It
has been said that "It is a function of art to shift our perceptions...to
shake up the familiar...to evolve new forms". In that sense Open Arts Enterprises
Inc. is a work of art in progress that is evolving into a new, and very creative,
organizational form...a community company!
It
is a "creative collaboration" based on the belief that In this era of
intense competition for the donated and granted dollar we need to put "supporting
the arts" on a businesslike basis in an artistic way. That it is time for
arts people to add to the support mechanisms available to them by building
a community company that both serves them and shares its profits with them. A
company developed and owned by, and for, arts people.
Open
Arts Enterprises Inc. is such a community company because:
1) It combines the
community service orientation of non-profit organizations with the self-support
methods of business.
2)
It will continuously seek to build community among arts people by offering a growing
range of networking, career development, mutual support, entertainment, social
and other services and opportunities that will bring them together in both work
and play.
3)
It will be strongly influenced by the interests and aspirations of the members
of our arts community who get involved with it as Open Arts Community Members and Open
Arts Alliance Members or as clients, arts associates, arts lovers, arts facilitators,
arts partners and company shareholders.
4) It makes its company shares
easily accessible to any members of the arts community whose creativity, time,
energy, ideas and other resources help to build it with the goal of ultimately having it
owned by the widest possible range of members of the community it was
created to serve.
5) Its authorized share capital includes a series of Class A Voting Shares known as "Community Shares" that may be donated, gifted or otherwise awarded free of charge to individuals and organizations whose arts oriented activities are deserving of such awards. The timing and methods for making such awards will be set from time to time at the discretion of the company's directors provided always that whenever the directors issue such shares the total number issued must not exceed 20% of the total number of Class A Voting shares then currently issued.
6)
It is holding in trust a block of 1000 Class B Non-Voting shares to be donated to a non-profit foundation that will be registered by the company under the name
of The Open Arts Foundation at a
time set at the discretion of the company's directors.
These shares along with any dividends or other benefits accruing to them in the
meantime will be donated to this foundation within 14 days of its registration
date. This donation will form
the beginning of an investment only capital fund that can be augmented by other donations
and monies generated by a variety of fundraising activities. A minimum of 50% of the
earnings generated by this capital fund will be awarded at least annually as grants to arts community applicants democratically chosen by Open Arts Community Members
and the balance of those earnings after administration expenses will be added to the
capital fund to keep it growing.
