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.

Art Schools Pushed to Improve Environmental Record

Art schools and university art departments are where the next generation of professional artists receives its training. A number of schools in the Northeast, however, have been taking a remedial course in the disposal of toxic art materials from the federal Environmental Protection Agency. “Schools just don’t get that environmental rules apply to them,” said Peggy Bagnoli, program leader for the EPA’s College and University Initiative. “They think hazardous wastes are just what big factories produce.” (Read more from the Huffington Post.)

Theory in Studio: Model Images

What doesn’t exist can’t be photographed; the limits of photography are the limits of the visible world. However cleverly one crafts the shot, the camera always records just what is in front of it. No wonder that for most of its history, photography was the prototype of pictorial realism. (Read more from Burnaway.)

“Painter-painter,” and the Lingering Specter of Greenberg

The seemingly innocuous phrase “painter-painter” has stuck in my head, only to reemerge every time I see an article that questions the vitality of painting as a genre. This is not one of those articles. My concern is not for painting’s health, but for its fractured state. (Read more from the Brooklyn Rail.)

On the Art of the Immersive, or Is This Even Theater?

About a year and a half ago, I was discussing a project with a theatrical mentor and made the error of using the word “immersive” in my general description of the idea. His right eye twitched. His face got a little red. “Immersive?!” he shouted. He spun around twice and spat over his left shoulder. “Don’t tell me that. Everyone says their work is immersive now. It’s meaningless!” (Read more from Culturebot.)

Help Desk: Conceptual Conundrum

I just finished the first semester of my MFA at a well-regarded East Coast school. At the end of last term, my professors said that I wasn’t working hard enough to produce an integrated body of work. I get the feeling they want me to create work like other artists in the department, who just make the same painting over and over again. I don’t know what direction to take. Do I stand my ground or give in? (Read more from Daily Serving.)

To Solve the Skills Gap in Hiring, Create Expectations in the Classroom

On the first day of classes I introduce my students to the syllabus and class expectations. I have draconian-seeming rules that students often don’t believe and even many colleagues question. If students are late, they are absent. I do not account for any reasons; they may be absent three times over the semester. They are responsible for contacting classmates about missed work when they are absent. They are responsible for submitting work on time. (Read more from the Chronicle of Higher Education.)

Class Discussion: From Blank Stares to True Engagement

Whether it is a seminar course centered on discussion or a lecture punctuated by moments of interaction with students, classroom discussion is likely second only to lecture as the most frequently used pedagogical strategy. Yet the idea of attempting to engage students in discussion is also rather frightening. There’s always the possibility that our invitation to participate will be met with silence. (Read more from Faculty Focus.)

Survey Says 92 Percent of Students Prefer Paper Books over Ebooks

Ebooks may be convenient and cheap, but they aren’t displacing paper just yet, at least in the hearts and minds of college kids. That’s what Naomi Baron, linguistics professor at American University, found out as part of the research she conducted for her new book, Words Onscreen: The Fate of Reading in a Digital World. (Read more from NBC News.)