Board Members in Attendance:
Members Present: Susie Garretson, Chair, Sara Alemán, Sam Henderson,
Carolyn Shoemaker, Drew Barringer, Jim Reed, Steven Verkamp, Leigh Kuwanwisiwma,
Sam Braun, Jack Metzger, Alan Affeldt, LaVelle McCoy, Beverly Miller, Peter Pilles, and Barbara Poley

Board Members Absent: David Connell, Wayne Ranney, Susan Golightly

Emeritus Board Member: Benjamin Smith

MNA Staff Members in Attendance: Robert Breunig, Director; Lynn Yeager, Controller, Pats Shriver, Assistant

Sedona Muses Representative: Pat Pauli, President

I. Call to Order
Chair Susie Garretson called the meeting to order at 9:08AM; a quorum was present.

II. Approval/Acceptance of Minutes

A motion to approve the Board of Trustees meeting minutes of August 11, 2007 was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.

III. Approval of Consent Agenda (action)
Executive Committee Minutes: September 6
Finance and Investment Committee Minutes: August 8 and October 3

A motion to approve the Minutes of the Consent Agenda was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.

IV. Report from the Chair

Susie Garretson asked that all board members respond promptly to emails and voicemails and respond if necessary/required. Respond to committee chairs regarding attendance for committee meetings. Please arrive at meetings on time. If you are not able to attend committee meetings on a regular schedule, suggest to chair that you be listed as an advisor, not a voting member.

Rowena Dickerson and Octavianna Trujillo
Acceptance of resignations by Rowena and Octavianna (action)

A motion to accept the resignations of Rowena Dickerson and Octavianna Trujillo was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.

Sustainers of the West Report
It was a great day at Flying M Ranch. It was windy, but moving the venue to behind the barn worked out just fine. The food was fantastic! Thanks to Drew, Steve & Christine Verkamp for addressing all the invitations, Sam & Sally Braun, Jim & Lillian Reed for helping with set up, Sara Alemán, Pats, and Betty Marcus for helping prepare the brisket, Beverly Miller helping to serve food; Sam Braun directing traffic and the Golightly’s for the loan of the tire truck – thank you all! Jack, Mandy, Kit & Diane, you all were wonderful hosts. Thanks to Susie for helping pull it all together.

MNA staff has an annual holiday party. It was suggested by an employee that the Board help by supplying a main dish, possibly a honey baked ham and/or a turkey. It was agreed to go ahead and take monies from the Board Lunch Fund to purchase the dish. Pats Shriver will coordinate with the staff.

The Governance Committee will be looking for two new board members to fill the vacancies left by Rowena and Octavianna. Please contact Jim Reed to discuss possible nominees.

V. Report from the Director

Thanks to everyone who helped at the Sustainers of the West event.

Initial indications are that we are ending the fiscal year in the black or very close to it. We will be finalizing numbers in the next few weeks. Generally we feel we are very close to the mark. Any variance would not be material.

This has been a wonderful year for MNA. We have had several excellent exhibits: Timeless Excellence, Lasting Light, and the Namingha exhibit and Gala Event. This is the thirty-second season of the Discovery program. Over 600 children participated this year. Lavelle McCoy gifted a bus to MNA that is on campus today. We are working on getting a nice logo sign and recognition to McCoy Motors. A local foundation gave a grant for $27,000.00 to purchase a 12 passenger van. We will now have 2 vehicles to support Discovery & Ventures programs.

Therizinosaur opened with over 400 in attendance. The event went well. Visitation to the exhibit is strong. Reviews from the public are outstanding, with comments about the richness and intellectual depth of the exhibit. MNA is doing a review of the exhibit for flow, gaps, problems, etc. with the goal to go back and do corrective action if needed. David Gillette was the Shoemaker Keynote Speaker at the Flagstaff Festival of Science week. He did a wonderful job, and it was fun to watch how well he interacted with the kids. It was a great team effort, and many thanks to David Gillette, Victor Leshyk, and Tracy Anderson.

MNA held a reception for Flagstaff educators, hosted by Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS). Representatives from all the local schools got a special tour of the exhibit by David Gillette. While at MNA, they signed up for school tours. The APS Grant of $10,000.00 for busing children to the event has been committed. APS is thrilled, and we hope to be able to get additional grant dollars in the future.

Development continues on the Collections Center. Work has begun; utility, gas, phone, etc. lines have been relocated. Asbestos removal is now slated to begin on 10/15. The buildings continue to be emptied; the MNA servers have moved, the Herbarium has moved, and the art collection has moved. Groundbreaking for the center will be in early December. The current estimate is $5.2M for the building. There will be a report on the status of funding in the Executive Session.

The Collections Department is submitting a grant to IMLS for $107,000.00 for additional cabinetry for Anthropology – that will complete the acquisition for all the cabinetry needed. This year, MNA received $850,000.00 in grant funding for cabinetry for the new center. It makes the Collection Center donors happy when their gift is leveraged in such ways.

The final design of the building is close – a model of sustainability, green features, LEEDS certified, etc. As of today, it looks as if MNA could receive LEED Gold standard. There will be in-floor radiant heating, which can be reversed for cooling in the summer months. MNA is talking with APS in Phoenix over the next month regarding the solar components, and the possibility of rebates on solar installations. Everything is moving along well. The building will not be completed in September, 2008 for the 80th birthday, but the public will see the form of the building from the outside, and there could be a formal dedication of it at that time.

MNA continues work on a grant from Pulliam Trust for development of new long-term exhibits at MNA. There are a number of parts to the grant, and MNA is working with Roberts/ Jones Associates to do a complete analysis of the museum building. This includes all systems, foundation, exterior, insulation, electrical, lighting, etc. Conservation consultant Matt Crawford will help define a future exhibit environment – what does MNA need to do to bring it up to future standards? We are also working with all the tribes to determine how they want their tribal heritage exhibited at MNA.

There are ongoing NAGPRA visits. In recent weeks the Western Apache have been here along with two Hopi elders, and next week a contingent from Zuni will be visiting.

Coming up at MNA over the next few weeks – the hosting of the Native American film festival, which is in partnership with Coconino Center for the Arts; Trappings of the American West opens in a week in partnership with Dry Creek Arts Fellowship, and at the end of the month, Celebraciones de la Gente in partnership with the Flagstaff Latino Community. Robert will be in Havasupai October 21-23, hiking down to visit with the tribal council and discuss the MOU and future activities.

A Bruce Aiken painting is being donated to MNA by a friend of the museum It is entitled “Coconino Skyway” and is a landscape of the Aubry Cliffs area. Last month MNA had three artists, Katharine McKenna, Judy Abbott and Eva Van Rijn, in residence at Coyote Range They all live in Woodstock, NY. They have been out to the Colorado Plateau many times; all work together and do joint shows together. MNA plans to bring them back in one year for a show at the museum.

Dr. Breunig reminded us that when MNA purchased the Leigh Painting some anonymous donors offered a challenge grant. They gave $5000 to begin and then challenged that if we get $5,000.00 by the end of year, they will be willing to donate another $5,000.00. No further donations have come in. Robert has talked with some possible donors, but has not nailed down any commitments to date.

Dr. Breunig spoke with the American Association of Museums (AAM) yesterday to try to pin down a date for the site visit. They are still trying to get a visiting committee together. AAM is aware that MNA would like to achieve full accreditation by September 2008 in conjunction with our 80th Anniversary. There will be a meeting in July 2008 to help move the decision forward.

VI. Report of the Program Committee

Peter handed out Program Committee Meeting Minutes and discussed them briefly. The Pecos Conference is coming in 2008. David Wilcox went to the Pecos Conference in Santa Fe this year and requested that the program return to Flagstaff in 2008. Dr. Colton participated in the first Pecos conference that was held in Pecos, New Mexico in 1927.

There was a review of the accessions from the last Programs Committee Meeting:

1. IL2007-22: Anonymous. One textile for consideration by the new Collector’s Club. This textile was woven by Berdina Charley. She is one of D.Y. Begay’s twin sisters. They exhibited their weaving at the 2007 Navajo Show – their very first show. The sisters – Berdina and Berdine – started weaving in earnest two years ago and have been mentored by their older sister, D.Y. Pretty sure we did not accession this as it has not been purchased and there is no Collectors Club yet.

2. IL2007-23: Walter Hochstrasser. Mr. Hochstrasser is a friend of the Museum who gave select items from his collections to add to MNA’s collections. They included a Maria Martinez vessel, a book, a shadowbox bracelet, a turquoise chip inlay belt, and a necklace from Mr. Hochstrasser’s. Maria pottery is rare, and quite valuable. This is a particularly fine example of her work. The book is a second copy of one in the MNA library. The folio is a rare edition by a well-known artist.

3. IL2007-27: Anonymous: Color pencil on paper by Brennon Darrell entitled “Monka Dance”. It was an honorable mention winner at the 2006 Hopi Show.

4. IL2007-28: Kelley Hays-Gilpin – several Hopi items: An Elmer Satala, Jr. silver overlay pendant. This is a great addition to MNA’s Hopi jewelry collection by a silversmith not represented in the collections, nor is his hallmark illustrated in either of Margaret Wright’s books. The pendant is a good example of contemporary work. The rattles are good examples that will enhance our small rattle collection. The doll by Alfred Dawahoya is a different variant of the flat kachina doll. The other is a flat/cradleboard kachina doll by Ted Puhuyesva, who was an MNA staff member for many years.

5. A photo of Dr. Colton by Roger Carpenter.

A motion from the Program Committee to accept all accession items into the MNA collections as presented was made, seconded, and unanimously approved.

VII. Report of the Finance and Investment Committee

August Financial Review
The report of the Finance Committee was reviewed and was discussed.

The Finance Committee recommended that the board accept the August 2007 financial statements as presented. Motion was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.

2007-2008 Budget Review
A Power Point handout was given out to attendees reviewing the proposed budget for 2007-2008. The Finance Committee has reviewed the budget in detail and is recommending to the Board to accept the proposed budget.

The Finance Committee recommends that the board approve the 2007-2008 Fiscal Year budgets as presented. Motion was made, seconded, and passed unanimously.

MNA Endowment Foundation, Proposed Agreement on Transfer of Funds
The MNA Endowment Foundation has been incorporated and has received non-profit standing from the IRS. David Connell presented a proposed agreement for the transfer of funds from MNA to the MNA Endowment Foundation. There was an extensive discussion of the agreement.

The Finance Committee recommends that the Board of Trustees accept the MNA Endowment Foundation Agreement. Motion was made, seconded, and passed unanimously, with four abstentions; Allan Affeldt, Leigh Kuwanwisiwma, Peter Pilles, and Jack Metzger, with the understanding on the clarification on paragraph 2.

Proposed Bylaws Change to add the Audit Committee
There is a recommendation to make the Audit Committee a committee under the bylaws separate from the Finance Committee. The Committee Chair shall be a board member not on the Finance Committee. The remaining committee members can be either board members or non-board members from the community. No member of the Audit Committee can be a member of the Finance Committee.

Per Sam Braun, the Board Parliamentarian, there must be another 30 days notice, and then the vote for the change can be done on December 1, 2007.

VIII. Muses Report

Pat Pauli distributed a handout with the Muses Update. The Muses are working on expanding membership, and since August, have welcomed five new members for a total of eighty-nine to date. Fundraising has started, with the Holiday Luncheon scheduled for December 6th. The membership will also be visiting LaPosada Hotel in March. The lecture series is set for 2008 as well.

IX. Other Business S. Garretson 11:25

The Board delivered a thank you letter to LaVelle McCoy and McCoy Motors for their generous donation of the passenger van to MNA. LaVelle acknowledged that he believes strongly in supporting MNA and the community, and he is blessed to be able to do so.

Sam Henderson brought into conversation the concern about MNA admissions fees being a deterrent for Hispanic community members to attend the Celebraciones de la Gente. He suggested that Board members may want to sponsor admission fees to help families defray the cost, and it may encourage new memberships. Monies were donated, and Susie was sending out an email solicitation to the board as well.

Next meeting: Saturday, December 1, 2007, Community Room – Sedona Public Library