Annual Report 2010/11

Rt. Revd. Stephen Cottrell, Bishop of Chelmsford launching the Art Trail for the Barking Episcopal Area

In our second full year of operation commission4mission has consolidated its initial achievements, reviewed its strategy, and maintained its growth and development.

During 2010/11 commission4mission has:

• researched, published and launched a Church Art Trail for the Barking Episcopal Area;

Pottery and paintings in our ‘Peacing Together One World’ exhibition at St Mary Magdalen, Billericay

• completed commissions for artworks at All Saints Hutton, St Peter’s Harold Wood, St Edmund’s Tyseley and St Pauls Goodmayes;

• gained commissions for artworks at All Saints Hutton, St John’s Seven Kings, and St Margaret’s Great Ilford;

• maintained a changing display of member’s work at All Saints West Ham and organised exhibitions at St Mary Magdalene Billericay, St Nicholas Rawreth and as part of the West Ham Festival;

• held a networking event and a performance evening and organised a launch event for the Barking Episcopal Area Art Trail;

• worked in partnership with CANA and Veritasse to create ‘Run With The Fire’, an international art project for the London 2012 Olympics;

• completed a strategic development review resulting in work commencing to gain charity registration for commission4mission;

• expanded our membership to 38 (as at 31/03/11) and were joined by Wendy McTernan as regional co-ordinator in South/West London; and

Jonathan Evens and Henry Shelton present the c4m cheque to staff of Haven House.

• presented a cheque for £2,700 to the Haven House Children’s Hospice, this being the charitable element from our first year of operation.

We are very grateful to: all members for their support and involvement; all committee members for their direction and guidance; our Patron, Bishop David, for his ideas and interest; Rev. Helen Gheorghiu Gould for her work on our Strategic Development Review; Mark and Matt Lewis for work on the Barking Episcopal Area Art Trail; Wendy McTernan who joined us as a Regional Co-ordinator; Ranjit Solomon for his independent examination of our accounts; and to London-over-the-Border for their generous financial support of the Barking Episcopal Area Art Trail project.

Revd. Jonathan Evens, Secretary – July 2011

Planning for the future of commission4mission

commission4mission (c4m) has been undertaking a strategic review led by Helen Gheorgiou Gould to guide the development of the organisation over the next three to five years and beyond. We asked members to contribute to this process in March and April, we reviewed our internal situation and we have also done some external research on similar organisations.

The purpose of this document is to report back to members on this process at the Annual General Meeting in June 2010 and to propose a strategic plan for adoption at the meeting.

Overview

The vision and mission of c4m is:

To encourage the commissioning and placing of contemporary Christian Art in churches, as a means of fundraising for charities.

Its objectives are:

• To provide opportunities for churches to obtain and commission contemporary Christian Art for church buildings.
• To provide information, ideas and examples of contemporary Christian Art and its use/display within church settings; and
• To raise funds for charities through commissions and sales of contemporary Christian Art.

Our review has shown that:

Members have indicated that they strongly support our aims and objectives but there is a desire for greater interaction with one another, a broader range of exhibiting opportunities, and a wider regional focus.

c4m has been very successful in its first year and has generated over £9,000, more than £2,700 of which has been donated to charity. It has developed a membership base of around 30 and has run a considerable number of exhibitions and events. It has a strong presence on the internet. However this level of activity and growth is difficult to sustain without staff – all current administration and support is provided voluntarily by the secretary.

We have identified 11 other organisations working in a similar area in England. Some of these are performing a similar role in partnership with other dioceses, some are commercial, and some are purely providing information. There is a good deal of common ground and therefore some exciting opportunities for national partnerships.

We found that c4m’s unique contribution as an organisation is our:

• Focus on commissioning and brokering commissioning relationships.
• Focus on local/parish churches – which impacts on artists and the church at the grassroots.
• Link to and support from Chelmsford Diocese and diocesan leaders.
• Committed and growing membership.
• Charitable link, which encourages commissions.

We have some problems:

• We have limited human resources and they are currently provided mostly on a voluntary basis.
• We also have limited financial resources.
• Our current legal status will hamper growth and our ability to raise funds.
• We are also providing limited opportunities to members who are outside the East London area.
• There are other organisations doing similar things, some of whom have been going for longer.

But we also have some great opportunities:

• A good relationship with the Diocese of Chelmsford, and especially our Patron the Bishop of Barking, which is a strength and gives us stability.
• We are evolving an interesting role in the commissioning arena and we can develop as an organisation that supports and encourages commissioning and Christian art at the grassroots.
• There are possibilities of collaboration between other similar organisations and dioceses.

We are therefore proposing the following strategy to address three key areas: Governance and Management, Membership, and Development.

Governance and Management

The review of the organisation has shown that:

• C4M has generated over £9,000 in its first year of operation.
• It has broadly charitable aims, and raises money for charitable distribution.
• Legally it is required to register as a charity if it generates over £5,000 a year.
• We are allowed a ‘reasonable’ amount of time to make this transition.
• An alternative commercial operation is unlikely to be financially viable.
• Commercial opportunities can also be pursued in partnership with other organisations.
• The governing body (committee) is small and needs additional skills and members.
• The organisation is reliant on part-time volunteer support and needs paid support for administration and development activities.

We therefore propose to:

1. Register as a charity (by December 2010).

2. Strengthen governance: recruit 3-4 additional committee members who will act as trustees of the new charity, including a treasurer.

3. Approve a new governing document (if necessary).

4. Seek funding for a part-time administration and development post.

Membership

The members’ review has shown us that:

• Members strongly support our aims and objectives
• They join C4M to promote Christian art, artists and art in church and to meet others.
• They need exhibition opportunities, networking and interaction, and support as artists.
• Expanded regional focus – more events central London and Chelmsford region.
• They want more interaction with each other, better promotion among churches and within church structures, more professional approach to exhibiting, more guidance on commissioning, better marketing/publicity.

In response we propose to:

1. Establish 3 regional cells (East London, SE/SW London, Chelmsford) to organise local social and arts events, develop relationships with local churches/structures and commissioning opportunities.

2. Develop a range of member events over a 12-month timetable:

a. Small exhibitions organised by members which c4m promotes.
b. Showcase exhibitions to profile work of members (more professionally curated).
c. Exhibitions of artwork integrated into new venues (e.g. churches without art/commissioning history) as part of promotion of commissioning.
d. Social/skills development events – share skills, demos, church/gallery visits.

Development

Our strategic review has shown that our unique strengths are:

• Focus on commissioning and brokering commissioning relationships.
• Focus on local/parish churches – impacts on artists and church at grassroots.
• Link to and support from Chelmsford Diocese and diocesan leaders.
• Charitable link, which encourages commissions.
• Idea to develop collaboration between other similar organisations and dioceses.

Therefore we propose:

1. Develop advocacy team of experts to promote and support commissioning: ‘good practice’, offer advice to commissioning bodies, and develop the skills and confidence of members to participate in commissioning.

2. Strengthen awareness and partnerships within the diocese – mailing to area deans, archdeacons, key committees and relevant diocesan officers; update in The Month;

3. Review charitable links: do we wish to widen the base of charities/causes we donate to, especially regionally?

4. Start dialogue and explore opportunities for collaboration with other similar organisations in England.

5. Develop marketing and promotions strategy (to include development of own mailing list, development of media contacts and coverage, cross-mailing with similar organisations.)

Strategic Development Timetable

Within 12 months

1. Agree and implement change in legal status (December 2010).
2. Strengthen governance structures (2-4 additional trustees?)
3. Establish3-4 regional cells and agree guidelines for how they will operate.
4. Appoint team of voluntary advocates for commissioning (with appropriate expertise).
5. Develop 12-month timetable of regular events and exhibitions (together with guidance on how members can self-organise).
6. Build relationships with similar organisations in England
7. Formalise resourcing arrangements with Diocese
8. Seek funding for development and admin support for 3 years
9. Sustain membership of about 40 members/supporters
10. Sustain and develop commissioning (in what way?)
11. Develop marketing and promotions (e.g. formal mailing list, key articles)
12. Strengthen awareness and partnerships within the diocese.

Within 2 years

1. Develop stronger administration and financial support systems.
2. Review and possibly expand membership and regional cells.
3. Develop strong partnership and collaboration with other similar organisations.
4. Increase membership to 60 paid members/supporters.
5. Develop Commissioning Guide with case studies (with churchart?)

5 years

1. 100 actively involved, enthusiastic and well connected members and supporters
2. Develop a supportive and engaged network of churches and Christian around a group of regional cells in SE England.
3. Develop national network of organisations supporting art in churches.
4. Develop online commissioning ‘portal’ – advice, examples, artists
5. To have strong and well established relationship with diocese, and other areas of Church of England, and ecumenical partnerships.

AGM, strategic direction & networking

commission4mission's AGM will be held on Saturday 19th June at All Saints West Ham beginning at 10.30am. The AGM will include the opportunity to view our initial exhibition in our ongoing exhibition space at All Saints, election of committee members and a substantive discussion of our strategic direction based on Helen Gould's review of c4m and her strategic direction paper.

Another date for diaries is our next networking event which will be on Saturday 17th July at St Paul's Goodmayes beginning at 2.00pm. We want this to be an event at which each of us can find out more about the work of other members, so are proposing that we do this as a 20x20 event. PechaKucha 20x20 Nights were first devised in Tokyo in February 2003 as events for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. They have turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing their name from the Japanese term for the sound of conversation ("chit chat"), it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It's a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace. Following the 20x20 presentations by c4m members, at 4.00pm the Bishop of Barking will bless and pray Henry Shelton's Stations of the Crown of Thorns commission which is now complete and installed at St Paul's Goodmayes. This will be followed by a buffet reception to finish off the event.

Networking evening, consultation & permanent c4m exhibition

Networking evening

Networking evening - Helen Gould, Henry Shelton & Rosalind Hore

Detail of Prophet Moses by Elizabeth Duncan Meyer

Angels by Elizabeth Duncan Meyer

Last night, we held a useful networking evening at St Laurence Upminister, as part of the current Grace & Passion exhibition, which featured Rosalind Hore and Henry Shelton talking about their recent series of Stations of the Cross leading into general discussion of the issues involved in painting the Passion.

In addition, we also had some stimulating discussion about the strategic development of commission4mission. We have been going just a year. In that time we have made great progress in establishing a membership base among artists and churches, and developing dialogue and opportunities for art in church – through commissions, exhibitions and other events. We now want to develop a strategy to guide the evolution of the organisation over the next 3-5 years and beyond and are asking members to contribute comments to a consultation exercise which we began last night.

Among the questions we are asking members are:

• What are your main reasons for being a member of c4M?
• How can c4m contribute to you, as a church or an artist?
• What is your vision for c4m?
• Is your vision addressed by the current vision and mission statement?
• What can you contribute to developing c4m?
• How far has c4m met your expectations of membership this year?

Following the Grace & Passion exhibition many of the works included in the exhibition, together with some additions (see, for example, the images of works by Elizabeth Duncan Meyer above), will be taken to All Saints West Ham who are making a permanent exhibition space available to commission4mission. This will mean that we will always have the opportunity to show potential commissioners of future works examples of work by our current artists. We intend using the space for a mixture of group and solo shows beginning with a group show which will be our contribution to this year's West Ham Festival. Once installed this exhibition can be viewed during All Saints' usual opening times (click here for details) or by phoning the Church Office on 0208 519 0764.