CAA News Today
Candidates Announced for the 2010–14 Board of Directors Election
posted by Vanessa Jalet — November 11, 2009
The 2009 Nominating Committee has selected the following slate of six candidates for election to the CAA Board of Directors for 2010–14 terms:
- Peter Barnet, Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Roger Crum, University of Dayton
- Conrad Gleber, La Salle University
- Arthur F. Jones, University of North Dakota
- Jean M. K. Miller, Towson University
- Sabina Ott, Columbia College Chicago.
The board is charged with CAA’s long-term financial stability and strategic direction; it is also the association’s governing body. The board sets policy regarding all aspects of CAA’s activities, including publishing, the Annual Conference, awards and fellowships, advocacy, and committee procedures.
CAA members will elect four members from the above slate to the board. In early December, CAA will post biographies of the six candidates, as well as video statements prepared by each nominee. In mid-December, a ballot and a proxy will be sent by email to all CAA members eligible to vote.
If you are still receiving your ballot and proxy by postal mail, kindly change your email communication status to “vote online” in the Account Log In section of the CAA website. Voting online is considerably less expensive, and in these difficult economic times it is critical for CAA to save costs where it can.
You should return your ballot and proxy online before the Annual Members’ Business Meeting at the 2010 Annual Conference in Chicago. Voting ends at 5:00 PM CST on Friday, February 12, 2010. Results are announced at the close of the meeting, and new board members take office in the spring. If you wish to vote during the conference, CAA provides a computer in the registration area for electronic ballots.
Members of the 2009 Nominating Committee are: Mary-Ann Milford-Lutzker, Mills College, vice president for committees and committee chair (ex officio without vote); Jacki Apple, Art Center College of Design; Linda Downs, CAA executive director (ex officio, without vote); Ken Gonzales-Day, Scripps College and CAA board; James Hopfensperger, Western Michigan University; Suzanne McCullagh, Art Institute of Chicago; Edward M. Noriega, Troy University and CAA board; William Wallace, Washington University in St. Louis and CAA board; and Charles A. Wright, Western Illinois University.
The committee seeks at-large members for 2010. Please send a nomination or self-nomination.
Nominating Committee Seeks Members
posted by Vanessa Jalet — November 11, 2009
CAA invites you to help shape our Board of Directors by serving on the 2010 Nominating Committee. Each year, this committee nominates and interviews candidates for the CAA board and selects the final slate for the membership’s vote. (Read the names and affiliations of current candidates for the 2010–14 terms.)
The current Nominating Committee will select new members of its own committee at its business meeting held at the 2010 Annual Conference in Chicago. Once selected, all Nominating Committee members are called on to propose a minimum of five and a maximum of ten candidates for the board. Service on the committee also involves conducting telephone interviews with board candidates during the summer and meeting by conference call in September 2010 to select the final board slate. Finally, all committee members must attend the Nominating Committee’s business meeting at the Annual Conference in New York to select the 2011 committee.
Nominations and self-nominations should include a brief statement of interest and a two-page CV. Please send all materials to: Mary-Ann Milford-Lutzker, Vice President for Committees c/o CAA Executive Assistant, CAA, 275 Seventh Ave., 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001. Materials may also be sent by email as Microsoft Word attachments. Deadline: December 30, 2009.
Maria Ann Conelli Joins the CAA Board
posted by Vanessa Jalet — August 25, 2009
Maria Ann Conelli, executive director of the American Folk Art Museum in New York since 2005, was elected by the CAA Board of Directors at its May 2009 meeting to replace Faya Causey, who has resigned. Conelli will serve the remainder of Causey’s term, through 2012 (unless she is elected to the Executive Committee of the board).
From 2001 to 2005, Conelli was dean of the School of Graduate Studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology, State University of New York. During the 1990s she was chair and faculty member for the MA Program in the History of Decorative Arts at Parsons School of Design in Manhattan. Conelli earned a doctorate in art history and a master of philosophy from Columbia University, and an MA and BA, respectively, at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University and Brooklyn College, City University of New York. The recipient of several fellowships, including ones from the Getty and the American Academy in Rome, she has given papers on Renaissance art and architecture in the US and UK.
The CAA board and staff are pleased that Conelli has agreed to serve at this critical time, as the new strategic plan is being developed, because of her extensive experience in planning in both academia and art museums.
2009 Member Survey Results
posted by Michael Fahlund — July 16, 2009
As part of information-gathering pursuant to the preparation of CAA’s 2010–2015 Strategic Plan, a 2009 member survey was developed, coordinated, and carried out by a team under the leadership of Elizabeth Knapp, vice president in the Research Division of the marketing firm Leo Burnett Worldwide, to determine member preferences, awareness of CAA publications and programs, and motivations for joining and renewing membership.
In total, 1,451 CAA members responded to the online survey, a response rate of 11 percent (which is within an acceptable range for statistical analysis). The final sample was then weighted to accurately reflect the total CAA membership based on membership type. The results are an enlightening view into CAA members’ views and opinions, revealing important strengths but also giving direction to how the organization can use the next strategic plan to improve its programs and services.
Demographically speaking, CAA members are more likely to be female (70 percent), within the age range of 35–49 (34 percent), Caucasian (87 percent), and in academic settings (73 percent), and to have ten years or more of professional experience (48 percent).
The top three reasons individuals gave for joining CAA and renewing their memberships were for job postings (69 percent), networking (54 percent), and debate in the visual arts (50 percent).
CAA is perceived as most relevant to art historians (78 percent agree). From artist members, enthusiasm for ARTspace at the Annual Conference was one of the higher-ranking areas of interest (61 percent). CAA is viewed as a well-known organization among peers (75 percent agree) and a well-run organization (51 percent agree). Members who responded to the question about CAA’s roles believe the most important are advocacy for artists, art historians, and university art museums (24 percent), a conference provider (21 percent), and a leader of creative and intellectual discourse (17 percent). The most common contact points between members and CAA are through publications and emails. The Art Bulletin has the strongest reputation among members (64 percent). The most used features of the CAA website are membership renewal (76 percent), conference registration (70 percent), and CAA News (60 percent). At least half the members also visit the CAA website regularly. A near majority of members (45 percent) have interest in social networking through CAA.
The CAA Annual Conference is perceived as important for networking (68 percent) and career development (62 percent), an opportunity for intellectual exchange about the visual arts (58 percent), and relevant to professional development (53 percent). At the conference, members mostly likely attend sessions (76 percent), the Book and Trade Fair (65 percent), and, as noted above, ARTspace (61 percent). The most popular conference topics are criticism and theory (33 percent) and contemporary art history (31 percent).
The most popular publication topics for the future are curriculum development for teaching studio and art-history courses; legal and copyright issues in publishing; career-development strategies; and standards and guidelines in the visual arts in academia. Members agree that digital publications are valuable because they can be searched online (76 percent), are environmentally friendly (71 percent), can expand readership and distribution (59 percent), and can include dynamic content (56 percent). Members are undecided on the future of digital publications, but 49 percent of respondents do not favor online, non–peer reviewed publications.
CAA continues to advocate on issues of importance to members and to the visual arts. Among these, members feel that full-time vs. adjunct status is most important (50 percent), followed by intellectual-property issues (38 percent) and salary equity (39 percent).
In efforts to increase its visibility and recognition for the programs and services it provides, CAA is eager to know how members react to or view its name. While some members felt that the name “College Art Association” or “CAA” is not descriptive of what the organization does, or that it does not fit the mission, 65 percent believe that the name is understood in the field of visual arts. Name recognition and identity will be assessed as part of CAA’s communications activities in the strategic plan.
Other directions gathered from this survey that will be addressed in the strategic plan are to: 1) increase programming and publications for artists; 2) attract more young professionals; 3) increase the diversity of members; 4) increase career-development sessions at the conference; 5) increase interactive communications; 6) develop practical peer-reviewed publications; and 7) continue working on advocacy issues, particularly related to adjunct faculty.
CAA thanks its members for participating in this recent survey. Comments and responses have been extremely helpful and are being used to guide changes and improvements in the organization’s services.
Petition to Support University Galleries and Museums
posted by CAA — July 14, 2009
Several university art museums or their school administrations have recently sold, or have attempted to sell, artworks and objects in their collections to offset operating costs. In response to this, CAA has joined a task force supporting the educational importance of preserving collections at university museums and galleries. The task force—which includes representatives from the American Association of Museums, the Association of Art Museum Directors, the Association of College and University Museums and Galleries, and the Samuel H. Kress Foundation—has established a two-pronged effort: 1) to recognize museums as integral educational resources in the university accreditation process; and 2) to heighten public awareness of the educational value of art museum collections.
Members of the task force are meeting with accreditation organizations throughout the country to enlist their support for the recognition of art museums as integral educational resources.
A petition has been prepared that reaffirms the integrity and value of university and college museums.
Please show support for our efforts by adding your name and affiliation to this petition, which will be published in the Chronicle of Higher Education this fall. Please encourage your university, college, or museum to sign it as well.
Thank you for your support on this critical issue.
Paul B. Jaskot, President, and Linda Downs, Executive Director
New Faces for CAA Journals
posted by Christopher Howard — July 10, 2009
Paul Jaskot, president of the CAA Board of Directors, has made new appointments to CAA’s three scholarly journals.
Karen Lang, associate professor of art history at the University of Southern California, has been appointed the next editor-in-chief of The Art Bulletin, succeeding Richard J. Powell of Duke University. Lang begins her three-year term on July 1, 2010, with the preceding year as editor designate.
Michael Cole is the new reviews editor for The Art Bulletin, succeeding David J. Roxburgh of Harvard University, who served the journal for three years. Cole became reviews editor designate in February and took over from Roxburgh this month.
Joining the Art Bulletin Editorial Board for four-year terms beginning July 1, 2009, are: Linda Komaroff, Los Angeles County Museum of Art; Thelma K. Thomas, Institute of Fine Arts, New York University; and Eugene Wang, Harvard University. The newly selected editorial-board chair is Natalie Kampen of Barnard College, who will serve for two years.
At Art Journal, Howard Singerman of the University of Virginia has been appointed the new reviews editor; he will take over from Liz Kotz of the University of California, Riverside, and serve from July 1, 2010, to June 30, 2013, with a year as reviews editor designate starting this month.
Also at Art Journal, Rachel Weiss of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Constance DeJong of Hunter College, City University of New York, have joined the Art Journal Editorial Board for the next four years.
Now on the caa.reviews Editorial Board is Michael Ann Holly of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, who will serve for four years. In addition, seven new field editors for books and related media have been chosen:
- Molly Emma Aitken, City College, City University of New York, South and Southeast Asian art
- Darby English, University of Chicago, contemporary art
- Jonathan Massey, Syracuse University, architecture and urbanism, 1800–present
- Adelheid Mers, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, arts administration and museum studies (a new field-editor position)
- Tanya Sheehan, Rutgers University, photography
- Janis Tomlinson, University Museums at the University of Delaware, Spanish art
- Tony White, Indiana University, Bloomington, artist’s books and books for artists (a new field-editor position)
Field editors work with the journal for three years, starting on July 1, 2009.
All editors and editorial-board members are chosen from an open call for nominations and self-nominations, published in at least two issues of CAA News (usually January and March) and on the CAA website.
CAA 2009–10 Operating Budget Reductions
posted by Linda Downs — May 11, 2009
Updated May 14, 2009.
Like most universities, art museums, and learned societies, CAA has been significantly affected by the global economic downturn. The Board of Directors made difficult decisions at its May 2009 meeting that nevertheless will allow CAA to maintain the high quality of member services and programming. Strategic reductions and other measures have been instituted throughout the association to balance the budget and keep core programs, publications, and services in operation. With this careful financial planning, CAA remains dedicated to supporting members and the visual-arts community at large through our advocacy, career services, publications, and conference.
Annual Conference
The 2010 Annual Conference in Chicago will commence on Wednesday evening, February 10, with Convocation and the Gala Reception. All 120 planned sessions will be presented over the following three days, Thursday, February 11 to Saturday, February 13, with the addition of extended evening hours. No sessions will take place on Wednesday.
Publications
Newsletter: Beginning July 2009, CAA News will only be distributed online in a new reader-friendly design. This allows us to save printing and mailing costs and help to preserve coverage of core programs and publications. CAA’s website, www.collegeart.org, will become the primary hub of up-to-date information on the organization.
Journals: CAA’s longtime support of the journals is absolutely central to the mission, and the association is fully committed to maintaining them now and in the future. The Art Bulletin and Art Journal will continue to be published. Illustrations, however, will be limited to black and white for 2009–10, except where editorial and budget decisions may allow the insertion of color. caa.reviews will be unchanged, with new book reviews, exhibition reviews, and conference and symposia reports published regularly. While the CAA Board of Directors has determined the budget restrictions necessary for this part of the association, the editors-in-chief will work closely with staff and editorial boards to make sure that any further reductions are implemented with a strict attention to quality consistent with the identity and mission of the journals.
Grants and Fellowships
Two programs in CAA’s grant-making arm will be suspended for 2009–10: the Professional Development Fellowship Program for graduate students and the Millard Meiss Publication Fund. However, the Annual Conference Travel Grants and the Wyeth Foundation for American Art Publication Grant will both continue, and the CAA Annual Exhibitions, also funded by a grant, will take place at the Chicago and New York conferences.
New Board Officers Elected
posted by Vanessa Jalet — March 31, 2009
New officers for the CAA Board of Directors were chosen by the board at its last meeting, held on March 1, 2009. These officers join the CAA president and executive director in forming the Executive Committee. The new officers start their work at the next board meeting, taking place on May 3.
Andrea Kirsh, an independent scholar and curator, is vice president for external affairs; Mary-Ann Milford-Lutzker of Mills College was reelected to a second year as vice president for committees; Sue Gollifer of the University of Brighton was elected vice president for Annual Conference; Anne Collins Goodyear of the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, is now vice president for publications; and Barbara Nesin of Spelman College was reelected secretary. Jeffrey P. Cunard of Debevoise & Plimpton and John Hyland, Jr., of McFarland, Dewey & Company were both reappointed to their posts of counsel and treasurer, respectively.
Paul Jaskot of DePaul University is in the second and last year of his term as CAA board president, and Linda Downs remains the organization’s executive director.
Results from the 2009–13 board election were announced earlier this month. CAA is still seeking nominations and self-nominations for individuals interested in serving on CAA’s board for the 2010–14 term.
New Committee Members
posted by Christopher Howard — March 16, 2009
The following individuals have been appointed to serve on CAA’s nine Professional Interests, Practices, and Standards Committees for 2009–12. New committee members began their terms at the 2009 Annual Conference in Los Angeles. Those marked as chair are previous committee members newly appointed to that position. Members of the CAA Board of Directors have also been appointed as liaisons between the board and the committee.
Committee on Diversity Practices: Jacqueline Francis, California College of the Arts and San Francisco State University, chair; Art Jones, University of North Dakota; Peggy Jones, University of Nebraska, Omaha; Edward Noriega, Troy University, CAA board; Douglas Rosenberg, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
Committee on Intellectual Property: Kenneth Cavalier, art historian and lawyer, British Columbia; Joy Garnett, independent artist, New York.
Committee on Women in the Arts: Diane Burko, Philadelphia Community College, chair; Maria Elena Buszek, Kansas City Art Institute; Rebecca Rushfield, independent conservator, New York; Andrea Rusnock, Indiana University, South Bend; Amy Ingrid Schlegel, Tufts University, CAA board; Kathleen Wentrack, Queensborough Community College, City University of New York.
Education Committee: Richard Tichich, Western Carolina University, chair; Roseann Gibel, Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale; Martina Hesser, University of California San Diego Extension.
International Committee: Jennifer Milam, University of Sydney, chair; Ann Albritton, Ringling College of Art and Design; Stephanie Dickey, Queen’s University; Sue Gollifer, University of Brighton, CAA board.
Museum Committee: Jay Clarke, Art Institute of Chicago, chair; Virginia Brilliant, Ringling Museum of Art; Maria Saffiotti Dale, Chazen Museum of Art; Holly Harrison, Dallas Museum of Art; Karol Ann Lawson, Sweet Briar College.
Professional Practices Committee: Jay Coogan, Rhode Island School of Design, CAA board; Diane Edison, University of Georgia; Bertha Gutman, Delaware County Community College; Judith Thorpe, University of Connecticut, CAA board.
Services to Artists Committee: Thomas Berding, Michigan State University; Faya Causey, National Gallery of Art, CAA board; Julie Green, Oregon State University; Sabina Ott, Columbia College Chicago; Patricia C. Phillips, Cornell University; Melissa Potter, Columbia College Chicago.
Student and Emerging Professionals Committee: Hilary Batzel, ArtsWestchester, chair; Temma Balducci, Arkansas State University; Randall C. Griffin, Southern Methodist University, CAA board; Dennis Y. Ichiyama, Purdue University; Niku Kashef, California State University, Northridge; Jennifer Stoneking-Stewart, Belmont University.
Questions? Please write to Vanessa Jalet, CAA executive assistant. A call for nominations to serve on CAA’s Professional Interests, Practices, and Standards Committees appears annually in the July and September issues of CAA News and on the CAA website. CAA’s president and vice president for committees review nominations in December and make appointments that take effect the following February.
CAA Letter to Barack Obama
posted by Christopher Howard — January 15, 2009
On January 14, 2009, CAA President Paul Jaskot and CAA Executive Director Linda Downs sent a letter to Bill Ivey of President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team, discussing the needs of artists and scholars in the coming years.
CAA has signed onto letters with many other nonprofit organizations urging full funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Institute for Library and Museum Services (IMLS). However, CAA felt that it was necessary to have a separate voice on issues of importance to its members.
CAA will have a presence in Washington, DC, in March 2009 at the Humanities Advocacy Day and Arts Advocacy Day. Jaskot and Downs will be making separate appointments to visit the new chairs of the NEA, NEH and IMLS once they have been appointed.
CAA Letter to President-elect Barack Obama
January 14, 2009
President-elect Barack Obama
President-elect Transition Team
Dear President-elect Barack Obama:
College Art Association, representing over 16,000 artists, art historians, scholars, curators, collectors, art publishers, universities, and libraries, looks forward to working with you and your administration to ensure the revitalization of support for professional artists and art historians in America.
College Art Association:
- Promotes excellence in scholarship and teaching in the history and criticism of the visual arts and in creativity and technical skill in the teaching and practices of art;
- Facilitates the exchange of ideas and information among all people interested in art and the history of art;
- Advocates comprehensive and inclusive education in the visual arts;
- Speaks for its membership on issues affecting the visual arts and humanities;
- Publishes scholarly journals, art criticism, and artists’ writings;
- Fosters career development and professional advancement;
- Identifies and develops sources of funding for the practice of art and for scholarship in the arts and humanities;
- Supports and honors the accomplishments of artists, art historians, and critics; and
- Articulates and affirms the highest ethical standards in the conduct of the profession.
As the leading association in the world that represents professional visual-arts practitioners, CAA endorses your campaign platform’s support of the arts. We strongly agree that in order to remain competitive in the global economy America must reinvigorate the creativity and innovation that has made this country great.
CAA would like your Administration to include not only community arts organizations in its arts program of support but, also, to give greater focus to professional artists and art historians in academia, art museums, and independent professional visual-arts practitioners. Visual art must be reinstated as a respected and esteemed profession in America.
CAA advocates that professionally educated artists and art historians teach K–16 students. To meet this end we must offer all students, K–16, equal access to visual-arts education taught by professionally trained instructors in studio art and art history.
We also believe that public/private partnerships should expand not only between schools and communities but also among the academic community within colleges, universities, and art schools.
We endorse the creation of an art corps comprised of professionally educated artists and art historians who will work with students in urban schools on community-based projects that raise the awareness of the importance of creativity and professional artists. CAA would also like to see an emphasis on visual arts in government-sponsored projects such as AmeriCorps, in both urban and rural areas that address job preparation as well as environmental issues. Professional artists are eager to work on environmental programs that involve community-organized design projects.
CAA would like to emphasize that, in order to publicly champion the importance of arts education, America needs to support the proper preparation and training of artists and art historians who teach at the primary, secondary, and college/university levels. Visual arts need to become part of the core curriculum in each grade and at every stage of education.
CAA fully supports increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute for Library and Museum Services. Specifically, professional artists need to be supported on an individual basis, and we strongly recommend reinstatement of the Individual Artist Fellowship program to enable our best artists to pursue and develop their work. We have found that grants to other areas of the arts and humanities far exceed federal and private foundation grants to professional visual artists. It would be an outstanding legacy of this administration to again make federal support of the arts a priority in defending the promotion of our nation’s cultural heritage.
CAA supports legislation that will allow scholars to publish so-called orphan works, which are copyrighted works—such as books, pictures, music, recordings, or films—whose copyright owners cannot be identified or located. This legislation has been introduced in prior Congresses, and we hope it will be passed during the new Congress. Due to the risks of publishing copyrighted material without obtaining permission, many art historians and scholars are unable to publish orphan works, thereby causing great detriment to scholarly publishing, research and public access to these works. At the same time, orphan works legislation must be carefully crafted in respect to the legitimate interests and concerns of visual artists, including photographers.
CAA supports your platform for cultural diplomacy by enhancing international opportunities offered through agencies, such as the United States Information Agency, for exhibitions, teaching, research, and lecture tours by professional visual artists and art historians. CAA’s international membership testifies to the promotion of cultural understanding that occurs through international cultural exchange. Every year CAA seeks funding to support travel of international artists and art historians to its Annual Conference. Current Homeland Security laws and a lack of government funding make it difficult for foreign artists and scholars to present their work and research at conferences of their peers. CAA endorses streamlining the visa process and providing government support for international exchanges of graduate students and professional artists and art historians.
CAA supports providing health care to professional artists and art historians. This is a major concern for professional artists and art historians who are not associated with a college, university, or art museum and attempt to work independently to support themselves. As you are aware, each state has its own laws on insurance. Professional organizations such as CAA would like to offer national healthcare coverage for artists but are prohibited from offering insurance to its members due to differences in state laws. CAA endorses the creation of a National Health Insurance Exchange as one step in the direction of coverage for artists. In the meantime, we encourage you to press for government reforms of insurance laws so that professional organizations such as CAA will be in a position to assist its members to obtain universal coverage.
CAA endorses tax fairness for artists. We have worked hard—and will continue to work hard—to support the Artist-Museum Partnership Act, which was introduced in the prior Congress by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT). The Act amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow artists to deduct the fair market value of their work, rather than just the costs of the materials, when they make charitable contributions of that work. Not only has the current tax law been harmful to artists, the creative legacy of a whole generation of professional visual artists has not been donated to our great public institutions because of disincentives to donate created by the current tax laws.
CAA realizes that change takes the support and involvement of every member of society. CAA is committed to promoting the support of professional visual artists and art historians in all areas of American society. We stand ready to help provide information on visual arts professionals, suggestions for specific programs, or any other aid that you may find helpful in promoting a better world for artists and art historians in America.
With your leadership and the groundswell of support for activism, we can reestablish the professional visual-arts practitioner as a contributor to positive cultural change in America.
Sincerely yours,
Paul Jaskot, President, CAA, and Professor of Art and Art History, DePaul University; and Linda Downs, Executive Director, CAA