Jamie Sanin, the controversial board president of the Arts Society of Kingston, was voted out of her leadership position last week. Subsequently she submitted her own letter of resignation citing “defamation, harassment and stress…which has done a number on my physical and mental state this year.”
She wrote that her goal was ‘to make sure that ASK is a place where people of various incomes, abilities, gender identities, race and more feel not only safe but that they can take ownership of the organization.”
Several long-time ASK members told Hudson Valley One that they believed the 30-year old artist and educator was talented and that they welcomed her emphasis of bringing more young and marginalized artists into ASK.
Members also appreciated her willingness to step up and become president last year, during the tough days of the pandemic when what was wonderful about ASK – its frequent in-person member exhibits – were not possible.
But some who initially welcomed Sanin’s social justice agenda came to wonder whether her goals aligned with ASK’s narrow focus on promoting arts and artists. Did ASK need to have a community fridge? Did ASK really need to “decolonize what has traditionally been a privileged space” as a brochure suggests? Why was the Rondout Savings Bank’s 14-year sponsorship of ASK’s calendar ended?
But what bothered some members most was Sanin’s confrontational style. At a spring board meeting, six members blamed her harsh words for their decisions to resign. In a joint statement, they said they believed her mishandling of the situation was “unlikely to change.”
Those resignations left Sanin as the sole board member. She asked the membership for volunteers and was able to appoint an interim nine-member board. She introduced them to the membership in July.
By this time, about dozens of artists had organized themselves into CAM — Concerned ASK Members. During that meeting, they asked to expand the board to 15, the maximum allowed by ASK’s bylaws. In a July election, six CAM members were elected along with all the members of the interim board.
Sanin declined to be interviewed by Hudson Valley One on the record. One of her allies, a board member who asked not to be identified, says the CAM members nitpicked many of her decisions. They said a committee planning the recent Roaring Twenties-themed fund-raiser did not consult Sanin, despite her organizing experience. For their part, the event committee says it was difficult getting ASK’s membership list and other assistance with promotion.
Both sides agree that relations have deteriorated in recent weeks, perhaps exacerbated by an artwork by Sanin in the Spotlight Gallery spelling out “Go Fuck Yourself” in what one member described as “glitter, glue and pipe cleaners.”
Another point of disagreement was masking policy. Although state guidelines now recommend a mask-optional policy in public places, Sanin has backed mandatory mask-wearing in ASK’s galleries, citing health risks to its 2-day a week graphics designer. The board voted to make masks optional for the fundraiser.
Sculptor Richard Baronio was a Sanin ally and vice president of the Board. He hoped to convince her to be “more agreeable” and more forgiving of people who disagreed with her. He set out to meet as many committee members as he could in an effort to unify the organization. (ASK has several active committees to do everything from planning exhibits to hanging them.) But he says he discovered Sanin had left many bruised feelings.
Over the past few months, three board members have resigned and a majority of the remaining board voted to remove Jamie Sanin as president on December 16. They elected Richard Baronio as President, Staats Fasoldt as Vice President, and Kathy Nolan as Treasurer. Nolan says, “The task for ASK now is to reassess, reorganize, and work more inclusively to restore an open, creative space in which we can enjoy art with our members and community.”
ASK will be closed for the month of January for renovations and to allow the new leadership time to plan exhibits, classes and performances for the rest of the year.
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