The Center for Arts and Learning
Overview of Organization
CAL’s purpose is to support education and the arts by:
1. Providing and maintaining educational and arts facilities and associated infrastructure to support the respective missions of the corporation and its founding member organizations’ respective missions;
2. Advancing community improvements while maintaining the aesthetic qualities of Montpelier;
3. Improving connections and quality of life in the community by providing facilities, services opportunities and other support for, or distributions to, non-profit education, arts, public gatherings, and other community connections that advance any of these purposes or other related charitable causes.
Ways we do this
1. Maintaining and improving the 46 Barre Street campus to suit the uses founding members and the general artistic community
2. Providing for lease 28 private studios for creative and educational exploration
3. Adherence to historic preservation guidelines in regards to building maintenance
4. Providing free, low-cost and collaborative opportunities to engage with the community, such as:
Barre Street monthly summer potluck dinners
Montpelier Art Walk coordination
Short term rentals and meeting spaces
Fiscal sponsorship program
Sponsorships and collaborations
Community-responsive partnerships
Mission Area: Arts/Culture/Humanities
Size of Organization: Less than $250K
Position Overview
Board Members (3-7)
- Members of general public
- May hold officer roles, except Treasurer
- Responsible for non-building programs and other non-profit, mission-related activities
- Fiscal sponsorship, fundraising, arts programs
- Meet monthly, hands on volunteerism
- Develops program budget
- Expect 3 hrs/month of work
Board Member Roles (examples)
46 Barre Street Community Contact
- A Montpelier-based person to be an alternate contact for the public. This includes:
- Ability to show available rooms to potential tenants, answer basic questions about leases.
- General knowledge of the building and building access
- Meeting vendors, others if staff is not able to be present
Montpelier Art Walk Liaison
- Monitor the Art Walk emails and answer questions
- Support the program committee in executing the program
- Meet with potential participants as necessary
- Staff CAL during Art Walk events
Fundraising Committee
- Plan and execute the spring and winter fundraising campaigns
- Plan and execute special fundraisers
Fiscal Sponsorship Liaison
- Monitor sponsored program activities
- Support staff / program meetings and reporting
- Solicit and onboard new sponsored programs
Barre Street Neighborhood Captain
- Overall community development of this area
- Work with partners, neighbors, and local businesses to execute on community-building activities, such as Barre Street Monthly Summer Potlucks
- Boost Barre Street in the public sphere
- Encourage neighborly use of CAL building and programs
Founding Members and Board Members working together
- Annual Meeting: Meets in January annually to determine Officers and any other business. Treasurer shall be part of the Founding Members Committee. Other Officer roles are open to the Board at large.
- Vacancies are filled with a majority vote of existing Board Members
- The Founding Member Committee and Board Members have a mutual responsibility to hire CAL’s executive director, though the hire requires a majority vote of the Founding Members Committee.
- Each body will develop their respective budgets in the fall, with expectation for the full budget presentation to the Board in December.
Board Members working with CAL staff
- CAL staff are part-time, and work asynchronously in a hybrid work environment
- The executive director is the primary contact for the Board, though interaction with other staff may be expected depending upon the work undertaken
- The executive director is responsible for all other CAL staff.
- CAL staff are generally happy to assist – let us know how we can help you!
Desired Skills: General Board Governance, Fundraising/Development, Marketing/Communications, Strategy/Business Planning, Technology
Additional Information
Current # of Board Members: 5
Carries liability insurance?: Yes
Carries D&O liability insurance?: Yes
Time Expectations: 3
Meeting Frequency: Once a month
Meeting Location: Remote
Length of Term (in years): 1
Financial contribution required?: No
Service on committee required?: No