Frog Notes Summer 2014

Frog Notes Summer 2014

Issue No. 5

Sponsor ADD

Cover Photo The image appearing on the cover of this issue is of our new gallery sign. All materials were donated by Frog Hollow woodworker Kit Clark who also constructed the piece which was designed by Frog Hollow artist Kevin Ruelle. Both men are pictured above with their creation.

Thank You Kit and Kevin!

Kit Clark marking out anchor points for our new gallery sign

CONTENTS 2 4 6

From the President

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Gallery

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Art Theft

Artist Profile

Artists Respond to Changing Market.

Summer 2014

Jury

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Artist Responsibility In keeping High Standards

Artists Response Sabra Field Talks About Copyright

Partner Spotlight August with the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival

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Photo Essay

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Opportunities

Sarah Ashe

Upcoming events, artist opportunities, call to artists and more...

Gallery

Art Theft

By Rob Hunter

Every now and then, a piece comes up missing.

It was just over two weeks ago when my phone rang. A friend from the Northeast Kingdom was calling with some very troubling news.

“What do you guys do about theft?” she asked.

“Unfortunately, a lot of things...why do you ask?”

“We got robbed.”

The scale of the Miller's Thumb Gallery break in is a bit staggering for a local Vermont gallery to contemplate, let alone absorb. Over $100,000 worth of jewelry from a single artist. It is an event that could be crippling to both gallery and artist alike, and yet they acted immediately and put a call out to any and all outlets they could think of. The result, within seven days one individual was arrested attempting to fence some of the stolen work. Our hope is that the rest will soon be recovered.

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Although this is a one of the largest art heists I have heard of in Vermont it is sadly not an isolated case. Over the last year alone I have received other calls asking similar questions. In

essence how can we protect our artists and artisans work?

Having a gallery on the one of the busiest and most visited attractions in Vermont, the Church Street Marketplace, has lead to Frog Hollow having to absorb its share of stolen and broken items by the public. In 2011 a clay sculpture exhibit in the front window of Frog Hollow came crashing down when an unattended child decided to try and climb the piece. Fortunately the child escaped harm but the parent, on her way out, gave us a false name and phone number. It was only after the appearance of a police officer that we were able to obtain her true name and contact info, which was out of state. I bring this incident up in regards to theft due to the frustrations we experienced with our insurance company. The myth of insurance covering incidents like ours, and I assume the larger thefts that have occurred in other galleries, is just that, a myth. When we brought this incident to our insurance company's attention they told us that the parents home owners insurance could cover the damage but our policy would not because we did not have a separate rider which individual items would be

covered under in an event of an accident with specific values listed. This of course, is nearly impossible for us to do with an ever changing inventory. Coupled with the added cost per $10,000 increment makes the idea not very feasible. In our case, the added burden of the parent living outside of the state meant we would have had to hire a Private Detective to hunt her down and serve her papers and then hire a lawyer licensed from her state to essentially sue her for the value of the work.

We determined that the funds we would have recovered would not be worth the added expense and simply paid the artist for the broken piece and tried to move on.

In essence this is the hand we have been dealt and the stance we have taken in regards to theft as well. There are many policies we have put into place as a result of conversations and research into retail theft prevention. Although after hours break-ins do occur (as is the case in Greensboro) the true bulk of theft that occurs in retail is due to shoplifters during business hours. Motion control security systems and surveillance cameras aside, our experience finds that the true deterrent of theft in any retail or gallery setting seems to be the attentiveness of staff.

Cut and pasted from numerous articles and websites on the subject, Frog Hollow has developed a staff handout on how to deal with this issue. This handout states...

According to experts, an effective prevention plan consists of these three elements: Know what to look for. You and your staff must know how to identify and detect potential shoplifters.

Know what's hot and how they get it. You and your staff must know which merchandise is likely to be stolen, and how it's stolen.

Know how to fight back. You must know— and use—proper counter-measures to minimize opportunity for shoplifters.

avoid situations that make them nervous or might constrict their movements, and will usually leave quickly to look for easier prey. For this reason, the most important thing you can do to discourage shoplifters is to train your staff to immediately greet everyone who walks into your store. The simple act of greeting them and making eye contact spotlights that customer from the very first.

It's personal attention that honest shoppers like—and shoplifters don't. And the greeting not only calls attention to would-be thieves; it lets them know yours is a business that pays attention...

A word of caution: Do not confront someone whom you suspect of shoplifting, unless you are sure--and then only when other employees are around and you have ready access to security forces. Do not try to stop a shoplifter when you are alone in the store.

Some can be dangerous, and recovering a stolen item is not worth endangering your life.

Frog Hollow’s policy is to always prosecute shoplifters to the fullest extent of the law.

We are happy to make this complete handout available to both artists, retail establishments and gallery’s alike in an effort to help combat this problem. In many ways we are fortunate to have seen a decrease in disappearances from our gallery in recent years. Given the slowly recovering economic state of the nation, theft is on the rise in general across the board and we are certainly not immune to it, but hopefully our efforts are proving to minimize theft from the gallery as much as possible.

Shoplifters belong to all demographic groups, so it's a mistake, and unfair, to single out any one group...

Like most criminals, shoplifters want easy targets, and easy in-and-out. They tend to

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Artist Profile

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes: How an Evolving Art Market Has Affected Artists and How They Are Responding

By Kimberly Musial Datchuk The ever-changing art market can leave artists frustrated and confused, especially after the recent economic downturn. Even Frog Hollow felt the effect of a sluggish economy, but we have been showing strong signs of rebounding.

Our artisans, though not immune to the effects lower consumer spending, have remained true to their artistic visions. During the last month, two of them, Maddalena Michetti and Heather Stearns, took the time to talk to me about their experiences and how they have responded to these new market conditions.

Fused glass tree by Maddalena Michetti.

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Maddalena works in glass, and her sun catchers featuring nature and the seasons consistently receive our customers' attention.

Despite the popularity of her items, she has experienced inconsistencies in her sales. The one word that sums up the market for her is “random.� She and her husband Jon Zap (a fellow Frog Hollow artisan and glass jewelry maker) have found that the difference between an okay day and a great day at a craft fair is only one or two sales. The customers she meets tend to be more cautious and hesitant about buying art. Although the prices of her work range from an affordable $24 to $180, she fears that they may be a little too high to attract shoppers. To meet the demand for less expensive items, she has begun to make her popular Tree of Life sun catchers in a smaller size. It is a struggle to price works that both meet customers' expectations and budgets, covers the cost of materials, and values the time that an artist puts into the piece. Given the abundance of inexpensive, mass produced goods, an artist faces an uphill battle. Because Maddalena's artwork is purely decorative, it maybe be more difficult for customers to justify the purchase of her work over a more functional piece.

In contrast to Maddalena's decorative sun catchers, Heather makes functional pottery, and her experiences have differed greatly from Maddalena's. She has sold her work in a variety of venues: galleries, wholesale to companies and restaurants, direct retail sales, and craft shows. Over the years, she has pared down the number of organizations with which she works in favor of the most organized, reliable, and communicative (we are proud that Frog Hollow made the cut!). Even though she has overheard other artists lamenting the dearth of buyers and lack of respect for handmade items, these hardships have, for the most part, passed Heather by. She says, “I feel great about sending handmade pots out into the world, and seem to always find people who value my work, so I put my focus on them.�

Despite their distinct experiences, both Maddalena and Heather supplement the income they earn from selling their art.

Maddalena turned to real estate recently given the uncertainties of the art market. As the economy failed to gain momentum year after year, she questioned how temporary the slump in sales would be. She has noticed that even though some of her artist friends continue to stick it out, they too find themselves searching for a second job or obtaining additional accounts. Heather's second job is related to her first: she teaches pottery in her studio.

When people purchase art, they often do not realize all that an artist has put into it, and they do not necessarily understand how much their purchase means to an artist. Not only is it gratifying to have someone admire what you have made, but the purchase reaffirms the intrinsic value of the artist's work and the importance of handmade, local items.

Furthermore, it reenforces the sense of community among artists and those who use and display their work. At Frog Hollow, we do our best to foster these relationships.

Right: Candelsticks by Heather Sterns. To view this and other work by Heather online please click on this link: http://www.froghollow.org/shop/carved-green-candlestick

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Jury

Frog Hollow Jury Process: Maintaining High Standards

By Kristin Ballif

As Frog Hollow Vermont State Craft Center continues to receive and review applications from many talented artists interested in becoming a juried artisan and member of the Frog Hollow artist community, we felt it would be a good reminder to our current Frog Hollow juried artists the importance of their participation in this process.

From our Frog Hollow website it states: From the beginning, the strong emphasis on quality crafts was upheld by the resident craftsmen, who were jury members for the gallery.

"The craftsmen had to agree that a craft belonged in the gallery," said Dick Wissler, Frog Hollow's first resident artisan‌.The intention was to keep the quality of the work at a high enough caliber such that we would eventually get a reputation for being serious purveyors of good art work." Nancy Hileman, Frog Hollow's first Executive Director who also became a member of the jury remembered the process as "very interesting and a little bit unusual. It was different from a gallery or a commercial shop," she recalled. "There was a group jury system, and in that system we decided that the work itself had to be viewed. It was quite customary for juries to work from slides, but we never did. We had a very hands-on kind of relationship with the craftspeople. We would tell them why we rejected their pieces and that was not easy. The standard system is 'Yes' or 'No' and then the craftsperson is told when to pick up their work, but we felt that it was part of our obligation to tell them why we were declining their craft."

Despite the intensity of the process, Hileman remembered very few conflicts.

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Although the evolution of Frog Hollow has seen several different methods of holding the Jury five constants have remained: • Frog Hollow Juried Artisans participation • Frog Hollow gallery administration participation • Vermont residency for admission • A desire to find excellence in craftsmanship • Feedback upon request for the applicant

Above: Nancy Dunn, Frog Hollow's original Gallery Manager, evaluating a clay vessel.

Below: Nancy Hileman (c. 1975) at the Frog Hollow Vermont State Craft Center Designation ceremony.

Photo by Clemens Kalischer

We encourage artists who come into the gallery to drop off their work to take a few extra minutes to evaluate the current jurying exhibit for that month.

The staff at Frog Hollow is always eager and happy to help and answer any questions you may have. We have evaluation forms that we have diligently worked on to make the process quick and succinct. We value your ideas and critique immensely. As current juried artists at Frog Hollow, many had to go through a similar jury process. We would hope that our artist community would feel a sense of responsibility to the others who are applying and to give them a fair process with as many evaluation forms and feedback as possible.

In the end this helps to make the process feel more like a shared responsibility and privilege.

Thank you for your help!

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Artist's Response

Abuse of Intellectual Property Rights by the Very People who Should be Protecting us: Our Collectors

By Sabra Field

What a bitter irony: Our collectors should welcome our unique vantage point on the world of visual art whether utilitarian or decorative or both. Instead, they seem to be enchanted by the notion of piracy!

When did this begin? I remember hearing a young voice comment on NPR some years ago about how illegal downloading of music was O.K. because you could go into a gallery and see art for free so why should you have to pay to hear music? Oh, boy. Where do we start.

One of America’s founding principles is that one’s inventions are one’s property and theft of them is not in society’s long term interests.

Once 75 years has passed after the death of the inventor / artist / filmmaker / writer / Choreographer / craftsperson it is in the public domain. But before that the creator OWNS the copyright whether or not he/she has registered it.

That said, anyone who fails to register with the US Copyright office at the Library of Congress is only allowed to sue for infringement and not for court costs which effectively cripples the claimant from ever getting adequate remuneration even if a judge rules in his/her favor.

REGISTER YOUR DAMN WORK! It’s easy, cheap and final. Go on line and get the details from the US Office of Copyrights. If you do not do this you are in effect saying you do not care if you are ripped off.

Gallery Premiere of “The Artists of Frog Hollow” videos

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Left: Star Way by Sabra Field.

Personally I think Frog Hollow should be able to add to the sign which forbids taking photos in the gallery this phrase:

I like to try to analogize this way: When your doctor says you need surgery does he offer to let you have it for nothing?

“All work copyrighted by the maker, infringement in any form is against the law.”

Would he allow you into the operating room with your iPhone so that you can try it at home? We are grown-ups, this is our real world. Just because we love what we do does not mean we can give it away. And anyone who takes it without compensating us is..........a thief!

Now, honestly, the copyright office is backed up for months and months but that is not our problem. Once you have submitted your work and have proof of their receipt you are covered.

I would hope Frog Hollow would simply not accept work that is not copyrighted. We hang together or we hang separately. Just because there is a wave of “sharing” going through our civilization at the moment does not mean that sooner or later we will not sort it all out and get treated like the professionals we are.

Sabra Field is one of Vermont’s most well known artists and one of America’s most accomplished printmakers.

Her landscapes quietly symbolize the harmony that can exist between humanity and nature.

To learn more about the photography policy referenced in this article please see our Spring 2014 issue of Frog Notes via this link: http://issuu.com/frog_hollow/docs/frog_notes_spring_2014

Meet the Artist!

Perhaps no artist is more identified with having captured Vermont’s pastoral qualities than Sabra Field.

Sabra Field's work can be seen every where, from corporate offices and government buildings to private homes and small general stores. Her depictions of Vermont are displayed proudly in galleries, hospitals, schools, day cares and even boathouses and deer camps.

Not only does Sabra Field's work depict a recognizable version of Vermont, but her passion for the preservation of the landscape is as appealing to Vermonters as her work is.

On October 4th, 2014 Sabra Field will be joining us in our Burlington Gallery for a special meet the artist event. Introducing her newest print View of Camels Hump Sabra will be giving away signed copies of her classic book In Sight to those who purchase one of her prints. In celebration of the event Frog Hollow has obtained a number of hand pulled prints from throughout Sabra's career and will be making them available for purchase as well.

Sabra Field will be giving signed copies of her book In Sight to gallery visitors who purchase a Sabra Field print when she visits the gallery on October 4th from 1 to 5 PM.

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Partner Spotlight

Music, Words and Images

By Frederick Noonan

Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival Board Member

Opening of LCCMF exhibit Poetry In Music at the Frog Hollow Gallery on Church St, Burlington, VT.

"Lend your ears to music, open your eyes to painting, and stop thinking!" wrote Wassily Kandinsky. " Ask yourself whether the music or the art has enabled you to stroll into a hitherto unknown world. If the answer is Yes, what more do you want?" . Early in the last century Kandinksy attended a concert in a hotel ballroom in Munich. He floated home elated on a cloud of impressions and the next day, without thinking, he painted the concert. With Impressions III -- Concert, abstract art was born.

Gallery Premiere of “The Artists of Frog Hollow� videos

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We don't know when people first sang and danced around a campfire, but we do know that cavemen felt early the need to have images on the wall. 40,000 years later Frog Hollow is still satisfying that need. Somehow, mysteriously but indubitably, all the arts are part of our DNA and fulfill an essential craving, with or without government funding.

The Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival was founded by Soovin Kim and members of the Burlington community to satisfy the longing

Festival Artistic Director Kim Soovin Photo by Michael GW Stein, 2011

Music Festival Executive Director Jody Woos manning the informational tent in front of the gallery.

for excellent music in intimate surroundings.

The popular concerts are now resounding in the beautiful architecture of Elley-Long, home of the Vermont Youth Orchestra. With scrumptious food at receptions after glorious concerts, the audiences, like Kandinsky, felt the need for something visual too, so the Festival created a show of Vermont artists to enliven the rehearsal room walls. Delighted listeners bought the art and took it home to hang on the walls of their own caves, or lakeside condos.

Cello I by Frog Hollow artist Carol MacDonald is this years festival promotional image used on all festival materials

The next step was obvious -- a collaboration of the music festival with the year-round visual banquet offered by Frog Hollow. Since the Festival this year focuses on song, the joint venture unites poetry, music, and all the visual arts. The exhibit at Frog Hollow, curated by Rob Hunter, runs through the rest of August, and something is happening every day at the Festival starting August 23. Drop by the Church Street gallery and come see the Festival gallery at Elley-Long too. Tickets are still available for all the concerts, with music from Bach to Cole Porter. Check out the website at www.lccmf.org.

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Photo

Making a

Text and Photos

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1: Sarah sometimes starts with sketching forms for inspiration and planning.

2: After soaking the reeds, she begins twisting and clamping them into her desired form.

4: To apply the paper, Sarah brushes on a nonyellowing glue and covers each space between the reeds.

5: The next step is to melt the wax off with heat from a candle flame, (this can also be done in the oven at 195 degrees F.)

To see other artisan photo essays, videos and more please visit www.froghollow.org and click on the Artisan tab where you can see many of our artisan biographies and educational resources.

Essay

Light Sculpture

by Amira Pualwan

3: She uses hot glue to secure the reed intersections together and then cuts off long ends.

6: Using a VT soapstone and turned wooden bases and copper tubing cut custom for each lamp, Sarah assembles the base and electrical component of the Light Sculpture.

7: An example of one of Sarah's finished lamps

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Opportunities and Events

A Listing of Upcoming Events Open to our Artisans and Members

Call To Frog Hollow Artisans: As hard as it is to believe, the winter holiday season is fast approaching. This means means it's time to start thinking about creating, organizing, and dropping off your winter and holiday themed pieces. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Ruby or Daphne at the gallery.

Ornaments by Julie Emilo

Frog Hollow is getting more and more social!

Remember to “like� us, friend us, follow us and tweet us on Facebook,Twitter, Pintrest and Google Plus to get more information regarding events and new arrivals in the gallery!

Frog Hollow Needs You!: After last years restructuring of our organization Frog Hollow now has two boards with vacancies. Both our Non-Profit and Gallery components are governed by their own separate board of directors. Are you happy with the way things are at Frog Hollow? Frustrated? Become an active voice in setting policy and over-site while helping establish the long term vision of the organization! If interested please contact Rob.

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Frog Hollow helps to encourage Vermont artists and members of the community to interact with one another, in turn creating a vibrant and rich space that feels alive! – Daphne Frog Hollow Operations Manager

Upcoming Shows at Frog Hollow...

August Group Show Poetry In Music

Vermont artists respond to words and music to be featured in the Lake Champlain Chamber Music Festival.

September Woody Jackson Vermont Color New original works by one of Vermont's most recognizable artists.

October Irene Lederer LaCroix Form and Figure

An exhibit of organic and figurative saggar fired vessels and sculptural forms

Frog Hollow | 85 Church Street | Burlington, VT | 802.863.6458

www.froghollow.org