CAA News Today

Each week CAA News publishes summaries of eight articles, published around the web, that CAA members may find interesting and useful in their professional and creative lives.

Digital Art History Symposium at the Institute of Fine Arts

Under the heading “Mellon Research Initiative: Digital Art History,” the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University has posted video recordings from its recent conference on digital art history, which took place November 30–December 1, 2012. (Read more at THATCamp CAA.)

Help Desk: Ready for Representation?

When is an artist ready to approach galleries? I’ve been exhibiting my art for about five years, with a couple decent solo shows and a few big sales. It’s not an extensive track record, but I’m dedicated and need to increase sales if I want to keep making art. I keep thinking I’m “almost” ready and don’t want to waste my time or the gallerist’s—or risk making a poor first impression with him or her by jumping the gun. I’ve read different advice in books but still feel unsure about this important step. (Read more at Daily Serving.)

As the Battle for the Online Art World Sharpens, How the Players Are Adapting

Over the last five years, investors have funneled tens of millions of dollars into fledgling websites that help users buy, sell, borrow, and learn about art online. Backers range from flush art-world figures like Dasha Zhukova to successful venture capitalists such as Jack Dorsey, a founder of Twitter, and Peter Thiel, a former PayPal executive. But can a cultural sector that typically relies on exclusivity, personal contact, and (often) opacity make an effective transition to the web? (Read more at Art and Auction.

Labor Mural Gets a New Home in Augusta

The controversial labor mural that once hung in the lobby of the Maine Department of Labor in Augusta—and became the subject of a lawsuit when Governor Paul LePage ordered it removed—has found a new home. The mural will reside for at least the next three years in the Cultural Building atrium that serves as the entryway to the Maine State Museum in Augusta. (Read more at the Morning Sentinel.)

Adjunct Project Reveals Wide Range in Pay

Over the past year, adjuncts across the nation have been turning to the Adjunct Project, a crowdsourcing effort that started last February when Joshua A. Boldt, a writing instructor in Georgia, put online a publicly editable spreadsheet. Nearly two thousand entries have already been made on adjuncts’ pay and working conditions, and a clearer national picture is emerging. Now, to increase participation and collect ever-more-comprehensive information, Boldt and the Chronicle are expanding the project. (Read more at the Chronicle of Higher Education.)

Making the Case for Adjuncts

By now, it’s hard to imagine that many people in academe haven’t heard about how most adjuncts work for years at low pay and under conditions that hinder their efforts to help students. So why hasn’t the issue received more attention on a wider scale, and what will it take to achieve real change? Adjunct advocates and higher-education experts are counting on a new, targeted focus on students and educational value, and gathering of more data about their employment, to force reform. (Read more at Inside Higher Ed.)

Opportunity Costs: The True Price of Internships

Every summer, thousands of interns descend on New York City in order to work for nothing. They flow into empty dorm rooms or onto friends’ sofas to sleep, burrow unnoticed into illegal sublets, and surf couches longterm. At work, they occupy desks and offices recently vacated by laid-offs. They file papers, get coffee, and try to make themselves noticed, but not too much so. No one knows how many of these interns there are, partly because much of their unsalaried work is illegal and therefore covert. (Read more at Dissent.)

Court Decision Shows Why Copyright Assignments Should Be Precisely Worded

The parties in a recent case engaged in expensive litigation they could have avoided if the language governing transfer of copyright had been more precise. The decision serves to remind how good drafting in development agreements—whether for software, content, or, as in this case, t-shirt designs—can enhance business efficiencies. (Read more at Information Law Group.)