Help us promote papercut artwork, and ensure the health and flourishing of our Guild! If you have been wanting to get more involved in GAP, but weren’t sure where to start, please consider joining a committee that interests you!
Committees are not just for Board members! The regular members of GAP are encouraged to join any committee of interest to them—this is a great way to have a say in the future of GAP, to make friends with other papercut artists, and to get more involved in the ever-broadening world of artistic papercutting!
General: Each of the Guild’s committees is independent, and chaired by a member of the Board of Directors. The Committee reports back to the Board at each regular Board meeting. (By-Laws §7.3, “Committee Organization”; reminder: you must be logged in to see the by-laws).
Here are the active GAP Committees at present—GAP members are welcome to join any committee! Take a look, and see if any of these suit your talents, ideas, and temperament.
Museum Committee
This committee aims to maintain and nurture the GAP National Museum in Somerset, PA, and build a bright future for it. Brainstorm new exhibit theme ideas, develop storage possibilities for our extensive archival collection of historic papercuttings, promote exhibits and calls for art, set exhibit fees and rules, solicit support from universities and other institutions, and more. You do not need to be living near Somerset to join this committee (but if you are, that is definitely a plus!). Contacts: Rebecca Raupach, Randall Williams
Programming Committee
This committee works to put together an interesting roster of workshops for members, finding and inviting new teachers and exploring new topics in current paper arts, and brainstorming new ways to bring the art of papercutting to our members and the general public. We also organize monthly Crafty Hours, which are currently (2023-2024) in the capable hands of Wendy Bale and Laurie Moorhead. Acting Chair: Jeri Fogel; Board Contact: Ellie Mae Esquivel
Membership Committee
This committee works to maintain and build the membership rolls of our 200+ member organization. Membership folks contact lapsed members to urge them to renew, recruit new members, survey members on subjects important to the Guild, and generally support members in their growth as papercut artists. Membership coordinates closely with almost every other committee, and on this committee you get to know many papercutters within and outside the Guild personally. Contact: Randall Williams
Cover art by Doris Sikorsky
Digital Communications Committee
This committee creates, edits, and sends out our Guild newsletter (now digital), First Cut, as well as being involved in all the print and non-print publications of the Guild. Other opportunities to contribute include our FaceBook page, Instagram, and the various parts of our website. Help spread the good word about our members’ work and the world of papercutting. Chair: Sam Wróbel; FaceBook – Amanda Humpage; Instagram – Sara McMahon; Website – Jerise Fogel
Exhibits Committee
This committee organizes exhibitions of members’ artwork beyond the National Museum, working with places such as Highbridge Gardens and overseas embassies and papercutters’ guilds to create opportunities for GAP members to show their work across the nation and around the world. For questions, contact exhibitions@papercutters.org. Upcoming 2024: “Paper Trails” at View Arts Center in Old Forge, NY (contact: David Reichard).
Grants Committee
Fundraising and grantwriting is important to ensure the financial viability and stability of the Guild, and to help build a cushion of funding that allows us to achieve goals such as improving and building the Museum collection and outreach, restoring old papercut artwork in our collection, offering free outreach workshops and maintaining a presence in the papercutting world, holding our traditional biennial Conferences (aka Collections, eventually in person once more, we hope!), building our membership, and more. Chair: Lucrezia Bieler
Finance Committee
This committee, led by the Treasurer, works closely with the President and our Accountant/Bookkeeper at the Museum at Laurel Arts, Somerset, PA, to produce the annual budget, maintain and make available the financial records of the organization, produce reports on income and outgoing funds to be shared with the Board regularly, and keep GAP thriving financially. Works closely with other committees to support initiatives, conferences, exhibits, and more. Chair (Treasurer): Jason Koons
Conference Committee
This is the planning committee for our upcoming Conferences (aka Collections), which have usually in the past occurred every two years. No current chair, but if you are interested, send us a message at gap@papercutters.org
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