to Dean Strickland’s committee grid), explain their role(s).

no

5b) If administrators are members of the committee, do you feel that their roles are necessary? In other words, does the committee feel that administrators should be members of the committee? Please explain.

6a) If there are staff members on the committee, explain their role(s).

Cat Pena has just been added to committee and has already proved very useful in being based at The Nesin Grad School. Her availability is limited by her job at 477 store. Jennifer Gonzales is both staff and faculty, also based downtown, and is also limited by her work schedule - full time including some evenings.

(Elizabeth) Since the bulk of the committee work is spent hands-on working in the galleries, there really isn’t a lot of discussion taking place that lends itself to inclusion of diverse experiences (as may be the case on other committees).  Certainly, the help of administrators and/or staff is welcome especially if they have prior experience setting up and taking down exhibitions.

6b) If staff are members of the committee, do you feel that their roles are necessary to the successful functioning of the committee?  Please explain.

(Elizabeth) Since members divide the tasks, everyone’s role is important.  It is not as if staff is completing tasks that are different from anyone else’s. 

(Tom) Probably, given the nature of funding for the committee work.

The particular people chosen for the committee are an excellent addition although I expect them to be mostly of use downtown. I will see next semester if they have enough time available to help with installation/deinstallation of exhibitions.

7) To what extent are the decisions of your committee autonomous? In other words, do you make decisions that do not go to the full faculty for approval? Or do you make recommendations that then must be approved by the faculty or others?  Please explain.

(Cynthia) the director of exhibitions, the chair, has oversight and vision for the gallery which we as a committee follow. We are always able to curate or propose a project for support

8) Please add any additional comments related to membership, committee structure, the appointment or election of members, participation of non-faculty members, etc.

Part 4: Committee Meetings and Time Commitment

1a) On average, how many times per semester does your committee meet?  Please indicate if the number of meetings varies by semester and explain why.

(Cynthia) We should meet once a semester to receive a calendar of duties revolving around each exhibition and visiting artist

(Elizabeth) We don’t hold official committee meetings per se, although we communicate via email (for scheduling in particular).  This seems to be an efficient way for our group to communicate.  We also meet with other members during work sessions for a particular exhibit. 

(Tom) Only when we install.

We get together at the beginning and end of exhibitions, this means that obligations extend outside of semesters.

Hyde: Fall, 2 exhibitions, one to be installed before the beginning of the semester; Spring, 1 exhibition; Summer, 1 exhibition (installed/de-installed outside of spring semester)

Rust Hall: Main Gallery: Fall, 2 exhibitions - 1 installation outside of semester; Spring, 3 exhibitions – 1 deinstallation, 1 installed/deinstalled outside of semester

Lower Gallery: 2 exhibitions per semester

Alumni Gallery: TA responsibility if I have grads assigned, 3 exhibitions a semester

1b) Is there a set meeting schedule

(e.g., once monthly, bi-weekly, etc)?  If not, how does the committee determine if a meeting is necessary and who calls the meeting?

(Elizabeth) None currently. If a meeting were necessary, the committee head would contact the committee members via email and ask us to meet.

(Cynthia) The director of exhibitions calls meeting when and if necessary

No, see above

1c) If there is no set meeting schedule, do you think that there should be a set meeting schedule or a minimum number of meetings for your committee per semester? Please explain.

(Susan) No.  We don’t need meetings.  Jennifer is able to conduct business via email.

(Elizabeth) Our current method of scheduling and communicating (via email several times a semester) seems to work efficiently.

(Cynthia) Once a semester to go over the events for the year as a group , the entire schedule could be set very easily in one meeting.

No because of nature of duties

1d) How long is the average meeting?

Until exhibition is complete, 3 / 4 hours but can be longer

2) In general, how many hours of commitment per semester does this committee require of members?

 (Susan) I estimate 12-15 hours per faculty member per semester.

(Elizabeth) About 10-20 hours. 

(Cynthia) I would say roughly around 20 hours a semester

(Tom) Depends how many shows we work on and what jobs we have to do. I’ve not kept track of my own hours, but installing the current show downtown (Adrift) I helped for about 6 hours and expect the uninstalling to take as long.

Depends on exhibition requirements and class and holiday schedules of committee members

3a) Does the committee take minutes, keep notes, or otherwise track and archive the activities of the committee?

no

3b) If you do keep minutes, where are they housed? Can other faculty (or administrators) not on your committee look at these minutes easily?

4) Please add any additional comments on committee meetings and the time commitment required of faculty on this committee.

(Susan) The gallery committee hangs most of the shows in Rust Hall and in the Grad Center.  We take down the work and pack it for shipping.  We work days, nights, weekends and during holidays.  We can’t merely meet at noon during the semester to conduct our business.  The work is done behind the scenes.  While the shows are noticed, the work of the committee is not.  It may appear to the MCA community as if the shows magically appear for all to appreciate.  Because of that our participation on the committee does not go appreciated.  I have been criticized for not doing committee work!  The committee is invisible to the rest of the faculty.  That is partly why I suggest that there be term limits for this committee.  Faculty can volunteer to stay on, but others will be enlisted so that all will understand the valuable work of the committee.  Otherwise, perhaps this work should not be done by faculty at all, but by students.  We may need to start a Gallery Management class.