At the end of my first term as President I offer the following report of the activities of the Canberra Potters’ Society and, in particular, of the committee who serve on your behalf.

This year has been a year of consolidation and further planning for the future.

This is the second year of our multi-year funding from Arts ACT for our Program Manager position and the Society has been able to achieve many things. Some of the highlights include:

·            This month our Potters’ Place shop went “live” with a computer-based cash register as the last stage of an overhaul of our sales and administration system. We now have a computer-based integrated financial system that connects all of the various financial transactions across the operations of the society – from class registrations and payments through to purchase of clay and supplies by members, and now including all the sales through the shop. This has been a major project managed by Sara Hogwood and our wonderful Treasurer, Roger Ellyard, over many months and it is most fitting that as Roger concludes a three-year term as our Treasurer, he can bequeath a simplified and streamlined accounting system to his successor.

·            We have recently hosted a major touring exhibition, Earthly Encounters, in our gallery with over 400 people viewing the exhibition while it was with us. The exhibition showcased the studio ceramics of 20 established and emerging artists of the Central West of NSW and was our major ceramic exhibition funded from within the Society’s resources

·            The Committee has progressed the work on designing and organising a new, larger kiln shed, which will be ably described by Ian Hodgson later this afternoon. We have secured funding from the ACT Government of about $65,000 towards the construction of the shed – an official announcement will be made by Jon Stanhope on Friday evening when he opens our Annual Members’ Exhibition.

·            We have significantly increased the budget for our library purchases this year and our wonderful Librarian, Carol Kenchington, has continued to diligently source a range of new and very popular, as judged by the borrowings! – books.  I trust that the book reviews, commissioned by Carol to publicise the new purchases and published in our newsletters, are inspiring – please take the time to thank the reviewers for their efforts

·            The Committee has completed quite a few boring-sounding but very important governance tasks this year.  We have restructured the Administrator position to convert it to a permanent part-time position; we have addressed and remedied a long-standing, but only recently discovered, liability to all our staff regarding long-service leave; and we have continued to review and revise the payment arrangements for our very valuable teaching team.

·            Our financial position has increased in health over the year – I shall leave it to Roger and his report to provide the details.

We have also continued to properly manage the business of the society and to keep regular activities running smoothly:

·            The Potters’ Society participation in the Canberra Show continues – Judy McDonald and her team of volunteers and demonstrators continue their marvellous work on our behalf to participate in the Show each year.

·            Our Open Day this year was again a tremendous success – a beautiful sunny day with a courtyard full of stalls, tables of chattering people enjoying soups and snacks, and a very crowded workshop of spectators for the Iron Potter events.

·            We continue to support emerging artists through the Australian National University’s Emerging Artists Support Scheme – offering an exhibition opportunity to four graduating students of the ANU.

·            Maryke Henderson and her team have just finished accepting entries to our Annual Members’ Exhibition – it promises to be as wonderful as always – only a few sleeps to go until we can see the results for ourselves

·            Our Members’ Workshop has received a face-lift – new roller blinds have brightened and streamlined the space considerably and we have re-organised the space to enable more members to use the workshop simultaneously and efficiently.

·            A number of members’ workshops and demonstrations have been held this year with two more to come - all well-attended and enhancing the skills and experiences of members. The Janet de Boos workshop was a sell-out success, as is Peter Hayes who comes to us this week, and bookings for Jack Doherty next month are rolling in. Our thanks go to Maryke, again, as well as Carol Kenchington who has organised Peter Hayes.

·            Our magical gardeners, Ingrid Adler and Roger Ellyard and others, are slowly working their miracle on the courtyard and our surrounding garden beds. You will no doubt have noticed that the shrubs in the courtyard gardens have been very smartly tidied up and over this coming year I understand that Roger plans to replant with lower-growing plants to retain the more open feel of the courtyard area.

·            The working bees continue to be well attended by a dedicated group of familiar faces – it is my continued hope that some of you who have not been able to come in recent years to contribute an hour or two might be able to do so this year – we envisage an increased need for some time-sensitive working bees in relation to the kiln shed project.

I am sure every year the President claims that the staff and committee members are all wonderful – it may seem repetitive but it is no less true or heartfelt!

Our Administrator, Program Manager, teaching team and auxiliary casual staff have completed another great year of service. As a society we are very grateful to their professionalism and integrity in undertaking all their tasks, big or small.

The Committee members are terrific and hardworking. I urge you to thank each of them personally for their gifts to you, the members, of their time, creativity, dedication and enthusiasm. Please consider how you can best support them – and join us for a year or two if you can.

I particularly wish to thank them for their patience with, and support of, me in my first year as President – thank you. Each of them has worked miracles in the year that is past – most known to you through the newsletter each month.  As a new year is about to commence, I ask you to thank your wonderful committee who have served you so well and so diligently!