April 2007 Handmade Tile
Association Newsletter
Main Body
MN Tile Festival Marketing Committee Report
Goal 1000 attendance
Getting people to the event
Insurance
SAMA Conference Highlights by Sharra Frank
Side Bar
HTA Board member voted in
MN Tile Festival posters & postcards now available
Spaces going fast!
Getting your web site up to speed
Printing options
Next Handmade Tile Association Meeting
Host: Sharra Frank
Special Guests: Chuck Woodson and Sean Tubridy
Nancy Froseth, Stephanie Kaczrowski, Lucy V. Yogerst, Marcia Glancy, Laura McCaul, Linda Taylor, Judy Babcock, Jane Swan, Leann Johnson, Mim, Wendy Penta Nelson, Roger Mayland, Laura Burlis, and Josh Blanc
MN Tile Festival Marketing Committee Report
On March 15th Wendy Penta-Nelson, Marcia Glancy and Roger Mayland met to discuss strategies to increase attendance at the up-coming September 15th 6th annual festival held at the American Swedish Institute. The committee’s discussions centered upon identifying target groups of people and the steps that need to be taken to reach and encourage attendance at the festival. The committee’s discussion facilitated a discussion at the general meeting later that evening and the following points were made:
1. In our promotion of the festival we need to make special efforts to emphasize why our tile is unique, that it is Art Tile and Mosaics and many different styles will be represented at the festival;
2. Many different groups of people will need to be pinpointed and the total membership of HTA will need to take an active role in making contact and promoting the festival to be successive.
Goal 1000 attendance
One of the main issues the MN Tile Festival has to overcome is bringing up attendance. We average 600 -900 people per festival. The goal is to get over 1000 people to attend.
Getting people to the event
This year will be a defining year for the MN Tile Festival. The HTA has to show its has the ability to exceed expectations and bring in more patrons to the festival. In return all involved will have a more successful event. This is a moment as a member and selling artist where your passion and dedication for the success of the HTA will really be tested. Everyone's participation in bringing people to the event is imperative to all of our success.
Marketing that is done for the MN Tile Festival
ASID mailing of 600 free passes and a postcard for a dollar off for a friend
Over 200 Press releases sent at least 3 months before the event
Mailing of 3000 postcards two weeks before event
Artists hand out 7000 postcards some are mailed
Directory has full page ad on tile festival 10,000 printed every year and handed out through out the year
HTA web site has event with info and directions to event
100 posters are made
2 banners
The Marketing committee will meet prior to the next HTA meeting at North Prairie Tileworks to continue the discussion and implement strategies. All are invited
Insurance
Chuck Woodson from Farmers Insurance gave a talk on insurance options artists should consider when dealing with studio insurance, art fairs, and workers compensation. For the HTA members who work out of their home studios Mr. Woodson said your home owners insurance would cover the liability of people tripping and hurting themselves and your artwork. But as you start to travel to arts festival insurance gets is very site specific and you might need to consider a couple of options. Using the Edina Arts Festival as a example where the promoter of the show requires artists to have a policy release that states that the Edina Arts Festival is covered by your insurance. To get this type of event insurance you have two options either get a rider on the promoters insurance which is usually cheaper around $100 or you will need to get a one time event insurance policy off of your homeowners insurance at a general cost of about $300 per event. If you have a commercial insurance policy it is already included in your policy and you can call your agent for a document saying you are covered if you are asked to provide it.
Workers Comp has become a more complicated situation over the past 4 to 5 years for the ceramic industry. Everyone use to be lumped into the "brick and clay products" Chuck says they have broken out ceramics into many categories and there is a newer code for tile makers "Pottery MFG Porcelain wares" code #4062 that you will need to tell your agent to use. This specific code will allow you to save thousands of dollars. The way that insurance companies decide on the price you pay is dependant on how safe or not safe your industry is. The Brick and Clay products codes have gone from $4 per hundred that you pay your employees to over $12.83 per hundred. In layman terms that would be $2568 for a salary of $20,000 The Pottery MFG Porcelain wares code is $3.63 per hundred. Which would $726 per year on $20,000 salary you pay your employee. In the state of MN it is illegal to not have workers comp so if you have it make sure you are listed under the right code it will save you a lot of money. You can contact Chuck Woodson at 952-925-4275 he is also an advertiser in the HTA directory and can be found on page 26.
SAMA Conference Highlights by Sharra Frank
Hello friends, I just returned from four days at the annual Society of American Mosaic Artists conference Sunday and my head is still spinning! This year, the conference was held in Mesa, Arizona and definitely raised the bar for mosaics. There was an abundance of inspiration and energy filling the air. The first two days, Wednesday and Thursday, I was in a "Design!" Workshop with Steve Aimone (www.aimoneartserivces.com) I have had his book for awhile and was very excited for his class. The class was exhausted by the end as he directed us through nearly a dozen exercises, using paint and paper collage. I loved the class and hope to make it to one of his more extensive workshops in the future (he offers them in Ashville, NC). There were several other workshops, a Mosaic Marathon, a public art bus tour, and mosaic vendor show. So much to do in such little time!
Thursday evening was the opening of Mosaic Arts International, the juried show of SAMA members for the conference. My mosaic mirror, Tango, was included in the show and that was very exciting. From having a presence in the show I had the opportunity to meet many of the "movers and shakers" :) The show was filled with a diverse array of mosaic work. The gallery, Mesa Contemporary Arts, was absolutely stunning and did a memorable job presenting the show of over 60 mosaic works. To view the work, you can purchase the 2007 exhibition catalog from SAMA's website: www.americanmosaics.org or of course, go to the gallery! www.mesaartscenter.com
Friday and Saturday were filled with presentations and panel discussions from leading mosaic artists, coming from all around the world. I was especially moved by 88 year old Israeli artist, Ilana Shafir. She presented her life journey and how she came to mosaics. I am now trying to figure out how in the world I'm going to get to Israel to take her workshop! You must visit her site and view her work, you won't believe it! www.shafirart.com
Friday and Saturday night were filled with more SAMA celebrations, including a closing party at the Heard Museum.
SAMA is a wonderful organization and I hope to see more of us Minnesota mosaic folks there in the future! This year, nine Minnesota Mosaic Guild members attended! The location for the 2008 SAMA Conference is still being finalized but Miami has been mentioned.
Next Handmade Tile Association Meeting
When - Wednesday May 2nd
Time: 6pm
Where - Clay Squared to Infinity - 34 13th Ave NE Minneapolis, MN 55413
Agenda
Mn Tile Festival Marketing Committed report
Special Guest: Master tile setter Louis Voigt will do demos and talk about how to install handmade tile.
review of Coverings and SAMA conferences
Pot Luck
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HTA Board member voted in
Laura McCaul was accidentally left off the ballot during last years vote but was published as a board member in the 2007 directory. A re vote for Laura was taken at the March 15th meeting by members in attendance. 12 HTA members voted for Laura McCaul to officially be a board member of the HTA for 2007. There were no abstainers. Laura is officially a board member of the HTA. Thank you for your patience and understanding.
MN Tile Festival Posters & Postcards now available
We have 10,000 postcards to distribute and 100 posters to place. All are free for people to pick up and distribute. If you can not make it to the office we can send you a packet of postcards. contact the HTA at josh@handmadetileassociation.org
Spaces going fast!
If you are hoping to get an outdoor space during the MN Tile Festival you better do so fast only 3 Outdoor Spaces Left!
There are 29 tables left inside. Deadline for festival registration August 15th.
Getting your website up to speed
Sean Tubridy of Blue over Blue gave the HTA members a very up to date overview of what you should be thinking about as you create your web site or updating your current one. Sean compiled a sheet as a PDF for you to print off and review to see what you should be considering. Sean is the designer of the HTA web site and numerous artist web sites. You can view his portfolio of clients by going to www.blueoverblue.com
Printing options
For those artists looking to get postcards, catalogs, or newsletters there is no better time to get great prices on printing. There are a variety of internet printing choices. Prices for 1000 full color two sided postcards start at $65 plus shipping. Some one sided postcards are in the $40 range. The quality can vary but overall they are better than your ink or laser printer. Here are some web sites to check out
www.gotprint.com
www.pressexprint.com
www.printplace.com
Also try to Goggle postcard printing and see what comes out.
Art-A-Whirl
Mark your calendars
2007 Dates & Times
Friday, May 18th
5-10:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 19th 12-8:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 20th 12-5:00 p.m.
"Art-A-Whirl is an open-studio and gallery tour of Northeast Minneapolis More than 400 artists participate in AAW, including potters, tile makers, painters, sculptors, musicians, photographers, glass blowers, printmakers, and textile designers. They showcase their art in warehouses, homes, storefronts and cafes." Read more at NEMAA.org
There are five HTA members who have studios open during AAW. Sharra Frank, Sheryl Tuorila, Mercury Mosaics, Clay Squared, and FK Art Glass.
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