Celebrating our 200th edition of the newsletter is a milestone which I am very proud of. For me this is more significant than simply celebrating nearly 20 years of production. What I mean by this is that we, at Opus, have always valued the relationship we have with our customers and our community. To my mind, our newsletter is a very tangible product of that relationship. It celebrates what is going on creatively around us, brings us different ideas and perspectives, and provides a place for people to speak to others. I cannot emphasize enough how important this idea of sharing and relationship building is to me. Given this context, I think this is a good opportunity to provide you with some insight into how we conceptualize our business here at Opus.

When I first began the business, some of my guiding principles were informed by the book Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered by E.F. Schumacher. This text outlines a very simple and sound premise which is based on taking a human approach to doing business. This means respecting and investing in our company, our community, our staff and our customers. Over the years this idea has taken on many forms, and I am pleased to say that our staff and customers have in many ways become part of this living reality. So much so that I would like to share some examples of this with you.

On my list would of course be this newsletter. I will add, again, that I am very proud to have been able to publish something which speaks to artists so specifically. I am well aware that sustaining any art publication for such a duration of time is not done without dedication and commitment from our staff, and loyalty and inspiration from our customers.

Secondly, I would like to recognize the value and good which our donation programme has provided to so many. Supporting arts groups was part of our grassroots approach right from the beginning. Over time we formalized our mandate to ensure we were always supporting those groups whose needs most fit within our aim. That aim is to provide support to the visual arts and specifically toward education in the visual arts. This idea is based on the premise that as a company, it is our responsibility to ensure sustainability of the visual arts through concrete means. While we certainly do not have an accurate tally of the early years, we estimate that we have provided organizations in need with over 3000 donations. I am very pleased today to know that staff in our organization are personally invested in the benefits of this programme and have often taken a special interest in ensuring our support is well placed.

We also launched a Community Workshops & Classes database on our website www.opusframing.com/library/classes, which helps to connect students looking for available art classes to instructors looking to gain students. This is a win-win solution to something which we have, over the years, recognized as an important component of our store environments. That is, putting our customers together with each other to satisfy their mutual needs.

Another important aspect of our approach is in the value we place in our staff. I say without hesitation that we have exceptional people working for Opus. In turn, I have always believed that it should be our priority to invest in our staff. This is realized through supporting them when they wish to pursue educational goals, ensuring that we provide adequate resources towards training and growing their skills in the job, and providing advancement opportunities from within. Our staff, the majority of whom are artists themselves, are the backbone of Opus. They are also the reason for much of our own creativity and the guiding force in understanding yours.

I hope that this information gives you a sense of how we operate and how we visualize our goals. Clearly we hope that you will appreciate our passion for the arts and for the community we serve, because we do not want to be just another place for you to buy your supplies. We want more from our relationship with you, and we hope that you do too.

David van Berckel
President