CAA News Today

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

What NEA Supporters Can Learn from the Republicans Who Tried to Destroy It

How can we save the NEA? Since Republicans argue they are merely trimming the bloated federal budget, it is tempting to rely on the simple fact that eliminating the NEA will do little toward this goal. But this fiscal argument, while factually correct, won’t galvanize people to come out and support the agency. (Read more from Artsy.)

Why Small Grants from the Endangered NEA and NEH Matter

If quality of life and nourishment of intellect and spirit are as important to our national well-being as military might, then maintaining support for the arts is a no-brainer. Maybe the arts legions descending on Washington, DC, this month should try to seduce members of Congress with excerpts from performances and art displays that our tax dollars have helped to make possible. (Read more from CultureGrrl.)

Removal of Student Painting in Capital Leads to Federal Lawsuit

David Pulphus, a high school artist from Saint Louis, may never become a free-speech cause célèbre akin to Chris Ofili, the London artist who caused a furor in 1999. Still, Rep. William Lacy Clay from Missouri filed a federal lawsuit arguing that the removal of a work by Pulphus from the Cannon House Office Building in Washington, DC, violates the artist’s First Amendment rights. (Read more from the New York Times.)

Research Finds Career, Entrepreneurial Training Leads to Stronger Career Outcomes for Arts Graduates

Recent graduates with arts degrees have better career and entrepreneurial training than those who came before them, according to a report released by the Indiana University School of Education. The research, based on a survey of arts graduates, demonstrates that new approaches to arts education are helping prepare students for careers and give them tools they need to succeed. (Read more from the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project.)

Professors and Politics: What the Research Says

When Betsy DeVos accused liberal faculty members of forcing their views on students, she infuriated many professors and won praise from conservatives. Most faculty members who weighed in on social media denied the indoctrination and unfairness charges. While not disputing her assertion that they are more likely than others to be liberal, they said it was unfair to say that this meant they were indoctrinating anyone. (Read more from Inside Higher Ed.)

Appalachian Identities and Photography as Social Commentary

Most of my students in art history and art appreciation are first-generation college students, and many of them come from the economically depressed counties within a short driving distance of my institution, Morehead State University in eastern Kentucky. Through in-class discussion and office-hour chats, I have learned that many of them feel strong ties to an Appalachian identity. (Read more from Art History Teaching Resources.)

Bice Curiger on Why Parkett Is Closing

“Young kids think everything has to be free,” said the curator and publisher Bice Curiger in a recent phone interview, shortly after the announcement that Parkett—the hefty, finger-on-the-pulse German-English magazine she cofounded some ninety-nine issues ago—would cease publication. “How can you survive?” (Read more from Artnet News.)

Thinking about Open Access and Library Subscriptions

Is there good reason to expect that open access is likely to lead libraries and other customers to cancel their paid journal subscriptions? The context in which we have to ask this question is, quite frankly, one of dire economic straits in many academic libraries. Of course, libraries have been saying this for years, even decades. (Read more from the Scholarly Kitchen.)