Cornwall, Ontario– The board of directors of The Art Gallery in Cornwall has decided to change its meeting format in order to allow members to participate and voice their concerns.

In making the announcement today board Chair Roland Besner said he hoped it would provide more accountability and transparency to TAG operations and encourage Cornwall and area artists who are members to participate in decision-making.

“We feel there are a lot of issues and concerns out there that have to be addressed by the board but we have to learn what those issues are before we can do something about them,” he said.

TAG will be one of the first organizations to provide members the opportunity to ask questions and get information through a portion of the meeting set aside for that purpose. That part of meeting will always be at the start of the meeting.

The board of directors has also established the third Monday of every month as the date for the regular board meeting, a move Besner feels should help members of the arts community plan their appearances before the board. In general the meetings will take place at the TAG storefront on Pitt Street.

“We don’t promise there will be an answer immediately when an issue is brought up. What will happen is we would take the issue under advisement and, depending on the situation, either make a decision at that meeting, or, if there has to be some research done, we would discuss it at the next meeting,” Besner said.

The chairman also pointed out members of the public will be invited to remain and observe the open part of the meeting which will follow the public meeting – another proposal to open up the process and be more transparent to the public. However he points out at this part of the meeting only members of the board of directors will be able to take the floor.

Besner admits there will be closed and in-camera meetings afterward, if required, but in general these would be limited to personnel or property issues, which are the same criteria used by city council and the four school boards.

“We expect this will go a long way toward making TAG the important part of the arts community that it should be,” he said.

The new board headed by Besner was elected at the annual general meeting last January.   Besner says over the next few months the board will be working on preparation of a vision statement of what it wants to accomplish this year.