Open Studio 2025

 Last night there was still some uncertainty about what the weather would be today.  Some predictions said snow, some said ice, some said rain, some said all, some said at different times.  Meanwhile, a meeting was scheduled for today to talk about the upcoming Open Studio event.  With a car parked in a way that kept me from using mine, all I could do is tell the organizer that I didn't know if I could make it or not. He did reply that he would send the relevant information if I couldn't make it, so I went to sleep.  This morning I saw very little snow had fallen, it was already raining, the road didn't look too icy.  New weather reports said that it would warm up and whatever was falling (all rain now in this area) would be done by around 10 am.  No emails saying that the meeting was cancelled, and my mother wanted to get out of the house, which freed my car.  I guess I was going to the meeting.

My original plan was to do some Studio stuff before the meeting, but I had to wait for my parents to leave, and decided to stop at the supermarket first, so that didn't happen.  Not a big deal.  The meeting was to be held in the studio of the organizer, artist Joe Borzotta, and I knew where that was on the 2nd floor.  Took care of my business and got there a few minutes before the scheduled meeting.  There were only five people present.  

The overall plan is to get as many people as possible to come to the event and to concentrate on getting visitors to the studios of resident artists, and not worry too much about vendors and other attractions that might interfere with that goal.  (sometimes these things are held in tandem with a vendor event, which generally keeps people out of the basement)  I'm all for that.  At this point, the plan calls for postcards again, names of artists if they are known, artists are expected to so some self promotion (I always do), and ad in the Tri-City News (local paper) and not NJ Monthly (too expensive).  Our in house promotion is good and over the years we have increased our list of interested persons. It was decided we would invite some of the more arts connected people in the region, but we have no idea if they will come.  We also discussed exterior advertising (a banner) on our building, signage in and around, perhaps marking the studios a little better so visitors can find them, as well as whether or not we  wanted to hold a before, after, or both gathering for the artists.  In the meeting we favored a brunch before rather than something after, but I guess it all depends on the budget.  

And that was pretty much all for today.  As of now the event is scheduled for Sunday April 13th, from 11 to 5 pm, about two months from now.  I'll mark it on my calendar.  I always have something to work on, so it won't be hard to come up with a project for visitors to see.  The challenge is getting people to the basement.  Sometimes I get 50 or more visitors, sometimes I get none, and usually nothing in between. It all depends on what they tell visitors and if they remember that any of us are down in the basement.  (last time they mentioned art studios on floors 1-3 in the program given out at the door, but nothing about the basement, and I had no visitors) Whether I have my lights on, music playing, or serve refreshments matters little if they don't tell people that there is something going on in the basement.  I reminded them of this today.

The meeting was short, but I did want to get home and had no time to get any art done, but as long as I made the trip, I wanted to check out one thing- had I yet printed the lyrics of any of the other Robert Johnson prints.  I found all six completed blocks, and found that two have never had the words printed.  I should probably do that soon, to make sure if anything more needs to be cut, and to have a layer of ink on those.  I can print those on scrap paper next time, and cut everything after that, and still make whatever deadline I may have.