New Business

• Would anyone like to lead a “sip and paint” evening? These are popular and could bring a number of folks into the Gallery.

• New Committee Forming: Art in the Community

  We’re excited to launch a new “Art in the Community” committee—a group of 3 to 5 dedicated members from across the Association (not just the Gallery) who will work to maintain and grow the LRAA’s presence in the greater Lakes Region.

  As a reminder, the mission of the Lakes Region Art Association is: To enhance the ability of its members to create art and to further the appreciation of the arts in the greater Lakes Region area of New Hampshire by education, promotion, display, and sale of the visual fine arts.

• Now in our 85th year, fulfilling that mission takes all of us—not just the few who are already giving so much. This is your chance to bring your skills, ideas, and energy to a committee that will truly make a difference in connecting the arts to our community.

• If you’re passionate about outreach, public art, partnerships, or simply growing our visibility, we want to hear from you!

•Scheduling: Gallery Members should review their settings to be sure they are receiving all notifications from Homebase. In order to make the best use of the program, it is essential that all members get the notifications. We now have a new email address for Scheduling issues only: schedule@lraanh.org

Planning Ahead for Stronger Events

To maximize attendance and energy at our ArtTalks, shows, and other events, we’re working on planning further in advance. The earlier we can lock in details and promote them—through our newsletter, website, and social media—the better chance we have of drawing a great crowd and building excitement.

Being part of the Gallery means more than just showing your work—it means being an active part of the team that keeps things running smoothly and creatively. From event planning and setup to promotion and maintenance, it takes all of us working together to keep the Gallery vibrant and thriving.

We welcome your ideas and participation! Whether it’s suggesting a topic, hosting a talk, or lending a hand behind the scenes, your involvement truly matters.

Let’s keep growing together and making each event better than the last!

• Back-Ups! Help Us Build a Stronger, More Resilient Team

This year, we’ve been working hard to create back-up support for every role within the Gallery. In many cases, that means breaking big jobs into smaller, manageable parts—so no one person carries the entire load. Still, we’ve noticed it’s often those already serving in one role who step up to be a back-up in another!

To make it easier for more members to get involved, we’re preparing clear job descriptions for each position. These will be available soon, and we hope they’ll help you see where your skills might fit in.

Most of the time, a back-up isn’t needed—but life happens. Vacations, illness, family emergencies… and if only one person knows how to do something—like paying artists or filing reports—the whole system can be left hanging.

Do you have experience or interest in helping behind the scenes? You might be the perfect person to step in as a back-up when needed.

📬 Interested? Click here to let us know you’re willing to help!

([Insert link to volunteer interest form or email contact])

Your willingness to share a bit of your time and knowledge helps keep the Gallery strong, supported, and running smoothly for everyone.

• Bar Codes Are Here—Hooray!

  We’re now fully bar coded—a big step toward making sales tracking smoother and more accurate for everyone!

  Here’s what you need to know:

  🎨 Artists:

  Please send your item information to our new email address:

  📧 inventory@lraanh.org

  Include your artist number, title of the piece, and whether it’s an original, print, card, etc.

  Also, a quick text message to Gail will ensure your request doesn’t get overlooked.

  📚 In The Book of Clover, you’ll find bar codes for:

  • Monthly Exhibit Fees

  • Show Fees

  • Yearly Membership Dues

  • Your Custom Item bar code (unique to each artist!)

    You can also opt to have a single bar code for a category—like cards or a certain size of matted print—rather than labeling each piece individually.

  🧾 Gallery Attendants:

  Please use the artist’s Custom Item bar code from the Book of Clover if a piece is missing a bar code sticker.

  And don’t forget—all sales must still be logged in the log book as a backup.

  This system is designed to simplify and speed up our bookkeeping—turning what used to be a weekly scavenger hunt into a piece of cake!

•We are making a sincere effort to showcase our Gallery Artists, their artwork, and special events. What would be really helpful is if you could periodically check our Facebook Page and share to your own pages to help build awareness of our wonderful gallery.  Also, when you have new artwork, please send pictures and information about your work to Wendy Oellers-Fulmer so she can promote it.  We can work together to build awareness and as a result, get more customers to come in and see what we are all about.

• lakesregionartgallery.org - A reminder to those wishing to have a personal web page on the Lakes Region Art Gallery website: Mike McQuade is in the process of building the individual artist web pages. The first group has gone LIVE! It’s quite impressive. If you desire to be a part of this website and have your art displayed on your own page:
1) email Mike (mmcquade@photopiks.net) to confirm you are interested,
2) then watch for a return email with a list of things you will need to gather and send in.
Linda Murphy has been voluntarily taking headshots of participating artists for the website directory. If you plan to have a personal web page, reach out to Linda to make an appointment.

• HELP WANTED! - The Board of Directors is looking for volunteer coordinators:
○ LRAA Field Trips - If you are interested in coordinating a few trips a year to various exhibits, shows, and events, reach out to Sherwood or Gail.
○ Artist of the Month Coordinator: The function of this member is to set up voting tools needed at each monthly meeting, count the votes, and communicate the results.

Old Business worth repeating

• Online Registration: We recently made a move to online registration for all exhibits and shows. Nearly everyone has helped by registering per the guidelines set on the header of each registration form. If you would like a behind-the-scenes explanation of the mechanics behind this effort, check this out.

• Show Registrations: Due to the added complexity and work associated with late registrations, we are now requiring that all art submissions and payments be made by the "Art Drop Off" date. We will no longer be able to accept late entries into exhibits. Art Drop Off dates are listed in the events listing on the website. It is also important to register by the date listed on the site.

• Show Deadlines Are Important! Help Us Become Polished and Professional. To ensure our exhibits look their best, we print all wall tags in advance—so completing your registration on time is key. You’ll find registration forms and exhibit details linked in our newsletters and on the website.

• Set Yourself Up for Success:

• Visit the website to view exhibit information.

• Mark important dates on your calendar—ideally a few days before the actual deadlines.

• We’ve done our best to provide flexible windows for artwork drop-off and pick-up, but please help us by ensuring your work isn’t left at the Gallery for extended periods. Thanks for your cooperation —it’s what keeps our exhibitions running smoothly and looking great!

Attending the Receptions is Important! We’ve noticed that attendance of participating artists at our artist receptions has been quite low, and we’d love to see that change. These receptions are a wonderful opportunity to connect with the people who admire—and may want to purchase—your work. It’s also a chance to spend time with fellow artists, share experiences, and contribute to the warm, welcoming atmosphere that makes our Gallery special.

By participating more fully, you help strengthen the community and enhance the visibility of everyone’s artwork—including your own. We know everyone is busy, and we deeply appreciate our volunteers. The Gallery is entirely run by dedicated volunteers, and every bit of involvement helps us all thrive.

• Do you have something to say that belongs in the newsletters? Each month LRAA publishes two newsletters - one for our customers and another for our paid membership. If you have news or information you would like published in either or both newsletters, send that information to Gail Brunt. Items for the Member Newsletter must be submitted by the Tuesday following the Board Meeting (1st Wednesday of the month), by noon. Items for the Customer Newsletter should be submitted by the 24th of each month. Send your article to:
○ Gail: vicepresident@lraanh.org

• Printed Wall Tags: Help Us Make It Happen!

We’re exploring ways to move from hand-written to professionally printed wall tags for all our exhibits. This will help give the Gallery a more polished and cohesive look—but no matter how we approach it, it’s a time-intensive task.

That’s where you come in!

We’re looking for both ideas and volunteers to help make this happen. If you have experience with design software, printing, organizing data—or just have some time and want to contribute—we’d love to hear from you.

Let’s work together to elevate our presentations and continue showcasing your work in the best light possible!