About us
Rules
Most societies have rules to define what they are there for and who is eligible or responsible for things. Southampton Art Society is no different. Here are our rules:
Title and Purpose
1. The Society shall be called The Southampton Art Society.
2. The object of the society is to further the interest of artists in the Southampton area and to provide opportunities for exhibiting their work.
Governance - Executive Committee
3. An Executive Committee shall govern the Society.
4. The executive Committee will comprise a Chairman, one Honorary Secretary, one Honorary Treasurer and six others elected from the membership. Others may be co-opted to assist the committee as required.
5. The election of the Executive committee shall take place at the Annual General Meeting.
6. The Officers of the Society are Chairman, Vice Chairman, Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer. Officers shall be elected or reelected annually.
7. Executive Committee members, normally six, shall be elected or reelected annually. Executive committee members will be expected to undertake functions such as, Membership Secretary, Exhibitions Secretary and Outdoor painting Co-ordinator.
8. A Quorum for Executive committee meetings shall be five members including at least two officers.
Governance - Presidents and Vice Presidents)
9. The President and Vice President(s) will be appointed after accepting an invitation from the Chairman and Executive committee.
10. The appointment of President and Vice President(s) will be for three-year terms, at the end of which time, they will be eligible for re-election for a further three years, if invited by the Society and if they wish to stand. Election will take place at the Annual General Meeting at the end of the term of their Office.
11. The duties of the President and Vice Presidents will be to further the aims of the Society and interests of its members.
Governance - Society Accounts
12. The accounts of the Society shall be made up to the end of the calendar year, and audited independently and presented by the Treasurer at the Annual General Meeting
13. The accounts of the Society shall be open to inspection by any member at the Annual General Meeting and regular monthly meetings.
Membership
14. Membership will be open to all persons, but the Executive Committee reserves the right to refuse or renew membership.
15. Society members shall undertake to observe the rules of the Society.
Meetings
16. Society meetings shall normally be held on the second Monday of each month unless notified otherwise.
17. Entrance to meetings shall normally be free to members. The Executive Committee may fix an entrance charge to members only at those times when there is an extraordinary cost by guest speakers, etc. to the Society, and only after giving reasonable notice to members.
18. There shall be an entry charge for guests at Society meetings.
19. At all meetings the Chairman's - or acting Chairman's ruling -shall be final.
Annual General Meeting
20. The March meeting shall be the Annual General Meeting of the society.
21. A quorum at the Annual General Meeting shall be 20 members.
22. Election of Officers and Executive Committee shall take place at the Annual General Meeting.
23. With the exception of the unusual calling of a 'Special or Extraordinary General Meeting' by the President or acting President of the Society (agreed by the Executive committee) amendments to these rules must be proposed and agreed by the Executive committee circulated to the membership at least 30 days before the Annual General Meeting and ratified at the following Annual General Meeting.
24. The annual subscription shall be decided at the Annual General Meeting and shall be payable within 62 days of that date. Those joining after the 1st. October shall pay half the subscription until the following Annual General Meeting.
Exhibitions - Types of Exhibition
25. The Society may organise both Members Only and Open Exhibitions into which members can enter work.
26. Open Exhibitions will allow those who are not members to enter works. Members shall normally be allowed to enter more works in Open Exhibitions than those who are not members of the Society.
Exhibitions - Exhibition Fees
27. No work shall be accepted for Member's only exhibitions unless the annual subscription has been paid.
28. There shall normally be an Exhibition Fee charged for works entered in Society exhibitions. Exhibition fees shall be fixed by the Executive committee and may vary, with members paying a lower entry fee than those who are not members.
Exhibitions - Selection of Work
29. For Open Exhibitions there may or may not be a Selection Committee established by the Executive Committee. Where there is a Selection Committee or judging panel for members work this shall include at least one independent adjudicator, or observer, to ensure fair selection. When the selecting process is to choose exhibits for those who are not members of the society the composition of the Selection Committee and process of selection will be at the discretion of the Executive committee.
30. The hanging of works shall normally be the responsibility of the Executive committee who may nominate a Hanging Committee to arrange the works for exhibition.
31. Though there shall normally be no restriction on the number of works entered by a member, the Hanging Committee shall take into consideration the nature of the venue, available space and appearance of the exhibition. In the event of there being more works than reasonable space, some works may not be exhibited.
32. The Hanging committee or Selection Committee may reject works that they truly believe to be unsuitable for exhibition by the Society. Badly framed works, dangerous 3-dimensional objects, or works too large or ungainly for the balance of the exhibition will be rejected. Any works, which may be deemed to be unlawful, or a cause of scandal or offence may be rejected. Some works may be reserved to replace those sold and removed from the display.
Exhibitions - Sale of Work
33. It shall be normal for exhibited works to be For Sale, but exhibitors may enter works as Not For Sale (N.F.S.)
34. The Society may take a percentage commission (%) from the sales.
35. The Society does not accept any responsibility whatsoever in respect of loss or damage to members' work, or to non-members' work.
This revision of the Rules was presented to and agreed by the Special Annual General Meeting on 20 . March 2006.
Southampton Art Society Rules Approved 20-03- 06
Historical Note: The Constitution of the Society has been either radically altered or re-written in the following years: 1885 (Amateur Society) 1887 (The amalgamation with O.S.O Art Assoc.), 1947 The new post war revival of the Society). 1995 (Largely re-written and approved when most of the 1947 rules were missing.)