Hello again, WESTAF Trustees: This will be a relatively brief bi-weekly, as I am writing to you from Hong Kong a little bleary after nearly 17 hours in the air, en route to Bangkok and then Bhutan. Mostly though, I wanted to... WELCOME NEW BOARD MEMBERS! A warm welcome to Amber-Dawn Bear Robe, Lisa Becker and Paul Nguyen. We are so very excited to welcome you onto the WESTAF board of trustees! Thank you so much for agreeing to serve on this very special board with some other very remarkable people. If you’d like to learn a little more about...
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Hello WESTAF trustees! We are beyond excited to welcome you to Denver this week! We have a fun, productive and informative agenda planned, and the WESTAF staff is excited to spend some time with you! Please read on, because while we’ll be together soon, there’s still lots of important information to share that may or may not make it onto the agenda at the board meeting: BOARD MEETING IN DENVER ON 10/23 AND 10/24 This past Thursday, you received the agenda and board book. Here’s a web version of the board book as well, in addition to the .pdf you each received....
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Hello WESTAF trustees: This biweekly recap covers the clicking over to a new fiscal year, and I'm happy to report that there were no “Y2K” glitches and we’re still going strong and doing the good work! Here’s a quick summary of what went on these past few weeks: ALASKA David Holland and I facilitated a two-day executive session in Anchorage with ASCA trustees and board members representing AACF to determine immediate next steps following the last-minute restoration of funding for the agency in the Capital budget. Also present was Kelly Barsdate, NASAA’s Chief Program and Planning Officer who served as...
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Dear WESTAF Trustees: As we head into the Fall (OMG! Really?), we’ve been hard at work at WESTAF, with a variety of initiatives on the horizon and coming right up. Thank you for your continuing leadership and support as a WESTAF trustee! Here we go: NASAA LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE David Holland and I just returned from the NASAA Leadership Institute in Providence, RI. This was the smaller and more intimate conference presented by NASAA in alternate years. It was a useful opportunity to catch up in person with WESTAF EDs (at the conference were Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Montana,…
Dear Trustees: Really fun and productive few weeks, including a remarkable trip to the Black Rock playa of NW Nevada (more on this below) and great progress on a variety of important fronts! Read on . . . WESTAF AT WAA Chrissy and Seyan attended the Western Arts Alliance’s annual conference August 27-29 in Los Angeles. As a longtime partner in WESTAF’s regional touring program, it was a rich learning opportunity for Chrissy, who is gradually assuming responsibility of WESTAF’s TourWest program and key relationships with leaders in the touring and presenting field. (TourWest is our competitive grant program…
Dear Trustees: Just a brief bi-weekly follows (although still choc-a-bloc with helpful updates!): ALASKA In case you missed it — here’s a recap of the tumultuous week: We recently shared with you the disheartening news that Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy line-item vetoed a bipartisan budget package put forth by the Alaska legislature, which eliminated all FY20 funding for the Alaska State Council on the Arts (ASCA). We are now delighted to report that full funding for ASCA has been restored! As NASAA recently reported, after Governor Dunleavy’s line-item veto of 182 items, including all funds for ASCA, the…
Dear WESTAF trustees: Usually, this bi-weekly recap finds its way to you on Mondays, but I’m getting a bit of jump on it this week, and no shortage of activity on the WESTAF front! More information coming at ya! Questions? By all means reach out! Here we go: SNEAK PREVIEW OF OCTOBER BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING IN DENVER Plans for our October 23 – 24 trustees meeting are coming together. We should have a hotel and meeting location to announce soon! It’s going to be a jam-packed few days, with planned encounters between trustees and staff (at cocktails and…
Dear Trustees: It’s a really busy season at WESTAF—lots has unfolded with lots more in development! Read on… ALASKA This situation continues to unfold in a frightful way. While there is still some hope pinned to the Capital Budget, there is not a lot of attendant optimism for a positive outcome. On Friday morning, WESTAF released an official statemen to all of social media channels and email lists to level-set its stance and commitment regarding the situation. During our State Arts Agency Professional Development Session in Denver last week, we hosted a moderated Q&A session with ASCA Chair Ben…
ALASKA Most of you have been closely following the situation in Alaska. Absent of state sales or income tax, funding for public services in Alaska is derived from oil and gas industry revenue that is directed into the Alaska Permanent Fund—a $44 billion state savings account, some of which is returned annually to Alaska residents in the form of Permanent Fund Dividends (PFDs). These funds are around $3K per year, per Alaskan, although the exact amount is still one of many unresolved legislative issues as of Friday, July 12 the legislature ended their effort to overturn the governor’s vetoes. …
Hello WESTAF Trustees: I’ve been on the road in California during this last bi-weekly period. I want to thank and acknowledge the WESTAF Leadership Resource Team (Adam, Amy, Christina, Chrissy, Leah and Seyan) for continuing their important work budgeting, planning, running businesses, maintaining technology, interviewing DoPP candidates and managing the team during my absence. They’ve been so thoughtful, collaborative and productive, and kept me engaged and on my toes during my time out of the office. This bi-weekly is dedicated to them! WESTAF BUDGETING We have completed a first – and rough- draft of the WESTAF FY20 budget!…
