Rules of Membership

1. The Society shall be called the Colchester Art Society

2. The objectives of the Society are to: -

(a) Stage open public exhibitions of recent paintings, drawings and sculpture.

(b) Encourage general appreciation of the visual arts by the sponsoring of other exhibitions and by other appropriate means.

3. Membership of the Society is on submission of an application form to be obtained from the membership secretary.

4. The Society shall be governed by a General Committee consisting of the Society’s Officers, namely the President, Chairman, Vice-Chairman. Secretary, Treasurer, Membership Secretary, Exhibitions Secretary, Publicity Officer, Curator of the Loan Collection, Chairman of the Selection Panel, Social Secretary, Mailing Officer and three other members. Eight Committee members shall form a quorum.

5. (a) The President will be elected at an Annual General Meeting (A.G.M.) to serve for five years and after this term will be eligible for re-election.

(b) All other officers shall be elected at the A.G.M. to serve until the next A.G.M. at which they shall be eligible for re-election to office or to the General Committee

(c) The Chairman of the Selection Panel shall be limited to a term of five consecutive years and that person shall be eligible for re-election for a further five years

(d) At each A.G.M. one member other than the Officers shall be elected to the General Committee to serve for a continuous period of three years following which period that member shall be eligible for re-election

(e) The General Committee shall meet as soon as possible after the A.G.M. and at least once in each of the following three-monthly periods.

(f) The General Committee has the power to Co-opt.

(g) A vacancy on the General Committee shall be filled by the Committee and any member so chosen shall retire at the next A.G.M. but shall be eligible for re-election to the General Committee for so long a period as the member formerly filling the vacancy could have served

(h) At the A.G.M. at which these rules are passed and at each ensuing A.G.M. in the event of doubt as to which Committee members ought to retire in accordance with these rules the President’s decision on the matter shall be final

6. (a) The Society’s financial year shall end on the 31st day of March to which day the accounts of the Society shall be balanced.

(b) Members’ Annual Subscriptions shall become due and the A.G.M. shall be held not later than three Calendar months after the beginning of a new financial year.

(d) The committee is empowered to spend annually one-third of the total annual subscription on the purchase of works of art, provided always that any such works of art are not later disposed of without prior notice of such proposed disposal having been submitted to all members and approved by a majority vote at an A.G.M.

7. (a) The selection and arrangement of members’ work for exhibition, shall be made by a Selection Panel. At each A.G.M. two members shall be elected to the Panel to serve for a continuous period of three years following which those members shall for one year be ineligible for re-election to the Selection Panel.

(b) The submission fee for each work shall have been approved by the General Committee. Different submission fees for each work may be fixed for members and non-members.

(c) The Society shall be entitled to charge commission determined by the General Committee on each exhibited work sold during an exhibition.

8. These rules may from time to time be added to, amended or repealed by a resolution to that effect proposed at an A.G.M. or at a General Meeting convened by the President for the purpose, provided that not less than three weeks notice of the resolution shall have been previously given to all members and the resolution is passed by two thirds at least of the members present at the meeting.

9. The General Committee shall be the sole authority for the interpretation of the Society’s rules and its decision upon any question of interpretation or upon any matter affecting the Society shall be final and binding on the members.

Colchester Art Society Rules revised 1995, 2003, 2012, 2018 (A.G.M 12/5/2018), 2021 (A.G.M 26/6/2021)