History
The Okanagan Artists Alternative Association was formed in 1987 by local practicing artists in order to promote and encourage alternative art in the Okanagan. We grew quickly to approximately 90 members from throughout the Okanagan and held exhibitions in rented spaces.
Between March and August 1991, we operated our first gallery by leasing an industrial warehouse at 581 Gaston Avenue. Six exhibitions were held there. In November 1991 we moved into a permanent gallery space at 273 Bernard Avenue, then known as the Alternator Gallery, where we expanded the range of exhibitions and events steadily, and offered summer art classes for children, artist talks, workshops, and provided a venue for some of the emerging contemporary artist in this region. Through a grant in July 1993 we hired our first staff members to relieve the executive and volunteer membership from much of the work of running the center.
In September 2002, the Alternator re-located to it’s current home in the Rotary Center for the Arts at #103-421 Cawston Avenue, and changed its name to the Alternator Centre for Contemporary Art to reflect the organization’s broader role in the creative community. The current space consists of a Main Gallery, Members’ Gallery, Window Gallery/Project Gallery, and Studio 111.
What is an Artist-run Centre?
Artist-run Centres (ARCs) are non-profit organizations, run by and for artists, that support new and innovative practices in the arts. With a rich history that spans over thirty years, ARCs have had a significant impact on the cultural ecology of Canada and around the world.
Generally, these centres exhibit contemporary art that parallels the larger public institutions and private commercial galleries, thereby offering an alternative to artists in determining how their work is represented.
The majority of Canada’s internationally recognized contemporary artists, curators and cultural practitioners have emerged from the artist-run centre movement.
National Alliance of Artist-Run Centres and Collectives
• Pacific Association of Artist Run Centres
• Alberta Association of Artist Run Centres
• Regroupement des centres d’artistes autogérés
• Artist Run Centres and Collectives of Ontario
• Association of Artist Run Centres from the Atlantic
• Manitoba Artist Run Centres Coalition
• Independent Media Arts Alliance
mandate
We seek to foster a Centre, a community, and art practice that is:
Engaged
Art is produced, consumed, and interpreted within a social context and has a vital social and cultural role. We seek to foster art/new media practice that is engaged in contemporary social issues of importance to our community and, in particular, challenges normative constructions of art, identity, and value.
Experimental
We value experimental forms of art production and exhibition and we seek to cultivate hybrid modes of expression with the goal of fostering a dynamic exchange between artist, art, and audience.
Collaborative
We value connection and exchange. We seek to transcend boundaries between artistic and intellectual disciplines by bringing together a diverse range of cultural workers. Further, we seek to integrate our work in our community by fostering formal and informal collaborations with other arts, education, non-profit, and social justice organizations.
We envision our artist run-centre as a welcoming site for radical art-making and community-building. We have two primary goals:
First, we seek to provide support and resources to emerging and alternative artists in the Okanagan region;
Second, we seek to inspire our members as well as the broader community by showcasing local, national, and international work that is engaged in its social context and that disturbs and transcends dominant constructions of art, identity, and value.
We recognize that our work takes place in a context, and so we seek to engage with our history and our community, and particularly our presence in unceded Syilx territory. We are a collaborative and community-building centre that develops relationships to share knowledge and ideas.
What We Do
Support emerging and alternative local artists by, for instance, providing studio space, workshops, mentorship, exhibition opportunities, as well as networks of collaboration and sharing.
Support exhibitions and projects that are engaged, experimental, and collaborative; specifically exhibitions that transcend the boundaries of normative understandings of the gallery space to engage with the broader community, including satellite exhibitions, site-specific, performative and/or interactive (components of) exhibitions, presentations, film-screenings, talking-circles, etc.
Provide a sustainable structure for the support of artists and alternative arts. We believe that the state has an obligation to foster and support artistic culture but also believe that an artist-run centre depends upon its membership for its culture, management, operations, and vibrancy. We are committed to supporting people to live as artists by paying CAR/FAC,or other nationally recognized standard scale and wages. We recognize our role as a dynamic collective body within the physical and social environments of the Okanagan.
What is CAR/FAC?
CAR/FAC is a national non-profit organization of professional visual artists formed to assist visual artists in their profession and to improve and promote the status of the visual arts. Along with robust programming advocating for the rights of Artists, CAR/FAC also sets recommended fee schedules, or a ‘mimunum wage’, to guide payments due to artists when we exhibit their works.
Read our full Constitution & Bylaws here.
Key programs
Professional Programming
Presentations in our Main Gallery and Project Gallery, along with other curated exhibition opportunities. This program has a formal submission process. Work is selected by the Programming Committee based on fit with our mandate. Appropriate CAR/FAC rates are paid.
Community Programming
Unjuried and unpaid exhibition opportunities include Members’ Gallery, Annual Members’ Exhibition and other community exhibition opportunities.
On occasion, Community Programming exhibitions have limited capacity and require a selection process. Under these circumstances, a honorarium is provided to selected artists.
Outreach
Workshops, discussions, critiques and artist talks available to our membership and the general public. Where possible, these activities are provided free of charge or at nominal cost to ensure accessibility.
Professional Development
Annual ‘Summer Student’ employment, internships, formal and informal mentorship, Studio 111 Co-op, practice-based workshops, and bespoke partnerships with emerging artists and arts practitioners in applications for grant-funded development programs.
Role of the Board
President
The president shall preside at all meetings of the Society and of the directors;
The president is the chief executive officer of the Society and shall supervise the other officers in the execution of their duties;
The president shall be authorized as one of the signing authorities for the Society with respect to all banking documentation, cheques and security documentation, and all such documentation must be signed by the president in addition to any other directors or officers that may be authorized by the society;
The president shall have the option to be a member of all committees constituted by the director, save and except a nominations committee.
Vice President
The vice-president shall carry out the duties of the president during their absence.
Treasurer
The treasurer shall
(a) keep the financial records, including books of account, necessary to comply with the Society Act; and
(b) render financial statements to the director, members and others when required.
Secretary
The secretary shall
(a) conduct the correspondence of the Society;
(b) issue notices of meetings of the Society and directors;
(c) keep minutes of all meetings of the Society and directors;
(d) have custody of all records and documents of the Society, except those required to be kept by the treasurer;
(e) have custody of the common seal of the Society; and
(f) maintain the register of members
In the absence of the secretary from a meeting the directors shall appoint another person to act as secretary at the meeting.
Members at Large
45. No director of the Society shall hold more than one officer’s position.
Board committees include: Human Resources Committee, Fundraising Committee, Programming Committee, Governance Committee
Code of Conduct
Board members shall maintain the confidentiality of the details and dynamics of Board discussions, as well as those items considered as confidential.
Regardless of their personal viewpoints, board members shall not speak against, or in any way undermine Board solidarity once a Board decision has been made.
Board members are expected to attend all board meetings. Board members shall be prepared to commit a minimum of 5 hours per month to attend to the Association’s business.
Directors shall avoid, in fact or in perception, conflicts of interest and disclose to the Chair, in a timely manner, any possible conflicts.
Directors’ contributions to discussions and decision-making shall be positive and constructive.
Directors’ interactions in meetings shall be courteous, respectful and free of animosity.
Directors shall adhere to the Association’s governance policies.
Directors shall be prepared for meetings, have read pre-circulated material in advance of the meeting.
Directors shall participate in, and support, the Association in ways other than attending board meetings such as heading a committee, attending or working events and gallery sitting.
The Artistic & Administrative Director is responsible to the entire board. Consequently, no single board member or committee has authority over the Director.
Board members shall not attempt to exercise individual authority or undue influence over the Association.
Board members shall provide the Director with changes in contact information including email, telephone, and address.
Failure to comply with the Code of Conduct will result in automatic revocation of the Director at the next meeting of the Directors.
Conflict of Interest
Members of OAAA’s Board of Directors and staff are expected to operate according to high ethical standards. This includes recognizing that conflicts of interest exist, have the potential to inhibit the wisdom of particular decisions, and possibly damage the organization’s reputation.
Conflicts of interest exist where a person:
has, or is perceived to have, a personal, professional, family or business interests that might benefit from a decision in which the board member is involved in making, or is able to influence those making it.
is involved with a competing or sister organization that may result in a divided loyalty in the context of making a decision
Voting for or against, or arguing for or against, a particular outcome may influence a decision. Limiting the options being considered may also influence it.
We recognize that not all conflicts of interest are rooted in financial benefit. Examples of possible conflict of interest situations with respect to OAAA include:
a board member has a personal or professional relationship with OAAA as a supplier of goods or services or as a landlord or tenant
a board member has a personal or professional relationship with an artist, client or supplier who is the subject of board decisions.
OAAA is employing someone who is directly related to a board member or other staff member
Conflicts of interest are unavoidable and should not prevent an individual from serving as a director or as staff member unless the extent of the interest is so significant that the potential for undo influence is present in a large number of situations.
Procedure for Handling a Conflict of Interest
Disclosure
Members of the board have a duty to disclose any personal, family, or business interests or other community involvements, that may, in the eyes of another person, influence their judgment.
Board members are expected to disclose potential conflicts, if anticipated, prior to their nomination or election. Otherwise they are obliged to disclose them when the circumstances arise. They should be disclosed to the board chair and/or to the whole board.
The board itself may want to disclose specific director conflicts of interest to members, staff, funders and external stakeholders where that interest may, in their judgement, affect the reputation or credibility of the organization. Such disclosure may be may be made publicly not just in confidential communication.
Determination of Conflict
The board or executive director should assess the presence of a conflict of interest, or the perception of one, and determine what actions, if any, are appropriate to address the situation.
Stepping Out
Board members and staff have a duty to exempt themselves from participating in any discussion and voting on matters where they have, or may be perceived as having, a conflict of interest. Normally they may be asked to step out.
Minutes of board or meetings should reflect when a board member steps out because of a conflict.
Staff conflicts of interest should be disclosed to the board but up to the executive director to manage.*
*Conflict of Interest guidance used with the kind permission of www.governinggood.ca
Annual General Meeting
The OAAA Annual General Meeting is held every calendar year (usually during the summer) and must take place no more than 15 months after the previous AGM. It is a valuable opportunity for reconnections between the board, staff and the Association’s members, and provides an overview of the Association’s present financial state, current and upcoming projects and events at the Alternator.
Each OAAA member has a vote on all matters of business at the AGM including the election of the Board of Directors. Everyone is welcome, but only members in good standing are eligible to vote. Memberships must be paid prior to the meeting call to order.
At the AGM, members in good standing may be voted on to the Board of Directors for a term of either one or two years. Generally, this is an individual who:
Is at least 18 years of age (younger directors may be permitted under certain conditions)
Capable of managing their own affairs
Is not undergoing bankruptcy
Has not been convicted of fraud or corporate offence within the last five years
Meets any additional qualifications noted in the society’s bylaws
Members of the Board of Directors should have several important qualities and be able to meet some very specific obligations:
Has the time available to invest in attending meetings and representing the organization to its various constituencies.
Believes in the mission and goals of the organization, be available to support its staff and programs, and otherwise serve as its Goodwill Ambassador on all occasions
Understands and agrees to accept legal liability for the actions and activities of the organization.
Accepts responsibility for the principle of “Give or Get.”
Has some skill, talent, or access to resources that can be of benefit to the agency.
Knows, understands, and is enthusiastically committed to meeting the needs of the people the organization intends to serve.
Knows how to read (and understand) basic financial reports such as budgets, profit and loss statements, and balance sheets.
Likes to work on teams and avoids opportunities to control others or to create personal agendas.
Works on behalf of the organization without expectations of any reward except the satisfaction of having performed a valuable community service.
In order to stand for nomination for the Board of Directors, you must be a member in good standing.
Membership in OAAA is open to all practicing artists and any other person supportive of the aims and goals of the Society.
A member in good standing present at a meeting of members is entitled to one vote. Voting is by show of hands or by secret ballot.
A board member may not serve for more than six consecutive years.
Useful Links
Vantage Point
https://thevantagepoint.ca/media/downloadable-resources/
Sector Source
http://sectorsource.ca/managing-organization