A mission for the next 20 years: To the smaller group originally considering our 20th anniversary of Arachne coming up in 2 years, I wrote that I will be 75 very soon. I have surprising new health issues, and realize many of us need to be seeking younger talent to step into our shoes. We need apprentices! In many cases, the passing of one active sharing Arachne member will leave a substantial gap that may not be easily filled. Every lace guild/group I belong to (7) has a generation gap - very few younger members. Younger people can not be asked to take on too many demanding volunteer efforts, but each needs to be developed into a sharing lace person. When there are very few younger people, we must be aware they may burn out from too many expectations on top of the ones they experience outside the lace community. Still, our mission must be to encourage younger people to step up to the plate and take on some "subject matter expertise" needed for coming generations of lace lovers. I am looking for a lace conservation/restoration apprentice under the age of 50. I mean, someone who will learn about the subject and be excited about sharing advice on saving lace heirlooms. I began my journey of learning about conservation/restoration at age 35. I am also looking for a under 50 years of age apprentice to encourage to write book reviews and about the international lace scene -- history, museums, what major guilds are doing. I began this type of writing at the time Arachne was founded, but in the beginning wished I had started writing earlier. Long ago, I wrote that every major officer of a guild/group could benefit from having an aide. There is probably a still-saved long memo in our archives on this subject under my name. I meant someone who can help to get organized for a meeting or class, and help with logistics. Sometimes an aide to a President of a group may be in a position to help a Vice President if the President is incapacitated, for example. It is good training for the next step - taking on direct responsibility. The old memo was prompted by observing a very busy teacher of embroidery who was also President of The Embroiderers' Guild of America at the national level. There was a lot of travel involved.. She cultivated a perfect aide. In fact, her aide was so good that she prepared all student supplies/kits, drove the lucky President to and from the airport, and even took the dog to the boarding kennel !
Jeri Ames in Maine USA Lace and Embroidery Resource Center - To unsubscribe send email to [email protected] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [email protected]. For help, write to [email protected]. Photo site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lacemaker/sets/
