Purpose

East Finchley Open (EFO) is a voluntary group of artists and crafts people based in East Finchley. Its general purpose is to encourage art by local artists in the local community.

Specifically, it aims to carry out four areas of activity:

• Development of our individual work; honest peer group feedback on our work; bringing people out; encouraging new work

• Commercial presentation; publicising & advertising our work; selling our work, with accompanying sense of empowerment this can bring

• Working within and for the local community as a whole; adding to their perception and experience of art and art making

• Networking amongst members of the group; with other groups; learning about other art work

Set up in 2004 in order to organise an Open Studio exhibition that summer, the EFO have since held regular meetings and AGMs, run annual Summer Open Studios and Arts and Crafts Fairs in autumn, initiated artist-lead community events, held social events and peer group discussions for Members. Other local projects and events, with which the EFO have been involved throughout the years, include the East Finchley Festival and the Muswell Hill Festival. EFO Members also exhibit independently throughout the year at various venues.

EFO are also aiming to make an educational and awareness raising contribution in East Finchley through liaison with the Green Man, East Finchley Community Development Trust, Arts Depot, and Barnet Arts and local schools.

Funding

EFO is a not-for-profit organisation, funded through Membership fees and charges (eg, event ticket sales, entry fees, sales commission), sponsorship from local businesses and charitable donations from the Milly Apthorp Trust and individuals. The main EFO expenditure is for EFO events: facilities and venue hire; promotional materials, sales commission (to venues); and catering costs.

The committee will propose all charges annually and as required for unexpected items, and these will be agreed beforehand at a group meeting.

EFO have contributed towards the Martin School PTA fund (in exchange for volunteer help with EFO events) and the local charity for the elderly, “Contact”. EFO will contribute to local good causes when possible.

Membership

EFO does not vet work prior to an artist or crafts person joining the EFO but may vet work for EFO events.

In order to join the EFO as a Member, an artist or crafts person must meet these requirements: be living and/or working in the East Finchley area (mostly N2); be creating their own art or craft work; pay an annual Membership fee, set annually.

All Members are then also required to give some of their time by volunteering to do tasks that enable EFO events and projects to be successful. They may be co-opted to such tasks if necessary.

Members are also required to agree with and actively support the Purpose of the EFO as described above.

Failure to continue to meet these requirements may mean withdrawal of Membership and associated benefits, either after the AGM and rejoining date or at any Committee meeting.

Members are entitled to specific benefits in return: entry of at least one piece into the annual EFO Summer Open; the opportunity to exhibit at Member-only events (including opening their house as part of the Summer Open); corresponding entries in the EFO brochure and event catalogues/flyers where they take part; lower entry fees and ticket prices for events; priority booking/ticketing for limited-place events; an EFO web page with their contact details and a sample image of their work; links from the EFO site to other web sites where they are represented.

If a person wishes to join as a Member but cannot meet these requirements for good reason, they may be allowed to join – by a majority vote of those Members present at a Committee meeting - for the remainder of the year.

If a person wishes to join as a non- artist and is willing to contribute their time and expertise on a voluntary basis, they can be designated as a Support Member by a majority vote of those Members present at a Committee meeting. Support Members are not entitled to vote or to Member benefits but may be granted some or all of these at the discretion of the Committee. Support Members do not pay a Membership fee.

An artist ineligible for Membership, they may be able to take part in events as a guest of an EFO Member. Guests will be subject to similar rules to Members’ rules (with, generally additional or higher fees than for Members) but will not gain Membership benefits.

EFO cannot offer Membership to other groups or commercial organisations, although Members can be part of other commercial organisations – indeed the EFO encourages Members to become successful commercially as well as artistically. EFO will foster links with other organisations to the advantage of Members where possible.

Information about Members is held by the EFO for the purposes of communication between Members about EFO events and activities. It will not be given to third parties and should not be divulged by Members without prior permission. Specifically, the EFO Members contact list and EFO email circulation system is for EFO Members’ use on EFO-related activity only.

Organisation

The EFO is organised by a committee of representatives, elected annually at the AGM from the Membership, by Members. These posts are voluntary and unpaid. The committee has externally required roles for Chair, Treasurer and Secretary. It has four coordinators who represent Development, Publicity, Community and Networking - the areas of EFO activity outlined at the beginning of the Constitution under Purpose. The committee may also co-opt a vice chair and occasionally committee members without portfolio as Support Members.

Committee meetings serve as the mechanism for routine decision-making concerning EFO business. A Committee meeting making decisions requires a quorum of Members and Committee post holders as follows: the meeting should be notified to all Members at least a week in advance; at least 25% of current Members (including committee members) should be present; the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer posts must be represented as should the other committee members. If a committee member cannot attend, they should arrange for another Member to speak on their behalf.

At these meetings, the committee members will keep the Chair informed about the current state of the areas for which they are responsible. The Committee will also seek the views of other Members attending the meetings, takes any vote by show of hands and is then empowered to take decisions on behalf of the Membership as a whole based on the majority decision at the meeting, with the Chair having the deciding vote.

In addition to Committee meetings, Group meetings are held to present the views of the Committee to the wider EFO Membership and to get approval for specific matters, such as the annual budget, which events and projects the EFO will undertake during the year and the dates for these events.

The Committee can make decisions to approve expenditure from EFO funds up to a value of £800. Items over this amount need to be approved in advance at a Group meeting and approved by the majority of those present, with the Chair having the deciding vote.

The Committee decides the terms and conditions for taking part in each EFO event. The Committee co-opts Members as event or project coordinators, to be responsible for planning and organising specific events and projects as they arise.

Coordinators in turn seek volunteers and if necessary co-opt other Members to the various tasks that make the events and projects successful, holding event planning meetings with their team as required. Coordinators report on progress and approved expenditure at the monthly meetings. Coordinators may be asked by the committee to take responsibility for deciding which works can be shown at specific events, thereby taking into account: the constraints of individual venues; health and safety; public acceptability and artistic merit. Work submitted for EFO events may be selected or rejected based on the event terms and conditions.

The committee may alter the EFO constitution in the following way: by calling an extraordinary general meeting; a months notice must be given to all members of this meeting; to have a quorum, 40% of the current membership must be present at this meeting together with representatives of the Chair, Secretary and Treasurer; any decisions are carried by a majority of those present, with the Chair having the deciding vote.

Legal

The committee has taken out public liability cover for EFO events for 2D artworks for Members. Details of this cover are available on request. No other insurance cover is provided or implied by Membership of the EFO or by taking part as a guest. Specifically, no artworks, equipment or any personal properties are covered in the event of loss or damage however caused.

Any representations of works in EFO publicity materials, press releases, newspaper & magazine articles or the EFO web site remain copyright the artist concerned. Unauthorised use of these representations is not permitted.

The committee publishes contact details of Members from time to time, to aid communication across the Membership, for circulation to the Membership, for publicity purposes and on the web site. It is the individual Members’ responsibility to ensure this information is up to date and appropriate by keeping the Membership secretary informed of any changes or restrictions on information held by the EFO.

Winding Up Procedure

In circumstances where the Committee or a majority of the Membership at the time feels that the EFO should be wound up, the following steps will be taken:

An Extraordinary General Meeting will be duly notified to all Members current at the time, and notice given at the same time of the proposed winding up of the EFO, according with this procedure. Local press will also be informed. Those Members unable to attend may send in postal votes on the notified proposal to the Chair before the meeting.

At the meeting, a discussion on the proposal will be held. After the discussion, a quorum will be established equivalent to that required for altering the constitution. If the meeting has a quorum, a vote will be taken on the proposal to wind up the EFO. There will be a show of hands of those present and a count of postal votes received. A 2/3 majority of those Members voting will be required, to carry the proposal.

If the vote is in favour of winding up, an announcement will be sent to all members current at the time and local press, notifying them of the winding up. An announcement will also be placed on EFO web sites.

A final set of accounts will be prepared and professionally audited, with all outstanding debts cleared and creditors written off.

Once the accounts are audited, the Treasurer will transfer any uncommitted monies in the EFO Bank account to the National Art Fund, with a proviso that any purchase made with the money be identified as having been bought through a donation from the East Finchley Open.

Once the transfer has completed, the bank account will be closed.