Board of Trustees Bi-Weekly Recap

Hello WESTAF Trustees: Really hope everyone is safe and healthy and hanging in there. Here at WESTAF, we’re doing ok — adopting more and more to the virtual world we all now inhabit. Let’s jump right in: COVID-19 — WESTAF RESPONSE (DH) Over the last two weeks, the Alliances, Advocacy and Policy team has been involved in developing WESTAF’s response to COVID-19 while managing our existing programs and services. We worked with the Marketing and Communications team to release a survey to targeted groups of WESTAF contacts via email and on WESTAF social media. So far, over 560 survey responses...

Hello again, WESTAF Trustees: The world continues to change very quickly for all of us. I’m sure that you’ve been inundated with all kinds of COVID-19 messages from your immediate and extended communities. Along with the whole world, WESTAF has pivoted to confront this crisis. Our first move was to protect the health and safety of our team. We moved into our home workspaces last Friday, March 13. This Friday, March 20, we extended our working from home (WFH) order to April 30. The leadership resource team (LRT) will continue to meet by video conference each weekday morning to assess...

Hello again WESTAF Trustees: Like many of you in your daily work, we are confronting and assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on various parts of the WESTAF organization. We are trying to stay as flexible as advance planning allows, although we’re already seeing some disruption on some of our programs, mostly from travel decisions and restrictions. That being said, we are doing A-OK in the WESTAF office (as of this writing!), and doing our best to continue with our work! Hope everyone is doing as well as possible given the circumstances. Onwards... EMERGING LEADERS OF COLOR: SOUTH ARTS...

Hello WESTAF Trustees: Time for another quick bi-weekly update from the world of WESTAF! It’s been a busy and productive few weeks—here are some updates from individual team members as well as myself: FORMER WESTAF CHAIR ERIN GRAHAM NAMED PRESIDENT OF OMSI Edited from the press release: The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) announced on February 20 that Nancy Stueber will retire from her position as chief executive officer and president of OMSI effective May 31. Chief Operating Officer Erin Graham has been appointed by the board as the new president and will assume the role upon Stueber’s...

Dear WESTAF Trustees: Hope everyone is doing very well indeed! We are making it through this snowy Denver winter and feeling like spring can’t be too far away, can it?! There has been some talk about moving the WESTAF office to Maui, but that’s for a later bi-weekly…so, in the meantime: WYOMING GOVERNOR’S ART AWARDS I sent out an email about this last week, but as a quick reminder, WESTAF has a table at the Governor’s Arts Awards on February 21 in Cheyenne, where they will be honoring two people that are special to WESTAF — recent past trustee Wendy...

Hello WESTAF Trustees: It’s been wonderful receiving so many thoughtful messages from you since our time together in Reno last week! Our time during the meeting as well as at dinner provoked some really helpful follow-up conversations across several topics like equity, advocacy and the creative economy, so thanks for that! As we get back into office life, here are some operational updates from the leadership resource team (LRC) along with some of my comments and observations: ADMINISTRATION January is a busy month for the finance & administration department with the filing of the 990 tax documents, preparation of 1099...

Hello WESTAF trustees: Welcome to the first post-holidays bi-weekly update and Happy New Decade! I hope you managed to get in some fun and relaxation before 2020 came galloping along! So looking forward to seeing you in Nevada this week. Together in Reno we’ll be diving into a lot of WESTAF business and program areas, so just a few quick updates in this Bi-Weekly: BOARD MEETING AND ED FORUM IN RENO THIS WEEK It’s going to be great! By now, you should have received the complete board book. Thanks to Natalie Scherlong for all her hard work in assembling this...

Dear WESTAF Trustees: Here it is—the last biweekly of 2019! I began these missives not long after I began at WESTAF as a way to communicate regularly with our trustees. My first biweekly was on January 25, two weeks after I began my WESTAF journey on January 14. As a reminder, all of these biweeklies are catalogued right here on the password-protected WESTAF trustees page of the WESTAF website. Feel free to browse back on a busy and productive year! Let’s jump right in: ARTS ENDOWMENT FUNDING Our SAA ED trustees are probably aware of these developments, but I wanted...

Hello again WESTAF Trustees: Welcome back to the Bi-Weekly recap. We skipped an edition for the Thanksgiving holiday, but regular broadcasting has been resumed! I hope everyone is navigating with grace the additional joys and obligations that come with the holiday season. Speaking of the holidays... WESTAF HOLIDAY PARTY This past Friday the 13th, I had a fun time hosting the WESTAF Holiday Party at my modest apartment in Denver's Cap Hill neighborhood. We had a strong turnout of WESTAF team members and their significant others for an afternoon/early evening of holiday cheer. A good time was had by all...

Dear Trustees: It’s that time again! First off, so pleased to announce the arrival of Ryder into the WESTAF family! More details below in the Technology & Innovation section. And, I returned safely from an unbelievable trip to Bhutan. Truly a place unlike any other. If you want to see some photos let me know! Speaking of photos, here are some good ones from our October meeting in Denver, including the trustees meeting, the gallery session and our time with the MAC.  Here are some updates from the last two weeks largely provided by the excellent Leadership Resource Team (thanks,...