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Schedule for Residence by Friends and Artists at 207 Commerce, Mineral Point
Following is: - A schedule of who will be residing at the Mineral Point Gallery and Living Quarters in the coming season. - Photos of the living quarters to give you an idea of the spaces and resultant lack of privacy - The rules for use of the living quarters and studio space and the instructions for use of the building.
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Prairie Oak Artisans North (Mineral Point) Resident Calendar Week for occupation of living quarters runs Monday through Sunday. Gallery Hours are 11am – 5pm Thursday thru Sunday, with hours to 9pm on days designated MPGN. Occupation may begin any time between beginning Monday morning and ends Sunday evening. By arrangement thru Karma with previous occupant, occupation may extend into Monday or later and may begin on Sunday night. A suggested procedure for first time occupants is to arrive just prior to closing on Sunday to receive instruction, then give current occupant privacy to pack and move out on Sunday evening, taking occupancy after they leave. For example, go to dinner and walk around town, returning later to move in. If not arriving on Monday, please indicate arrival date to allow previous occupant the opportunity to stay longer. Karma (630) 393-4598
BSCO – Boy Scout Camp Out BSCB – Boy Scout Canoe Base BSSC – Boy Scout Summer Camp MPGN – Mineral Point Gallery Night MPSR – Mineral Point Shake Rag workshop weekend MPAT – Mineral Point Fall Art Tour GFHD – Garfield Farm Harvest Days GFCR – Garfield Farm Candlelight Reception PWA – Powwow Aurora Schingoethe Museum PWDK – Powwow DeKalb NIU fds – first day of school NDvac – North Dakota vacation
RULES AND INSTRUCTIONS:
Welcome, Guests, to 207 Commerce! Name of Gallery: Prairie Oak Artisans North Phone number: (608) 987-3757 Contained here are directions and suggestions for your use of the building area by area. The building and this business are solely owned by Karma. Address all building questions to Karma. But if questions involve workings of the gallery, Sheri, Alan, Dale, Cindy, or Linda K. may be able to help. Karma at home: 630-393-4598 POA Gallery in Warrenville: 630-393-9100 Sheri at home: 630-393-7119 (let machine pick up, say something, wait for her to pick up) Dale at home: 630-393-6201
Introductory Warnings: You are, or will be, living and working inside an antique, one of the oldest in town. The wood portion was built in 1829, over 175 years ago! The stone portion was built in 1837. The back extension was added in 1950. There is a history binder at the building; it is lengthy and a lot to wade through but you are welcome to it. Also see the website history page. Even though it is technically legally MY building, the locals feel a certain justifiable possessiveness about it since it IS the oldest commercial building in town and what each does in and to theirs affects all. This is an urban building in a business district on a business street that is also a through highway. People are outside the building until very late at night and trucks roar by all day and if the door is unlocked people assume you are open and wander in and unless the curtain at the top of the stairs is down AND the “Shop keep’s Quarters” sign on the step, they wander up to the living space assuming it is more gallery. This is a small town and the artist community is a smaller close-knit segment of that, so they will discuss you and me and they will tell me their opinions of you and what you did while you were there. Ready for all that?
Packing: Some things you might not think to bring: Beach thongs or solid leather or rubber soled slippers to use to get from living space to downstairs shower over the antique wood gallery floor. Your own linens - bathroom and kitchen towels and bed sheets (Queen for bed, Full for 2 sleeper sofas) – provided, but bring your own if you do not want to do laundry while you are here. A robe if you are shy about getting from bedroom through other rooms to the shower. A laundry basket if you plan to do your own laundry while you are here. Foldable lawn chairs if you are going to be attending nearby events or going to state parks. Flashlight – if you forget to scope out locations of numerous confusing light switches, it will help to have a flashlight in your luggage so you can find them or get around without them.
Getting there: The drive is about 3 hours typically, and there are a number of good routes. We usually take I88 west to I39 north, both toll roads, so take plenty of change if you do not have an I-Pass. (I-Pass is $10 and available in about 10 minutes time at any Jewel, and will pay for itself in one trip.) Some take 20 over to 78N to 11W to 23W. Any number of smaller roads then will take you from I39/90 or 20 to Mineral Point, but do avoid going through Beloit: It is an unmarked, lengthy stretch of heavy traffic through town there. There are routes that use the Janesville exits. You can take I90 to Madison and W151 to Mineral Point. Once you get to Mineral Point, the main business strip in downtown is High Street. We are on Commerce Street, perpendicular to High at the bottom of the hill. 207 Commerce, Prairie Oak Artisans North.
Parking: You can park temporarily on the street, legally only between 6 am and 2 am (therefore not overnight) and only for 2 hours at a time between 9 am and 5 pm, but if you do park on the business streets during business hours, the local business people will consider it in extremely bad manners as those street parking spots are for customers. Please do not park for very long on any of the business streets during business hours. There is one spot behind our building. From the alley behind, look for the building inset the farthest, between the very tall one with decks and the new stone one. The back door is red. A tiny oak leaf sign marks our parking spot, which is half of the parking area; the other half belongs to the neighbor. There is a public lot that enters on High Street and exits on Fountain Street that is a very short walk away. There is another large lot down Commerce Street, away from High Street, just past the Brewery restaurant. It is a secure place to park as ATVers leave their trailers and gear there overnight. Please do limit your use of street parking to drop off and pick up only!
The Gallery: Prairie Oak Artisans North 207 Commerce St., Mineral Point, WI 53565 608-987-3757 We are open Thursday or Friday through Saturday or Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm. We start out 4 days of weekend and adjust according to traffic. Opening process: Unlock door, and prop it open with a bird bath if it is not too hot or too cold and you can stand the flies. More people will come in if the door is open. Put the decorative flag up over the mailbox and the small yellow flag on other side on the window frame bracket. Hang the wooden Open sign under the building sign. Hang the Welcome sign on the door knocker. Open the window curtains if they are closed. Turn on the gallery lights. There are switches inside the window opening of the North window (wooden portion) and on the wall to the south of the check out table (on the wall shared with the bathroom). There are separate lights for the ‘backroom’ area on the North wall of the backroom.
Cash Drawer: The table that serves as counter has a drawer with cash in it. If there gets to be too many $20’s, you will need to go to the bank at the top end of High, just past the post office, and a couple blocks to the right, then a bit to the left, to get smaller bills. If you are polite, the woman at the Cruise Inn bar 2 doors north may give you ones and fives for a couple twenties. Cash Box: Metal box in cabinet under back counter. If lots of cash in drawer, move it to the box.
Credit Cards: We take Master Card, Visa, and Discover. We take debit cards only if they are the non-pin type. We do NOT take American Express or Diner’s Card. Detailed instructions are on the table next to the charge machine. Batching: It is critical that at the end of every day that you take a credit card purchase, you press the batch key which is 9. If you do not, our whole rate changes and we are assigned hideous fines.
Process for a sale: Receipt book: Sales need to be carefully recorded in the sales receipt book so that artists can be paid properly. There are two copies of each numbered receipt in the book, a white one and a yellow one. There is a carbon that goes between them. Fill in the date. For each item purchased, write down clearly the code on the price tag. If there is no code or it is hard to read, write down a brief description of what it is and words that will distinguish it from others like it: Vase, large, green or Photo of yellow leaves, framed or Bowl, wood, oval. Use the calculator to total the items. Double check this. Use the calculator to get the tax: the total x .055. Add it on. Leave the black copy in the book and give the customer the yellow one. If they do not want it, toss it. If you rip out the white by accident, tape it back in immediately. If you give them the wrong one, tape in or leave in the yellow one and write SAVE in black on it. Please familiarize yourself with the book before customers come so you will do it right!!! At end of day, total amounts for the day on bottom of last receipt for the day. Add up total of product sold for day, total of sales tax for the day, and total taken in for the day. Credit card receipt: If the sale is by credit card, keep top copy for us and staple it to the receipt in the book. Give them the other one, or toss it if they do not take it. Wrapping/Packaging: We reuse packing and bagging materials for environmental reasons, and they are inside the trunk under the counter. In the basket on the side counter, there are lunch bags for smaller items, and twine to tie packages with. Be creative. Bring brown paper bags from home. Save and smooth tissue and bags for the trunk. DO NOT use plastic grocery bags: Only paper as it is at least a little classier. There is a roll of paper on the counter for padding or wrapping larger things. If you sell a painting, carefully fold paper around the corners and run twine all around to hold the corner guards on from both directions. Shipping: We can ship items home for people if they are traveling. Generally, shipping will run around 20%. If you want to do it yourself at the post office, keep anything over the cost of actual postage and supplies, otherwise bring the item and their address back to Warrenville unless Karma is coming the very next week.
Artists: We feature nature themed art, nature inspired artists, and products from natural materials, as well as historically themed or inspired objects. Most artists are from Wisconsin or Illinois. All are from the Midwest, except the soap and the pewter. All are people that the business owner knows personally and are not purchased at gift shows, so are only available here and in Warrenville and maybe one or two other places and maybe at art shows. If people are looking specifically for local art, the felted landscapes and block prints are made here in Mineral Point when I am here, as are the copper bird nests and MY beaded jewelry. Some prairie photos are Wisconsin. The wood boxes and turned wood are from Wisconsin artists. The pastels are by a Wisconsin artist. Some of the watercolors are done when the watercolor artist is in residence at the Gallery. Stress ‘regional’ and ‘Midwest’ rather than strictly ‘local’. ‘All art is done by the owner or by artists she knows personally.’ Custom anything is available with enough lead time, so give out my phone number 630-393-4598 or email plannedscapes@aol.com. Information sheets: There are information sheets posted by each artist’s works, and copies of these are in the drawer of the right cupboard under the counter. Artist Binder: The black binder in the drawer of the right cupboard has a list of the gallery items by each artist and the price. They are listed by the code on the price sticker. This is your source for things missing a price.
End of Day Recap: 1) Press batch key on credit card machine and put printout under cash drawer insert. 2) Calculate totals at bottom of last receipt of day, write a) total day’s sales of product only, b) total day’s sales tax c) total of amounts that include both product and tax
Art hanging system: I use non-historically-correct picture rail to avoid having to put more nails into plaster and antique wood. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
