See you at the next BACALounge on Wednesday, July 27, hosted by the good people at OPEN SPACE.  In addition to our regular (short) business meeting, we’ll hear about ELECTRIC PROJECTED and news from the East End of Main.

OPEN SPACE is located at 510 Main Street, Beacon.

Come meet Ethan Cohen and hear about his plans for the old Beacon High School. Also will be updates about the Beacon Open Studios Fundraiser “20/twenty” this Saturday 3/26, info on the “Beacon Riverfest Art Guitars” — and the Beacon Riverfest 6/25, plus lots more!

Note: The meeting will be in the main office area at the front of the building.  Look for the BACA signs!

JAN 26 (and Feb 2) MEETING POSTPONED TO FEB 9 DUE TO (another) SNOWSTORM.  The meeting will still be at TAS KAFE 504 Main Street. On the agenda is the election of new board members…and coffee!

Click here for the BACA Board Elections slate.

Following is a listing of the current Board of Directors and the slate for the 2011 Elections to be held at the Annual General Meeting on January 26, 6:30 pm, Tas Kafe in Beacon.

Elections for New BACA Board 2011

Officers

President                                             Linda T. Hubbard (2^nd Term)

President:  Linda T. Hubbard:  photographer and co-owner of RiverWinds Gallery on Main St., Beacon for the past 7 years.  Linda has served on the BACA Board as President for 2 years and as a member-at-large for 4 years heading up the Publicity Committee.  She is past president of the Hudson Valley Artisans Guild (4 years) and is currently on the Dutchess County Tourism Board and the Mill Street Loft Board.  She has also been Chair of Art Along the Hudson for the past six years.  Retired from IBM, Linda held many executive positions in Development, Marketing and Finance of IBM Software during her 31 years.  She graduated from Bates College in Maine with a BA in Math and Physics.

Treasurer                                             Ed Benavente (2^nd term)

Treasurer: Ed Benavente: Artist, sculpture and painter. A native of Los Angeles, Ed Benavente has been creating sculpture since 1990. His mastery of working in steel has allowed him to transform the strong durable material into sculptures that express motion, thought, whimsy and humor. Benavente’s works can be viewed literally or explored for deeper meaning. The artist has commented that his sculptures are “icons of the here and now” that illustrate society’s attitudes and actions. Works of his can be seen in California, New Mexico, Illinois and Ohio. Since moving to Beacon, he has become in integral part of the Beacon arts scene.  He has served as treasurer for 1 ½ years taking over from Doug Berlin and has restructured BACA’s finances including online Quickbooks, Paypal, shared Google documents, and more.

Members at Large – 3 openings – 4 candidates….

Nominations

1. Victoria (Tori) Batchelor (1^st Term) , Assistant Branch Manager for the Beacon Branch at Rhinebeck Savings Bank.Victoria has been employed with Rhinebeck Savings Bank for 4 1/2 years and has previously worked at the Bank’s Hyde Park, New York location holding the same position. She has worked in the banking industry for various financial institutions within the Hudson Valley Area for approximately 19 years, while serving over 10 years in a Management position. Victoria was born and raised in Manhattan, New York.

She is a poet and lover of the arts.  As of September 2010, Victoria has recently moved to the Beacon area and is seekingto join forces with an organization that shares her values and passion for both theArts and Community Service which ultimately contributes to the betterment of our local community. She believes that she has found this organization in the Beacon Arts Community Association (BACA) and would be delighted to work alongside members/individuals with the same mission of fostering and encouraging the advancement of the City of Beacon community through the Arts.

2.  Michael Benzer (2^nd term) – glass blower and Co-Owner of Hudson Beach Glass.  In October 2010, he and his partners were recipients of the Dutchess County Arts Council Arts Award for outstanding arts business. Michael had come to Beacon in 1984 and opened Architectural Glass, Inc. on Maple Street in an old ice house and product is still being made at that location.  In 2003 continuing to expand, they bought an 1890 firehouse in Beacon, NY to house a glass studio and gallery on Main Street. Dutchess County Planning Federation gave them an award in 2005 for Outstanding Achievement in Historic Preservation/Reuse for the Lewis Thompkins Hose Co. Firehouse.  Their upstairs gallery hosts contemporary artists and has also shown the Beacon Open Studios show in 2010. Michael has been on the BACA board as a member at large for 2 years and has served as Chair of Membership Committee.

3.  Brienne Cliadakis (1^st Term) Brienne Cliadakis owned and managed Zuzu’s Leaf and Bean, a coffee house, on Main Street in Beacon, NY with Alex Gadea for approximately two and a half years. During that time, Brienne participated in meetings and events run by the BBA, (now the Beacon Chamber) and BACA and included the coffee house in Beacon’s community events (donating coffee and raffle prizes, hosting community art shows:the South Avenue PTA fundraiser, the Green Teens Photo Exhibit and Selections from BACA Open Studios).  Prior to Brienne’s full-time management of Zuzu’s, she was the Executive Director of the Volunteer Referral Center in New York City – a non-profit organization that helps to match volunteers with non-profit agencies that need them through personal interviews.

Brienne’s previous management experience comes from the for-profit world, where she was a partner in founding a web-hosting company, Virtualscape/Vscape that was merged through venture capital funding into a firm called Hostcentric. Brienne handled general operations and oversaw the customer service division responsible for “Managed Services” – corporate accounts requiring complex server architectures.  Brienne holds a B.A. from Barnard College and and M.A. from New York University and is fluent in French.

4. Kirsten Heincke (1^st Term) Kirsten Heincke is owner of Beacon-based design studio KHCREATIVE which has supported (through the design of branding/promotional materials etc..) a number of local, community-serving organizations such as Wee Play, The Beacon Community Center, Open Studios, The Beacon Incline Railway, Local 845 and most recently BACA’s Winter Holiday “Simple Gifts” effort. She has lived in Beacon for 12 years and has owned her business in Beacon for 8 Years.

A Graphic Designer with 18 years of professional experience and a strength in marketing/promotion and brand-building. She graduated with Honors 1992, BFA, Major in Media Art from The School of Visual Arts, NYC, and attended The State University of New York at New Paltz Fine as a Arts Major with emphasis on printmaking, painting and graphic design.

The BACA Executive Committee is charged with the general management of the affairs of BACA.  The Executive Committee consists of a President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and five members at large.  The Executive Committee controls the property and affairs of BACA and fixes the organization’s policy.  The Executive Committee currently meets once a month in addition to BACA general meetings. Terms are for 2 years, maximum 2 consecutive terms per board member.