Materials: 11x17" standard paper stock, kroy type setting, photocopy
This work was designed for use (by the staff) at the Arts Council Staff and Board 198? Holiday Party . The party took place in the original Arts Council offices in the basement of the Foundry Building on Whitney Avenue, New Haven, Connecticut.
This was by far one of favorite pieces as it satisfied many issues for me. It was playful and sharp in its willingness to address real issues. It was personal and played on many issues that existed in the Arts Council Organization at the time. I am typing this many years after the fact but I can still read each of the coupons and remember what I was thinking at the time.
The fact that I refer to this piece as a "board" game is the first and obvious pun. Each of the items on the board were coordinated with a coupon. The "boards" (posters) were printed in a heavier stock and taped up on the walls of the office as party decorations. When the board members arrived at the party, they each received a plastic packet which contained the board cut up into coupons. On the back of the coupon there was a hand (photocopied) printed explanation of the specifics related to each of the coupons. Each coupon represented some type of issue that existed between the staff and the board members.
The game was a playful but honest confrontation of the tensions between the board and staff members. One example would be the "misspelled" coupon. One of the things the Arts Council did at that time was publish the monthly Arts Calendar. It seemed that someone's name was mispelled each month. This was a constant source of annoyance to the board and there would be constant complaints from the board to the executive director and then to the staff. As a way to create a playful acknowlegement that this was a problem. this coupon gave the board members the choice of which month they wanted their name misspelled.
Only the board members got the coupon packets and so it was a gift to them from the staff.
Cultural Translation was a special offer for a language lesson from Bob Aiudi, who was a polyglott. There was some twist to, but I will have to look at the offer to refresh my memory.
Win was a raffle. In this case I purchased a cake at my favorite grocery store Walbaums. It was of particularly low quality but most likely overly decorated for the holiday season.
Staff Chance | this coupon was a particularly meaningful one, as it gave the board member the opportunity to complain directly to one staff member. Unfortunately the coupon's expiration date was the day before the party.
Current Comment: I always loved this piece and even now as I describe it, I can re-appreciate how much I was putting together and putting things out. I was learning about non profits and in particular policy and operations. This was a very exciting time for me and I was eager to learn as much as I could. It is worth noting that I was a board member in this organization before I became a staff member. I actually liked many of the board members and was poking fun at both the system and our own shortcomings as both board members and staff members. To this purpose each of the coupons created for the board game and given to the board members were directed at issues that we as staff members were dealing with in some way. In the end it was a lot of fun for all of us staff members to work on it and it was cutting edge enough to make it both meaningful and fun. To this day.. I become animated when I have a chance to discuss and handle this work.
