The Constitution - a Minority Report

The proposed constitution that has been put before the members was only agreed upon after I left the constitution sub-committee. There is such a difference of opinion between my view of the ASV and that of the rest of the committee that there was no resolution or compromise possible.
So for what it is worth - here is my commentary on the proposed constitution.

Membership

I have a counter proposal for clause 3 (Membership) which I would like to put to the members. My contention is that to change the membership of the ASV from being an association of sculptors to an association of people interested in sculpture is such a radical change as to make it a different organisation. For example the change would make our website an invasion of privacy for non-sculptor members. Similarly enlarging the membership base is likely to exacerbate rather than ameliorate our problems in gaining a quorum at meetings.

Accountability

In general the constitution is very light on providing for accountability. This is something which we now have an opportunity to address.

• I would like to move that the annual report (including the financial report and the president's report) of the association be sent out or otherwise (e.g. through the website) made available to members three weeks prior to the AGM

• since the annual exhibition falls between the end of the financial year and the annual general meeting there is the possibility that a proper report would not be made until 18 months after the event. So I think it reasonable that for each exhibition and other major event the members should receive/have made available a full report including a financial analysis. This would not be particularly difficult to do if we develop a proforma for each event.

Governance

In general, annual elections and lots of elected officer bearers is a façade of democracy – in actual fact we have volunteers who offer to undertake tasks and they are “declared elected”. We have become so obsessed with filling the executive functions that we have lost sight of the policy decisions that need to be made in every organisation. Policy is made on the run by the volunteers without reference to either the membership – or the bigger picture of the mission statement of the ASV. If we are revising our constitution let's take a good look at governance and be creative about how we balance the technicalities of getting the work done against the need to keep our policy and motivation in front of us. I think we might consider a new way of running our organisation:

• we could elect a board of, say, three individuals to manage policy

• those three would then appoint staff/systems/sub-committees/volunteers to undertake the tasks of running the association.

• The board would be answerable to the members in the reporting system outlined above and at general meetings throughout the year. They could serve a three year term, with an option to serve longer if re-elected.

• We would then need to define carefully what administrative standards we need – but taking time to think about this is an advantage: in the proposed constitution no mention has been made of the work of the membership officer. Few people in fact realise how much work is done by that officer or how important this work is to the running of the ASV

I don't say this is the only or even the best way of organising ourselves but it has the advantage that we put policy in the hands of elected sculptors and give greater flexibility in how we achieve the administration of the activities. I do believe that this is worthy of discussion.

This AGM

I would like to move that membership fees be reduced by $15 per annum for those members receiving their newsletter via email. I think the current subscription rate is too high in the light of the directive given by the members some years ago that they preferred exhibition fees to rise rather than annual fees – a sort of user pays scenario.

The treasurer said that this measure would “cost” the ASV $1,000. That $1,000 or thereabouts has been saved by the change to electronic distribution of the newsletter – if all the members elect to go back to postal delivery we can't deny it to them and then where is the $1,000? The distribution of the $1,000 is a policy decision that has never been debated at committee or general meeting level – hence my proposal. Let's get it out there.

My Proposed Clause 3

3. MEMBERSHIP

(1) There shall be two types of Members: Sculptor Member and Associate Member.

(2) Sculptor Membership is open to all natural persons producing sculpture of a professional standard. For the purposes of this constitution sculpture shall be considered to be of professional standard if it has been accepted for exhibition or commission. Sculptor Members may submit work for exhibitions, and shall have voting rights at all General Meetings.

(3) Associate Membership is open to both natural persons and corporations interested in sculpture and supporting the aims of the association, and to prospective sculptor members. Associate Members shall not have voting rights at General Meetings.

(4) Membership shall run concurrent with the Financial Year. Membership shall be continuous subject to approved leave of absence

(5) Membership is not transferable.

(6) Sculptor Member shall include the following categories:

1. City Member – Members who live in the Melbourne Metropolitan area, as defined by Melbourne telephone STD codes.

2. Country Member - Members who do not live in the Melbourne metropolitan area, as defined by Melbourne telephone STD codes.

3. Student Members – Members who are full time Sculpture or Arts Students.

4. Life Member – Any Member who has paid ten years in advance.

4. Honorary Life Member – Any Member elected to the position of Honorary Life Member by the Members in General Meeting, in recognition of his/her services to the Association, and who shall be a Member for the term of his/her natural life, without the requirement to pay Membership fees.

5. Honorary Member – Any Member elected to the position of Honorary Member by the Executive Committee (or board), in recognition of their services to the Association, who shall be a Member for the current Financial Year without the requirement to pay Membership fees.

6. Any other type of Sculptor Member that the Executive Committee(board) from time to time shall consider appropriate.

7. Associate Member shall include:

   1. Patron – Any person elected to the position of Patron by the Members in General Meeting, in recognition of his/her financial support or services to the Association, and who shall be a described as a Patron for a term decided by the Members, without the requirement to pay Membership fees.

   2. Friend – any person who wishes to join the association in order to support the purposes and members of the association either by donation or associate membership fee.

This blog permits you to make comments which will appear below the article for others to read. Alternatively you can contact committee members and voice your opinion, or ultimately you can vote either in person at the meetings or by proxy.

Jenny Rickards, 03 9836 2738