Creative arts committee meeting 20210208
Creative Arts Committee Meeting
February 8, 2021
Meeting called to order at 7:00 p.m.
MINUTES:
Attendance:
Judy Kriehn, Chairman*
Lara Rosenblith, Vice-Chair
Beth Appleton, Sewing SIG chair*
Cary Fleming, Dye-Sub SIG chair*
John Norine, Leather SIG Chair
Marcia Weiner (aka Utopia)
Paul Wilson, Large Format SIG Chair*
(* denotes persons attending "in person". All other attended virtually.)
VOTES:
Approval of January committee meeting minutes:
Motion: Cary Fleming, Second: Paul Wilson
Vote: For - Unanimous
Motion to approve software purchase
made by Cary Fleming, and seconded by Beth Appleton
to approve expenditure of up to $375 to purchase up to three licenses of VinylMaster LTR software (based on the legal pricing of their cross-grade solution as shown in the https://talk.dallasmakerspace.org/t/creative-arts-meeting-february-08-2021/78668/2?u=dougemes. Software purchase will enable DMS members to use either of the vinyl cutters in CA, using the same software. Multiple licenses will allow more than one person to work on a vinyl cut at a time, and allow a more portable computer to be used for vinyl classes in a classroom if needed.
Vote:
For: 5, Against: 0, Abstain: 1
Motion to approve funds for sewing machine repair/service<u>
made by Beth Appleton, seconded by Cary Fleming
Motion to approve up to $350 for sewing machine repairs/service.
Vote:
For: Unanimous
<u>Motion regarding pile o' MDF and steel brackets made by Lara Rosenblith, seconded by Paul Wilson Make the steel brackets and the 2'x4' sheets of 3/4" MDF available to other committees in the Makerspace on a first-come/first-served basis, since the shelving project has stalled and shows no signs of resuscitation.
Vote:
For: Unanimous
Motion to adjourn:
Motion: Beth Appleton, Second: Lara Rosenblith
Vote:
For: Unanimous
Meeting adjourned at 7:36 p.m.
SIG Reports:
Dye-Sub<?>
Cary Fleming reported that the replacement switch has been installed on the Vacuum Press, so it now both turns on _and_ off again. (yippee!) He has a DyeSub 101 class coming up shortly after February 14, and also plans an additional "event" to allow members who took the 101 class while the vacuum press was out-of-service so they can learn the ropes of safely/successfully using this tool.
He inquired whether there is a way to find out what kind of money is coming back to committee as a result of dye-sub use. Basically, we'd like to know if people are paying as they should. Question will be referred to DMS Treasurer @Bizwacky
Discussion Items:
(Old Business)
Chairman Judy Kriehn reported on the ongoing computer system upgrades in the Digital room. (full info listed below under agenda)
On the question of a rolling cart for teaching vinyl classes (and for that matter, using the Metazza or the Cameo 2), Paul Wilson suggested that the media cart he put together for webcasting classes and meetings be utilized for that purpose rather than worrying about building a portable system at this time, since the cart is not in heavy use, and other users can't screw up the software setup.
Regarding @dougemes' concerns about the collection of large format papers, committee decided to get a large plastic bag to bundle up the lot, seal it up with packing tape, and then set aside in a corner. Since it was purchased with DMS funds, and represents a considerable monetary investment, we feel it would be a mistake to discard it or try to sell it. And bundled up, it won't be a huge problem with space usage.
Affinity Software - "Designer" and "Photo" have been suggested as low-cost alternatives to Creative Suite Illustrator or Photoshop.
Committee member Marcia Weiner (Utopia) inquired about restarting the Fiber Art SIG and having Creative Arts workday(s). Given the fact that many of the Fiber regulars are no longer members or are unwilling to be around other people during the pandemic, the committee was not terribly supportive of a full-court effort to resurrect the group.
Similarly, many committee members as a whole are unwilling to come to the space, so we just encouraged her to do housekeeping as she felt was appropriate; permission granted to throw away dried-up paint, unusable paint brushes, clean-out cabinets, etc.
AGENDA:
<u>Approve minutes from December meeting:
(posted with agenda here: https://dallasmakerspace.org/w/index.php?title=Creative_arts_committee_meeting_20210111&action=edit)
Chairman's report (aka Old Business):
Computer upgrade process for Digital Room - episode 3:
Doug Emes (@dougemes) has plowed through the setups for the vinyl cutters and the Silhouette Cameos. While we are covered for the computer upgrade for the Silhouette software, with the addition of the new cutter (which he has hooked up and working) we need to upgrade the vinyl cutting software anyway, to ensure one set of software supports both the Titan and the Summa. He recommends that we approve the expenditure of $179 for a single license for VinylMaster LTR - Letter edition, which is an entry level design/cut software that will run BOTH of our vinyl cutters, rather than having to teach/support two separate programs. If the software needs to be installed on more than one computer, additional licenses are $89.50. Link to information about the software is here:
I would like to entertain a motion to approve the purchase of up to two licenses of the software ($268.50) and instruct Infrastructure to use their good judgement whether we need to purchase/install on two of the computers or only one. Given the experience with misplacing the login/license info with the last go-round, I would prefer that Infrastructure manage the actual software purchase/installation, so that they have all the pertinent information stashed in their master knowledge base for future referral, rather than depending on the not-very-effective CA hive mind...
Doug also has a proposal about setting up another cart for vinyl, but I don't (yet) understand what he has in mind well enough to present.
Migration to Budget process
I reported our concerns to DMS Treasurer, @bizwacky. He felt they were all good points, and indicated he would share concerns with Board. However, he did feel that adding additional restrictions/oversight to Committee Chairs to prevent premature budget drainage would be well-received by the membership or easily enforced anyway. He did agree that we should openly encourage committees to separate the Chairman responsibilities and the Purchase Agent responsibilities. Being a new committee chair can be nerve-wracking in and of itself, and adding financial responsibility makes it even more intimidating to newer members. He thanked me for our input.
As of this week, DMS committees are officially migrated to the budgeting system. Committee chairs received a message from Finance listing the monthly/semi-annual amounts planned.
Ongoing Digital Room Computer Upgrade process
Doug Emes and I met with Andrew Spencer, CTO, and a couple of other Infrastructure Group members (including one board member.) I _think_ our plan is as follows:
(1) work on rearranging the room to make the two desk/table workstations more "workable."
(2) make the dye-sub computer EXCLUSIVELY for dye-sub software. None of the other bloat.
(3) install the vinyl cutter software that I hope we approve tonight on both the computer station currently serving the Cameo(s) and design, AND the current station connected to the Titan. This will ensure that we can keep the new cutter against that north wall, and also allow two people to work on vinyl projects at the same time in the room.
(4) Doug has a goal of setting up a portable computer station, similar to the cart the Dye-Sub computer is on, so that (a) the older Cameo and (b) the Metazza can conceivably be moved out of the digital room if the room is already full of working members, and (c) provide an option for vinyl-cutting classes to be hosted in a larger room. Andrew will reimagined the computer currently hosting our copy of the Adobe Creative Suite, and then turn it over to us to do whatever... So - if anybody wants to team up with Doug (@dougemes) to plan an appropriate rolling computer station, please do so.
(5) When the new computer currently attached to the Cameo 4 is imaged, we will not be installing the Creative Suite immediately. At this time, nobody is sure about the provenance of the software license that CA has been using, AND we all agreed that it would be better for the room to be used for actually using the output equipment than for design. So - Andrew and I are going to debate long-term location(s) for the "space-at-large" design computers, (NOT in the Common Room) and plan to relocate the digital/tablet-ish-monitor/pen thing to that location.
(6) Anybody teaching "how to use the vinyl software" classes need to begin reminding members that they should NOT be plopping their cut files on the desktop hard-drive. Andrew and the Infrastructure team are working on a software tool that would automatically delete personal files older than, say, a week. Andrew confirmed that the WIKI already includes verbiage that states that DMS takes no responsibility for personal computer files. If they disappear, too bad, so sad.
Doug and I threw away the boxes that the new cutter came in and the cameo4 came in. We also need to have the large-format HP paper to go away as well. I have asked Andrew to give Cary Fleming admin privileges on the Dye-Sub computer when it is finished/installed, and for Doug to have admin privileges on the other 2-3 computers. This will allow our committee to keep our equipment-specific software updated as needed.
SIG Reports/Requests
Dye-Sub
Cary made the switch repair on Saturday. Later this month, he will host a come/go event to allow members who took the dye-sub classes while the press was down to see how it works and how to plan projects to make effective use of it.
Sewing
Leather
FiberArts
Resin
Wide Format Printer
_______
Other Discussion Topics
Vice Chair Lara Rosenblith reports that the Board would like to know what we plan to do with the pile of MDF boards etc. that prior CA Chair, Shay Galland purchased with the intention to install shelving around the main CA room above all of the shelving & cabinets. The efforts to install the shelving in the method originally intended fizzled due to a combination of lack of interest on the part of volunteers to do installation and subsequent concerns about the load capabilities the planned installation would actually be able to bear without collapse. (and the ability to ensure that weight limits were not exceeded by overzealous pilers).
