CAA News Today
History of CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts (CWA)
posted by CAA — July 29, 2022
At CAA’s 2022 Annual Conference, current and former members of the Committee on Women in the Arts (CWA) presented a session on the history of feminism at CAA and within their committee entitled “50 Years of Feminist Art at CAA: Looking Back, Looking Forward.” Watch the video below to hear a series of talks on this history.
50 Years of Feminist Art at CAA: Speakers
Chair: Joanna P. Gardner-Huggett, DePaul University
Judith K. Brodsky, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts
Ferris Olin, Rutgers University
Midori Yoshimoto, New Jersey City University
Carron P. Little, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Kalliopi Minioudaki, Independent Scholar and Curator
Zoë Charlton, American University
Abstract: Fifty years ago, the Committee on Women in the Arts was founded to promote the recognition of women’s valuable contribution to the visual arts and to critical art-historical study; advocate for feminist scholarship and activism in art; develop partnerships with organizations with compatible missions; monitor the status of women in the visual-arts professions; provide historical and current resources on feminist issues; and support emerging artists and scholars in their careers. In 2020, the CWA implemented the 50/50 initiative, which aims for 50% representation of women scholars and artists at the CAA Annual Conference and intersectional feminist content inclusive of race, class, gender, body size, disability, or age. At this significant juncture, this session proposes to reflect on the committee’s history by inviting previous members and chairs to discuss their work with the CWA, as well as collaborations with other affiliate committees and groups, such as the Women’s Caucus for Art, The Feminist Art Project, the Queer Caucus, and many more. In addition to assessing CWA’s past contributions, the panel will engage in a conversation of what work remains to be done.
In 1972, CAA founded its first committees devoted to women in the arts. As a part of this yearlong 50th anniversary celebration, we are sharing historic materials from CAA members and archives that intersect with feminism at the organization, including CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts (CWA) and our Affiliated Societies, Women’s Caucus for Art (WCA) and The Feminist Art Project (TFAP).
This celebration culminates in a program and reception at Boston University’s Joan and Edgar Booth Theatre on Friday, September 23, 2022. This program will reflect upon the incredible history of feminist pioneers at the organization while looking toward a more inclusive, equitable future through the continued work of the CWA. The members of CWA are carrying the torch of feminism during this crucial time of precarity for women’s rights.
Over the next couple months, visit this site (CAA News) and our social media pages to explore more about this history and items from our archives.
CAA’s 50th Anniversary Celebration of Feminism + Art
posted by CAA — July 29, 2022
In 1972, CAA founded its first committees devoted to women in the arts. As a part of this yearlong 50th anniversary celebration, we are sharing historic materials from CAA members and archives that intersect with feminism at the organization, including CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts (CWA) and our Affiliated Societies, Women’s Caucus for Art (WCA) and The Feminist Art Project (TFAP).
This celebration culminates in a program and reception at Boston University’s Joan and Edgar Booth Theatre on Friday, September 23, 2022. This program will reflect upon the incredible history of feminist pioneers at the organization while looking toward a more inclusive, equitable future through the continued work of the CWA. The members of CWA are carrying the torch of feminism during this crucial time of precarity for women’s rights.
Over the next couple months, visit this site (CAA News) and our social media pages to explore more about this history and items from our archives.
Members’ Corner: Former CAA President Judith Brodsky Co-Curates Retrieving the Life and Art of James Wilson Edwards And A Circle of Black Artists
posted by CAA — July 25, 2022
African Sky, an oil painting by James Wilson Edwards, will be included in the Arts Council of Princeton’s Retrieving the Life and Art of James Wilson Edwards and a Circle of Black Artists, an exhibition featuring the work of a diverse and vibrant regional arts community not acknowledged in contemporary American art history on view at the Arts Council of Princeton this October.
The Arts Council of Princeton will present a revolutionary exhibition in October 2022. Retrieving the Life and Art of James Wilson Edwards and a Circle of Black Artists reveals how Black artist/teachers were integral and influential members in a predominantly white regional community in the last quarter of the 20th century. While there have been blockbuster exhibitions of a few contemporary Black artists during recent years of efforts by museums and galleries to become more diverse, this is one of the first exhibitions to explore the historical context from which these artists emerged.
Co-curators Judith K. Brodsky and Rhinold Ponder say “this has been a magnificent voyage of discovery about the lives and roles in art history of Black artists who have largely been forgotten or ignored as well as a reminder of the significance of Black collectors in preserving and promoting the history of Black artists and ensuring that they are eventually remembered for their contributions. We trust that our efforts here encourage others to restore Black artists and arts communities to their rightful places in American national and regional histories.” Brodsky is a Distinguished Professor Emerita at the Department of Visual Arts at Rutgers and previously served as a president of CAA. Ponder is an artist, activist, writer, lawyer, and founder of Art Against Racism.
This exhibition focuses on five late 20th-century master artists who lived and worked within 25 miles of each other in the geographic region from Princeton, New Jersey to New Hope, Pennsylvania: James Wilson Edwards, Rex Goreleigh, Hughie Lee-Smith, Selma Hortense Burke, and Wendell T. Brooks. These Black artists represent a diverse and vibrant regional arts community largely unknown in contemporary American art history. Nearly all the works in this exhibition come from private collections, highlighting the importance of collectors of color in restoring Black and brown artists to American art history and how their collecting sheds light on the systemic racism of the American art world. Recent attention to diversity in museum collections has revealed that only 1.2% of the holdings are by African American artists.
Retrieving the Life and Art of James Wilson Edwards and a Circle of Black Artists will be on view in the Arts Council of Princeton’s Taplin Gallery from October 14 through December 3, 2022 and will include an opening reception, panel discussion, and more. Additional information can be found on the Art Council of Princeton’s website.
In Memoriam: Jacki Apple
posted by CAA — July 21, 2022
Photo by Jose Mandojana, courtesy of Jacki Apple’s estate
Born in New York in 1941, Jacki Apple was an artist, critic, producer, writer, and performer. She died at her home in Culver City, CA on June 8, 2022. Her artistic practice spanned media and disciplines, from installations, performance, and photography, to sound, film, artists books, conceptual works, and public art projects. Concerned with the politics of the environment and natural resources of species, she was an early figure in what has come to be known as eco-feminism. Read more about her life and career on her website and in an obituary written by Jeff McMahon for Artillery Magazine.
Apple received the Distinguished Teaching of Art Award from the CAA in 2012. She was also a dedicated member of CAA, having had roles in CAA’s Nominating Committee (2009-2010), Services to Artists Committee (2011-2014), and Distinguished Teaching of Art Award jury (2013-2016) in addition to participating in a number of CAA programs for artists. In addition, she attended CAA’s Annual Conference since the 1980s and since 1995 had organized many panels for artists and art historians on cutting-edge topics.
CAA Museum Committee: Call for Professionals
posted by CAA — July 12, 2022
The CAA Museum Committee seeks CAA, AAM, AAMG, other professional organization members, and/or museum studies educators, to join the review process to revise the CAA Tools for Museum Professionals. The asynchronous review of seven standards and guidelines will begin in late summer and continue through the fall. Contributor credit will be included in the authors byline of the revised standards and guidelines document(s) following their approval.
Topics for review include:
- Curriculum Vitae for Museum Professionals
- Guidelines for Museums or Other Not-For-Profit Visual-Arts Institutions Working with Artists on Exhibitions and Commissioned Works
- Guidelines Regarding the Hiring of Guest Curators by Museums
- Information about Museum Ethics and Professional Practices
- Professional Practices for Art Museum Curators
- Statement Concerning the Acquisition of Cultural Properties Originating from Abroad, from Indigenous Cultures, and from Private Collections during the Nazi Era
- Statement Concerning the Deaccession of Works of Art
Please email a letter of interest with a short statement about your experience and expertise to Monica Andrews, contactstudiomda@gmail.com. Deadline: August 17.
Call for Applicants: CAA Professional Committees (2023–2026)
posted by CAA — July 11, 2022
CAA Professional Committees represent the constituent interests of the organization by addressing standards, practices, and guidelines in the professions of our individual and institutional members. Each committee works from a charge that is established by the Board of Directors. For many CAA members, committee service fosters professional relationships, community, and facilitates impactful contributions to pressing issues in the visual arts.
Important Committee Service Information:
- Committee members serve a three-year term. Service for this committee cycle begins in February 2023 at the 111th CAA Annual Conference; service ends in February 2026 at the 114th Annual Conference.
- All applicants are reviewed by current committee members, as well as CAA leadership.
- Appointments will be made by November 1, 2022. New members will be introduced to their committees during their respective business meetings at the February 2023 111th Annual Conference.
- If appointed, applicants are expected to attend committee meetings, participate actively in the work of the committee, and contribute expertise to defining the current and future work of the committee.
- Appointees must be current CAA members before the start of their committee service.
- All committee members volunteer service without compensation.
Please click on the links below to review the mission of each committee, as well as the roster of current committee leadership and members:
- Committee on Design
- Committee on Diversity Practices
- Committee on Intellectual Property
- Committee on Research and Scholarship
- Committee on Women in the Arts
- Education Committee
- International Committee
- Museum Committee
- Professional Practices Committee
- Services to Artists Committee
- Services to Historians of the Visual Arts Committee
- Student and Emerging Professionals Committee
To apply for committee service, please use the APPLY TO SERVE button below to fill out the application form and upload your CV, as well as a brief personal statement describing your interest and experience. Please contact Maeghan Donohue, Manager, Strategic Planning, Diversity & Governance (mdonohue@collegeart.org) with any questions.
Deadline: September 15, 2022
CAA Signs On to Statement Expressing Dismay Over Dobbs vs. Jackson
posted by CAA — July 07, 2022
The College Art Association has signed on to this statement from the American Historical Association (AHA) and the Organization of American Historians (OAH). The statement expresses dismay over the Supreme Court majority opinion in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. It argues that the decision misrepresents history, instead “adopt[ing] a flawed interpretation of abortion criminalization that has been pressed by anti-abortion advocates for more than thirty years.” It warns that the Court’s majority opinion does not meet the standards of historical scholarship and that “[t]hese misrepresentations are now enshrined in a text that becomes authoritative for legal reference and citation in the future.”
CAA-Getty International Program 2023: Applications now open!
posted by CAA — July 06, 2022
The Getty Foundation has awarded the College Art Association (CAA) a grant to fund the CAA-Getty International Program for a twelfth consecutive year. The Foundation’s support will enable CAA to bring twelve international visual-arts professionals to the 111th Annual Conference, taking place New York, NY, February 15–18, 2023. These individuals will be first-time participants in the program and will be accompanied by alumni of the program returning to present papers during the conference.
Participants will receive funds for travel expenses, hotel accommodations, per diems, conference registrations, and one-year CAA memberships. We encourage all international art historians, art history educators, and museum curators to apply. The program will also include a one-day preconference colloquium on international issues in art history on Tuesday, February 14, as well as ongoing engagement with other alumni from the program online and at future conferences. The deadline for applications is August 15, 2022. Guidelines and application can be found here.
Last year, CAA organized a publication to celebrate ten successful years of the CAA-Getty International Program. The publication, entitled Global Conversations: 10 Years of the CAA-Getty International Program features in-depth accounts of the program, a timeline of important events and milestones, and directories of past papers, members, and meetings.
The CAA-Getty International Program was established to increase international participation in CAA and the CAA Annual Conference. The program fosters collaborations between North American art historians, artists, and curators and their international colleagues and introduces visual arts professionals to the unique environments and contexts of practices in different countries.
Since it began in 2012, the program has brought 147 scholars to the conferences, from over 50 countries located in Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and Central and South America. Each year, a preconference colloquium on international topics in art history inaugurates the week, kicking off four days of conference sessions, meetings with new colleagues, and visits to museums and galleries. Subsequent to these events, the program has generated many scholarly collaborations, including publications, conferences, and exhibitions.
Most of all, former grant recipients have become ambassadors of CAA in their countries, sharing knowledge gained at the Annual Conference with their colleagues at home. Past recipients have said that “variety of topics presented also exposed me to the realization that there is so much to be done to unearth the hidden treasures of global art history, which hitherto I have overlooked in my discipline and nation but which will now form the basis of my future projects,” and “the direct contact with other global south researchers is an unique occasion, rarely possible and extremely enriching.”