BAC to hold long-awaited 'annual' meeting

It's been years since the Brewery Arts Center has had either a full board of directors or an "annual" membership meeting. But Carson City's nonprofit arts organization is now set to have both.

The BAC board has been under fire this summer from some members who have criticized a lack of elections to fill board seats and the absence of an annual meeting to keep dues-paying members informed of what's going on with the multipurpose center.

In June, there were just five members on what is supposed to be an 11-member governing body.

After BAC member Chris Bayer organized a petition and an informal meeting, the board appointed six volunteers to fill the open seats and set a date - Monday - for a membership meeting.

"This is an important time for members to discuss the BAC," Bayer said in an e-mail to about 50 BAC members encouraging attendance.

Bayer and some other arts center supporters are still concerned with what they say are poorly written bylaws guiding the nonprofit and the continued absence of an election - each member now on the board was appointed either by current or previous boards.

Board of Directors Chairwoman Susan Crowell said the organization will stick to its schedule of three-year terms from here on out. None of the 11 seats, under that schedule, will be up for election this year, but two will be open in the summer of 2006.

The board and arts center supporters have been discussing the creation of committees to try and tackle issues facing the organization, such as a rewrite of the bylaws, but none have so far been formed.

Crowell said Wednesday the BAC is scheduled to meet with an arts and nonprofit-organization consultant in September, to discuss ways to improve the center along with what committees should be formed.

"Everybody has some ideas for committees, but (the consultant) is going to give us some guidance," she said.

New BAC Executive Director John Procaccini, hired in May to take over for former director Phil Caterino, said at the June meeting he is organizing the center's finances and operations. There's still a lot of work to be done on that end, he said.

Despite what some BAC members characterize as mild chaos over the past few years as the BAC took on an ambitious growth plan, the center has kept up a steady stream of events such as plays, art openings and musical performances while completing such projects as retrofitting the old St. Teresa of Avila Church into a new performance hall.

A main topic of conversation at Monday's meeting, Crowell said, will be what tasks the center is planning for the future.

- Contact reporter Cory McConnell at cmcconnell@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.

If you go

WHAT: Meeting for Brewery Arts Center members

WHERE: BAC Ballroom, 449 W. King St.

WHEN: 5:30 p.m. Monday