President’s Update 4/27/26

Few things to tell you here!

Everyone's main concern: I spoke to the Board Chair, Jeff Mariani (copied here), on Wednesday and we had a great conversation. I thought it would be important and meaningful to all of you to hear from him, and we went with a joint statement.

Dear Studio Artists,

After speaking for over an hour on Wednesday, we wanted to assure all of you that the concerns of the Studio Artists have found a welcoming and receptive ear. We all want the best for The Delaware Contemporary and we are going to make it through this time together. The budget crisis must remain the primary focus, but the relationship with the Studio Artists is recognized to be vital for the overall health of the organization. The Board is very receptive to the Studio Artists deepening this relationship and offering any help to offset both the budget and overstretched operations. We are establishing weekly check-ins to keep each other up to date, and are being mindful of the timeliness surrounding new leases for August 1. Thank you all for your patience as the Executive Committee is thoughtfully working on a solution to the recent issues.

Sincerely,

Jeff and Lauren

Other housekeeping items while I have you:

Dues: Please let me know of plans to get me your dues if you haven't already. My sign-in sheet is here for reference. My venmo is @Lauren_E_Peters_artist and the last four of my cell are 4904.

In light of any anxiety and uncertainty in the wake of our meeting, I am going to hold "office hours" on May 4th from 5-7pm if anyone would like to gather and chat. I will be hanging out by the microwave upstairs (does anyone have a catchy name for that area so I can stop saying "by the microwave") and can bring some snacks. I am heading out of town until Tuesday and then am booked next week, so this is the earliest I am available to have a follow-up meeting.

As some/most of you may have heard at our meeting, Alim will be moving out of studio 2E and a new studio artist has already been invited to move in early May. Jen Polillo was the next artist on the juried list from the last round, a name that might be familiar to those of us who were around when she was on staff at the museum (as the Director of Education/teaching artist)