Name The Society shall be called the Southwold Art Circle
Objects The objects of the Art Circle shall be to bring together persons interested in art by arranging exhibitions, lectures and other appropriate activities.
Subscription Members shall pay an annual subscription due on the 1st January each year. The Executive committee to have authority to amend subscription charges as and when necessary. If a member’s subscription remains unpaid after one calendar year without reasonable cause, his or her membership shall be deemed to have lapsed.
President The President and Vice President shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting and shall normally serve for a period of 3 years but may continue in office for a further period subject to approval at the Annual General Meeting.
Officers The Chairman, Vice Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary shall be Officers of the Art Circle and the Trustees of any Property held for and benefit of the members. The Chairman and Vice Chairman shall normally serve for a period of three years but may continue in office for a further period subject to approval at the Annual General Meeting.
Executive Committee The day-to-day management of the affairs of the Art Circle shall stand referred to an Executive Committee consisting of the Officers and not more than four others elected at the Annual General Meeting. The Committee shall have the power to co-opt for a special purpose only or to fill a casual vacancy. Four shall be a Quorum. The normal period of office for Executive members shall be three years. Members shall be eligible for re-election for such further period as may be proposed by the Committee and approved at the Annual General Meeting.
Honorary Membership Honorary Members may be elected at the Annual General Meeting on the recommendation of the Committee for outstanding services to the Art Circle or to the arts generally in the locality.
Exhibitions Exhibitions arranged by the Art Circle each year shall normally be open to members only, for which a submission fee and any other reasonable charges shall be made. Works for the Summer Exhibition shall be chosen by an independent panel of professionally qualified artists, appointed by the Executive Committee, whose decision shall be final.
Awards The Awards (Christina Whitehead Awards, Sylvia Frere-Smith Award, John Simpson Award and the President's Drawing Prize) shall be made each year for works by members of the Art Circle submitted to the Summer Exhibition. One Whitehead Award shall be for a picture in oils, including oil pastels and oil bars, and the other for a work in one of the following media: acrylic, collage, pastel, print or gouache. The Frere-Smith Award shall be for a watercolour, with or without bodycolour. The President's Drawing Prize shall be for a drawing in any medium, and the John Simpson Award shall be given for a work of merit at the discretion of the selectors' panel. The Mona Thomson Award is given for print making.
The awards shall be held for one year or until the selection day of the Summer Exhibition. No member may hold more than one award in the same year nor be eligible for the same Award in the two succeeding years. Award winners shall also receive a sum of money from any fund established and held for such purpose. The Art Circle shall maintain a record of all award holders.
The committee may also award prizes for works of art submitted by invitation to the summer exhibition from local schoolchildren in age-groups 5-11 and 12-18
Financial Year The financial year shall be from the first of January to the thirty first of December.
Annual General Meeting An Annual meeting shall be held in the first quarter of the financial year to receive a report of the Financial Committee and the audited accounts, to consider any proposals concerning the election of officers and Executive Committee members, to appoint an Auditor and to transact any other business.
Alteration to rules No alteration shall be made to these rules except at an Annual General Meeting or at a Special Meeting called for the purpose, of which four weeks notice shall be given in writing to all members. Any members wishing to propose any new rule or an alteration or cancellation of an existing rule must send a copy of such proposal to the Secretary in reasonable time for it to be inserted in the notice convening the Annual Meeting.
Revision March 2000
Para 9 amended at AGM April 11 2008