PIEDMONT CRAFTSMEN STATE OF THE ORGANIZATION Annual Report for 2020 2020 marks Piedmont Craftsmen’s 57th Anniversary. It has been a most unusual year for the organization, Board, staff, our artists and supporters.
2020 IN REVIEW The twenty-one members of the Board of Directors met monthly to review financials, discuss ongoing special events, fundraising and future plans. The Board held a retreat in February, which focused on the coming year and beyond. The Board focused on needing to update our Strategic Plan, and discussed community development, fundraising, the website and social media. The Board and staff engaged in discussions about Community Development and Partnerships, Services to Exhibiting Members, and Marketing. From these conversations the Board agreed on improving our financial stability, redesigning of the website, serving the community through our educational and outreach programs, identifying annual staffing needs, developing alliances with other organizations and groups to achieve a more efficient and effective advancement of the mission, and embracing and employing cutting-edge technology. In March, everything changed and out of necessity, we shifted our efforts primarily to technology. Many of the plans that were discussed in February had to be placed on hold as the state and country closed down because of COVID-19. All Board and Committee meetings moved to a virtual platform. The Board’s focus moved from the long-range plan to short range goals to insure the health of the organization and the safety of the staff.
EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT Piedmont Craftsmen’s mission is to promote the value of fine craft, and education is a key component to understanding its value. We meet our mission by including education in all of our programs. Piedmont Craftsmen’s educational programs are delivered to the community, to all age groups, by our professional artists and Education Director. In February, our Education Director, Nicole Uzzell meet with several groups of students at Clemmons Middle School. She engaged one hundred and six students and their teachers in discussions on fine crafts. Lectures at other schools were cancelled in March after the school district sent students home for the rest of the school year. We had received an Art in Education grant from the Arts Council of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County for residencies in three high schools. These plans for late spring were also cancelled.
Additional plans for programs in the Gallery had to be canceled until restrictions were lifted by the Governor. The Artist 2 Artist series was designed as an educational alternative to inperson events. Three virtual discussions were presented in conjunction with an online auction in early October. The first conversation was Bryant Holsenbeck and Edwina Bringle discussing fiber and craft education. The second discussion was Robb Helmkamp and O’Neal Jones discussing the fine art of wood