Transcript

Lightly edited for readability from the video’s captions. Section headings and timestamps have been added; bracketed words mark applause, audience reactions or passages that could not be heard clearly.

Welcome and an Open House Chicago Honor   00:00

Anne Sullivan: Welcome, everyone, to the 120th Cliff Dwellers Annual Meeting. [applause]

Anne Sullivan: I’m Anne Sullivan, the soon-to-be outgoing president of The Cliff Dwellers. First, I want to share with you something Ben Johnson told me about. The Chicago Tribune, on October 7th, last week, named its 12 don’t-miss spots for Open House Chicago 2026. Number 1, the Avalon Regal Theater. Number 2, something called Bubbly Dynamics, which is an incubator for fabricators, designers and artists. Excellent. Number 3, The Cliff Dwellers! [applause]

Anne Sullivan: “Savor the views of the lake from the terrace and dining area of a private club founded in 1907. If you’re so inclined, as you take in Millennium Park and the skyline and gaze toward the steel factories in Northwest Indiana, talk to members about joining the nonprofit devoted to supporting the fine and the performing arts.” [applause] All right, so join us this weekend.

Anne Sullivan: Tonight marks several anniversaries. We’re entering the 120th year of our founding, and we’ll be holding club-focused events to mark this anniversary throughout the year. And tonight we also celebrate the 30th year we have occupied the penthouse of 200 South Michigan. So here’s to the next 120 years!

Call to Order and the Year in Review   01:53

Anne Sullivan: It is now 7:05 p.m., and I’d like to call this annual meeting of The Cliff Dwellers Club to order.

Anne Sullivan: We have had a fruitful and prosperous year here at The Cliff Dwellers. We remain financially stable, our membership numbers are up, and we are hosting more events than ever before. I’d like to call out Jerry Lebedz, who’s not here tonight but is our outgoing board member and chair of communications, who generated the event data for tonight.

Anne Sullivan: This year there were 93 club-centric events held for our members. Forty-one of these were organized by our clubs within the club: the Sketch Club, the Business of Art Forum, the Poetry Society, the Book Club, the Writers Club and the Architects’ Table, all of which meet regularly here at the club. In addition, there were 21 member-sponsored events. These are ideas brought to us by our members for our members, including lectures like Tom Leslie’s on skyscrapers within the Loop; book readings like Sarasota, a novel by Richard Reeder; artists in residence; exhibits, presentations or performances; and musical performances, such as the Northern Illinois University Jazz Orchestra and a night of cabaret with Lynne Jordan.

Anne Sullivan: On top of all of this, our spectacular management team planned 31 events for us this year, including art openings, new member and young member receptions, a comedy showcase, a Mardi Gras party, a magic show, Oktoberfest, a holiday market and even a member talent show. That is just simply exhausting. [laughter]

Anne Sullivan: I also want to share with you the fact that we are featured in a podcast entitled Work in Context: The Cliff Dwellers Sessions. It’s a ten-part series hosted by Richard Reeder with an artist-advocacy organization, and they interview ten Chicago creatives, including our own Ben Johnson. We will soon have a link on our website, but the site for them is workincontext.net.

Thanks to the Management Team   04:29

Anne Sullivan: I hope she’s still in the room, but I would like to recognize our powerhouse management team: Jackie Evans. [applause] Our assistant manager, Elsa Angulo. [applause] And Chef Erick Salnave. Yes! [applause] With an amazing kitchen and floor staff behind the scenes, The Cliff Dwellers is a home away from home. Thank you. Truly. [applause]

Anne Sullivan: Our management team has been laser-focused in recent months on paying a higher level of attention to scheduling more club-sponsored events during otherwise slow periods. We started holding Monday night member events and plan to be open more often on Saturdays. This not only improves the financial condition of the club but provides a richer experience for all our members. Our club is a busy place. If you’re interested in seeing the club thrive, the most effective thing you can do is to visit us early and often. That is the Chicago way. [laughter] Seriously, come and join the fun.

Anne Sullivan: Secondly, our board and management team are modernizing as many of our administrative activities as possible. This is happening throughout the club: a streamlined accounting system, newly designed email newsletters, a more functional website, and the systematic digitization of our club records, both archived and current. We expect this process will result in a more productive office staff, which is always a financial benefit to any club. Keep your eyes open over the next year for an improved club directory, an online dining reservation system and some more member benefits that we can’t reveal yet.

A New Lease and the January Renovations   07:00

Anne Sullivan: This past year the club negotiated a significant new 11-year lease agreement, with options for extension beyond that term. This new agreement contains some very favorable financial terms, including a tenant improvement fund, which will allow us to undertake some needed renovations of the club, and from which a significant amount of money can be applied to rent abatement next year.

Anne Sullivan: As you know, the club traditionally is closed the first two weeks in January, but this year, in order to accommodate renovations, we will close after the Christmas party on December 18 and reopen on or about February 2. So we’ll close the entire month.

Anne Sullivan: Here’s a summary of what is planned for the club. We’ve already replaced the oven and refrigerator in the storage room. During January we’ll undertake several important projects, although there will be no major changes to the character of the club. First, the hardwood floor: we’re doing a deep clean and then having a transparent, durable traffic coating applied to protect the floor and even out the color. Second, the bar. The bar was never set up for two bartenders, so we’re modifying the bar area and installing some professional bar equipment. The doors to the balcony are being replaced, something that is long overdue. Modifications are being made in the coat room, including improved lighting. We’re undertaking miscellaneous carpentry and touch-up painting, and we’re replacing a door in the entry hall and another door, which were water-damaged; these will match the existing doors.

Anne Sullivan: Next week we’re doing mock-ups of cove lighting for the raised ceiling area, to provide more ambient light in the Kiva. There’ll be improved lighting in the elevator lobby and the art gallery display areas, and we’re installing the infrastructure necessary for more advanced theater lighting to be installed in this area in the future. Thank you to Charlie Hasbrouck, Ben Johnson and Rick Frendt for the time and effort they are putting into shepherding this project. [applause]

Anne Sullivan: We may see some small projects taking place before the end of the year, and we may see some work occurring after the winter closure, but the bulk of the project will be undertaken in January. The great news is that we’re not using money from our reserves, and that we have tailored the construction budget so that we can apply half of the tenant improvement funds to rent abatement. That’s not to say we don’t want to continue to build the 21st Century Fund, and Leslie Recht will be speaking to us about that in a few minutes.

Membership Report   09:56

Anne Sullivan: Our membership is growing. A sincere thank you to Jamie Barth, who has completely transformed our new member procedures with her co-chair. Thank you. [applause]

Anne Sullivan: At present there are 172 resident full members; 56 percent of them are professional and 44 percent are lay. Our bylaws cap the resident membership at 400, so room remains for us to continue to grow. Therefore, invite your friends, your colleagues, your neighbors to join you at the club for an event, and to consider full membership.

Anne Sullivan: Our junior members, who are under 40, are growing in number. We now have 45 junior members, and they’re starting their own event-planning committee. There are 120 nonresident members, and this year we welcomed 49 new members, with a net gain in membership, for a total club membership of 378. [applause] I see a lot of those faces in here.

Anne Sullivan: Since our last annual meeting we’ve had 45 trial members, with a conversion rate of 30 percent, which is pretty darn good. This year we started having new member receptions in the spring and fall, and we’ve held one young member reception this year. These receptions are so fun and informal; please consider joining our next one. Finally, we continue with outreach and membership-building programs. We plan two small events later this month with the residents of the Harbor Point condominium building, which is located at the end of Randolph Street.

Thanks to Departing Board Members   11:44

Anne Sullivan: I’ll close with a thank-you to our exiting board members, who have given generously of their time and talents to the club. Diane Chandler-Marshall, although she is thankfully running to continue on the board, finishes her two years serving as vice president. A personal thank you to you, Diane. Your support and friendship have meant a lot to me. [applause]

Anne Sullivan: Jerry Lebedz is stepping away from his role as chair of communications and from the board of directors. Thank you, Jerry, for all your hard work. [applause]

Anne Sullivan: Ben Johnson, my predecessor, my colleague and friend. Ben, you led us into a new era for The Cliff Dwellers. You ably handled the lease negotiations, you’re involved in the tenant improvements, and you have served in the advisory role of past president for the last two years. I really don’t know what I would have done without you. Thank you. [applause]

Anne Sullivan: And I now introduce our treasurer, Isabel Fischbein, who will give the treasurer’s report.

Treasurer’s Report — Isabel Fischbein   13:16

Isabel Fischbein: Hi, everyone. I’m pleased to report that the current financial condition of the club is healthy, and we consider our economic outlook as good as it has been in many years. Our membership continues to grow at a healthy rate, and in the past year we saw the strongest growth in our young members. These are incredible signs for the future financial success of our club. Our club currently carries no debt and has over $250,000 in financial reserves. In addition, we maintain an operating fund that can cover several months of operating expenses, should an unforeseen financial setback occur.

Isabel Fischbein: Our board of directors has recently approved a budget for fiscal year 2027, which formally began October 1, that conservatively estimates a modest surplus over the coming year. Overall, we could not wish for a healthier financial start to the new year.

Isabel Fischbein: With that said, it’s also true that the past year presented some significant financial challenges. Fiscal year 2026 was above all a year of transitions, and two changes in particular should be noted. The first transition was in our management team. The wonderful Jackie Evans now leads the club as manager, together with our assistant manager Elsa Angulo and our kitchen and floor staff. They run the club as a leaner and more efficient organization than before. They’ve also been steadily improving how we operate, from our point-of-sale systems to how we plan events and serve members. We now have a smaller, more capable leadership structure, and it has already paid off.

Isabel Fischbein: The second was a change in our accounting firm. That was a long process, and it took a group effort from our staff and the finance committee to make the switch cleanly. We’re very happy with our new firm, which specializes in accounting for private clubs. As a 501(c)(7), we have special rules and nuances that this firm understands. They have already put new accounting practices in place that are more efficient and give us clearer, more timely financial information.

Isabel Fischbein: Neither of these transitions was foreseen at the beginning of last year, and each came with its own expenses, but the end result of both changes is a fiscally stronger club for the future, better able to serve our entire membership. Overall, the financial condition of The Cliff Dwellers is strong, with an outlook that is stronger still. We thank all of you for your continued support of The Cliff Dwellers. [applause]

Anne Sullivan: I welcome Leslie to the podium to speak a bit about the 21st Century Fund.

The 21st Century Fund — Leslie Recht   15:59

Leslie Recht: Thank you. Anne summarized a lot of the things that have been happening in the club over the last year, including the wonderful beginning of the renovations. As most of you know, the 21st Century Fund was created to raise money for capital improvements in the club. Dues do not cover capital improvements, and we have so many members who have contributed over many, many years.

Leslie Recht: But I encourage each of you to think about regular contributions to the 21st Century Fund. With the jump-start from the building’s tenant improvement funds, we are going to have a much better club going forward, and I would be happy to talk to anybody who would like to talk about either leaving a bequest to the club or making donations. We’re very, very happy with what’s been happening up till now, but we’re looking forward to even more in the future. Thanks a lot. [applause]

Anne Sullivan: Trish VanderBeke will come up to the podium and speak about the Cliff Dwellers Arts Foundation.

The Cliff Dwellers Arts Foundation — Trish VanderBeke   17:39

Trish VanderBeke: I used to worry about coming up here … [Passage not clearly audible; laughter.] … But I’m not going to run on.

Trish VanderBeke: I have the pleasure of being the president of the Cliff Dwellers Arts Foundation, which is the 501(c)(3) branch of our club, financed entirely by donations from members. You get our letter every year, with a little return envelope, which we’ve improved, to mail in.

Trish VanderBeke: Very briefly, let me backtrack to the beginning of the pandemic. We were giving away $10,000 to $12,000 a year, and we had a little over $100,000 in assets. The pandemic hit, and we had two possible responses. We could either hunker down and protect what we had, or we could say, as we did, that if ever there was a time an arts organization needed support, that was the time. So we doubled our giving. We now give away $20,000 to $22,000 a year, half in the fall and half in the spring. This fall we have 35 applicants, and we will give away maybe five to seven grants of up to $2,000.

Trish VanderBeke: We have celebrated all these arts organizations and given away close to $150,000 in the seven years since the pandemic started, and we have $200,000 in assets. So it’s a sort of Field of Dreams: if you build it, they will come. If you give it away, people will give more. So I would just like to encourage you to support us, so that we can continue to bring The Cliff Dwellers out to the world of the arts in Chicago, and really fulfill the mission of the club, to be a center of support for the arts. Thank you. [applause]

Election of Directors — Leslie Recht   20:07

Anne Sullivan: Leslie, will you come back up, and we will elect our candidates to the board of directors.

Leslie Recht: Once again, I chaired the nominating committee for The Cliff Dwellers. We have a wonderful group, and we’ve chosen some very strong nominees. I’m just going to say a little bit about each one of them; you’ve seen the notices that have been out for some time, and you can read lots more about them. We have three directors for three-year terms. We have a staggered board, so each year we generally have three vacancies.

Leslie Recht: The first nominee is Diane Chandler-Marshall, who will take on another term. She’s done wonderful work, both as vice president of the club over the last two years and also chairing our artists-in-residence committee for years and shepherding the young artists. Thank you, Diane; you’ve done a wonderful job. [applause]

Leslie Recht: The second nominee is Joan Pantsios. [applause] She was vice president when Carla Funk was president, for the duration of the pandemic. It was a challenging time, but she was a great team member with Carla. Joan has also been chair of the program committee, and she and Maxine Flack have been co-chairing the Book Club since Richard stepped back. She has been very active in the club, and Joan is also being nominated for a three-year term.

Leslie Recht: New to the board is Dr. Roosevelt Griffin. [applause] He’s a music professional who teaches at Northern Illinois University, and we’re very happy to see him stepping up and helping us with the board. Thank you, Doctor. [applause]

Leslie Recht: And we have one more position. Because Jerry Lebedz resigned before the end of his term, we have a one-year term, and Maxine Flack is going to take that. [applause] She has been very active. She’s been co-chairing the program committee and the Book Club, and we look forward to many new things; she’s been very active in planning some of these programs.

Leslie Recht: What I’d like to do is ask for the nomination of the slate.

Bill Bowe: So moved!

Leslie Recht: Thank you, Mr. Bowe. Do I have a second? [A member seconds.] Thank you very much. I move that nominations be closed. All in favor? [Ayes.] Any opposed? I don’t hear any. Thank you very much. [applause]

Member Tribute — Ben Johnson   24:06

Anne Sullivan: Ben Johnson, come on up for our member tribute.

Ben Johnson: Okay. So this is a somber moment, to recognize our recently departed members. I will say that we’re also catching up on some of our bookkeeping here, so we want to make sure we don’t miss anyone. Hopefully that’ll be the case when I’m on this list. [laughter] So please, just a moment of silence for the following:

Ben Johnson: Mr. Theodore Gertz, Cliff Dwellers 2005, who passed in July of 2020. Bernard Rands, Cliff Dwellers 2020, an honorary member of ours, who passed in March of 2026. Mr. Norman Elkin, Cliff Dwellers 1996, who passed in January of 2025. And Mr. Allison Stern, Cliff Dwellers 1975, who passed in May of 2023.

Ben Johnson: To all of our past members: may they rest in peace. By the way, there is a photograph of each of them on the table over there.

A Toast from Louis Sullivan and Adjournment   25:48

Anne Sullivan: As we know, the architect Louis Sullivan wrote his memoirs, The Autobiography of an Idea, in the years just before his death, while seated at a small desk off the central Kiva at The Cliff Dwellers club. I’d like to close our meeting with something Sullivan wrote:

Anne Sullivan: “Actually, the lake is there, awaiting in all its glory. And the sky is there above, waiting in its eternal beauty. And the prairie, the ever-fertile prairie, is awaiting …” To the ongoing cultural heritage of The Cliff Dwellers club, I raise a toast.

Members: Hear, hear!

Anne Sullivan: So, all those in favor of closing this annual meeting? [Ayes.] Are there any nays? Abstentions? The meeting is closed. [applause]

The Club Song — Penny Wilson   27:00

Anne Sullivan: And now we will be treated to a hearty rendition of the club song, led by Penny Wilson. You should find some sheet music on your table.

Penny Wilson: For those of you doing this for the first time, you’ll notice it’s not in English. It doesn’t say anything bad. [laughter] The words mean “cheers” and “long life,” so our song of fellowship has very positive vibes. All right, we’re going to start. Come on!

[The members sing the club song.]