CAA News Today
Obama Names Committee on the Arts and the Humanities Leaders
posted by Christopher Howard — September 18, 2009
Barack Obama has appointed new leaders to the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities. George Stevens, Jr., and Margo Lion will serve as cochairs, and Mary Schmidt Campbell will be vice chair.
This committee, founded in 1982 and comprised of private citizens from across the United States, advocates for the arts and humanities as core of a vital society. It works with the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services to advance nonpartisan cultural objectives of the Obama administration.
Stevens is a writer, director, producer of motion pictures and television, founder of the American Film Institute, and creator of the Kennedy Center Honors. He fostered a new generation of documentary filmmakers as head of the US Information Agency’s Motion Picture Service during the Kennedy presidency.
As a Broadway producer, Lion has worked with Tony Kushner, David Mamet, Arthur Miller, August Wilson, and George C. Wolfe, and her work has earned Tony and Olivier awards and a Pulitzer Prize. She is also an adjunct professor and a member of the Dean’s Council at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Tisch is also home to Campbell, where she is dean. A former chair of the New York State Council on the Arts, Campell was executive director of the Studio Museum in Harlem, where she wrote the catalogue for the exhibition Memory and Metaphor: The Art of Romare Bearden, 1940–1987.
In early August, President Obama appointed Rachel Goslins, an independent television and film producer, as the committee’s executive director.
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.
Jim Leach Is New Chairman of the NEH
posted by Christopher Howard — August 13, 2009
After receiving confirmation from the US Senate last Friday, Jim Leach was sworn in as the ninth chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). A Republican, Leach previously served southeastern Iowa for thirty years in the US House of Representatives, where he chaired the Banking and Financial Services Committee, the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs, and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. He also founded and cochaired the Congressional Humanities Caucus.
After leaving Congress in 2007, Leach was John L. Weinberg Visiting Professor of Public and International Affairs in Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School. In September 2007, he took a year’s leave of absence from Princeton to serve as the interim director of the Institute of Politics and a lecturer at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
In a recent staff “town hall” meeting about a new “bridging cultures” theme for the NEH, Leach said, “In an era where declining civility increasingly hallmarks domestic politics and where anarchy has taken root in many parts of the world, it is imperative that cultural differences at home and abroad be respectfully understood, rather than irrationally denigrated.”
Leach graduated from Princeton, received a master’s degree in Soviet politics from the School of Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University, and did additional graduate studies at the London School of Economics. He also holds eight honorary degrees and has received numerous awards, including the Sidney R. Yates Award for Distinguished Public Service to the Humanities from the National Humanities Alliance; the Woodrow Wilson Award from Johns Hopkins; the Adlai Stevenson Award from the United Nations Association; the Edgar Wayburn Award from the Sierra Club; the Wayne Morse Integrity in Politics Award; the Norman Borlaug Award for Public Service; and the Wesley Award for Service to Humanity.
Jim Leach Is the New Chairman of the NEH
posted by Christopher Howard — August 13, 2009
After receiving confirmation from the US Senate last Friday, Jim Leach was sworn in as the ninth chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). A Republican, Leach previously served southeastern Iowa for thirty years in the US House of Representatives, where he chaired the Banking and Financial Services Committee, the Subcommittee on Asian and Pacific Affairs, and the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. He also founded and cochaired the Congressional Humanities Caucus.
After leaving Congress in 2007, Leach was John L. Weinberg Visiting Professor of Public and International Affairs in Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School. In September 2007, he took a year’s leave of absence from Princeton to serve as the interim director of the Institute of Politics and a lecturer at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.
In a recent staff “town hall” meeting about a new “bridging cultures” theme for the NEH, Leach said, “In an era where declining civility increasingly hallmarks domestic politics and where anarchy has taken root in many parts of the world, it is imperative that cultural differences at home and abroad be respectfully understood, rather than irrationally denigrated.”
Leach graduated from Princeton, received a master’s degree in Soviet politics from the School of Advanced International Studies at John Hopkins University, and did additional graduate studies at the London School of Economics. He also holds eight honorary degrees and has received numerous awards, including the Sidney R. Yates Award for Distinguished Public Service to the Humanities from the National Humanities Alliance; the Woodrow Wilson Award from Johns Hopkins; the Adlai Stevenson Award from the United Nations Association; the Edgar Wayburn Award from the Sierra Club; the Wayne Morse Integrity in Politics Award; the Norman Borlaug Award for Public Service; and the Wesley Award for Service to Humanity.
Summer Obituaries in the Arts
posted by Christopher Howard — August 12, 2009
CAA recognizes the lives and achievements of the following artists, art historians, curators, photographers, architects, and other professionals and important figures in the visual arts.
- H. T. Cadbury-Brown, a British modernist architect, died on July 9, 2009. He was 96
- James Conlon, director of the Visual Media Center at Columbia University, died on July 17, 2009, at the age of 37
- Merce Cunningham, an avant-garde choreographer and dancer, died on July 26, 2009. He was 90
- Michael Dailey, a painter and teacher based in Seattle, died on August 9, 2009, at the age of 71
- Julian Dashper, a New Zealand artist, died on July 30, 2009. He was 49
- Heinz Edelmann, an illustrator and professor who worked on the film Yellow Submarine, died on July 21, 2009, at the age of 75
- Kenneth Garlick, a scholar and keeper of Western art at the Ashmolean Museum, died on July 22, 2009, at age 92
- Charles Gwathmey, an American modernist architect, died on August 3, 2009, at the age of 71
- Earl Haig, a British soldier and painter, died on July 9, 2009. He was 91
- Otto Heino, a Californian potter and educator, died on July 16, 2009, at the age of 94
- Francisco Hidalgo, a Spanish-born French cartoonist and photographer, died on July 25, 2009. He was 80
- Ingeborg Hunzinger, a German sculptor, died on July 19, 2009. She was 94
- Marcey Jacobson, a self-taught photographer who worked in Mexico, died on July 26, 2009, at age 97
- Bill Jay, a photographer, writer, and former editor of Creative Camera, died on May 10, 2009, at age 68
- Amos Kenan, an Israeli writer and artist, died on August 4, 2009, at the age of 82
- Tamara Krikorian, a video artist and public-art curator in Wales, died on July 11, 2009. She was 65
- John Lidzey, an English artist and teacher who was known for his watercolors, died on April 5, 2009, at age 74
- Michael Martin, a New York graffiti artist known as Iz the Wiz, died on June 17, 2009. He was 50
- Cecile McCann, a Californian artist and publisher of Artweek magazine, died on July 2, 2009. She was 91
- Tyeb Mehta, a major painter in postcolonial modern art in India, died on July 1, 2009, at the age of 84
- Leo Mol, a renowned Canadian sculptor, died on July 4, 2009, at the age of 94
- Charles Huntley Nelson, an artist and professor of art at Morehouse College, died on July 30, 2009. He was 39
- Joan O’Mara, a professor of art history at Washington and Lee University, died on May 24, 2009, at the age of 63
- Chris Plowman, a British artist and teacher, died in mid-July 2009. He was 56
- Constantine Raitzky, a former exhibition designer for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, died on June 29, 2009, at age 78
- Julius Shulman, a photographer of modernist architecture, died on July 15, 2009, at the age of 98
- Dash Snow, a New York–based artist, died on July 13, 2009. He was 27
Read all past obituaries in the arts on the CAA website.
Rocco Landesman Is New NEA Chairman
posted by Christopher Howard — August 10, 2009
On Friday, August 7, 2009, the US Senate confirmed Rocco Landesman, a Broadway theater producer, as the tenth chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Nominated by President Barack Obama, Landesman succeeds Dana Gioia, who resigned in January 2009. Patrice Walker Powell, the NEA’s deputy chairman for state, regions, and local arts agencies, had served as acting chairman in the interim.
Upon his confirmation Landesman said, “I am honored to receive the Senate’s vote of confirmation. I look forward to serving the nation as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. I believe this is an auspicious time for the NEA and the country. Art is essential to the civic, economic, and cultural vitality of our nation. It reflects who we are and what we stand for—freedom of expression, imagination, and vision. I am eager to work with our many partners to bring quality arts programs to neighborhoods and communities across the country.”
Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Landesman pursued his undergraduate education at Colby College and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and earned a doctorate in dramatic literature at the Yale School of Drama. At the completion of his course work, he stayed at the school for four years, working as an assistant professor.
His ensuing career has been a hybrid of commercial, philanthropic, and artistic engagements. In 1977, he left Yale to start a private investment fund, which he ran until his appointment in 1987 as president of Jujamcyn, a company that owns and operates five Broadway theaters. Before and after joining Jujamcyn, Landesman produced Broadway shows, the most notable of which are Big River (1985 Tony for best musical), Angels in America, and The Producers (2001 Tony for best musical). In 2005, he bought Jujamcyn and managed it until President Obama announced his intention to nominate him to the NEA chairmanship.
Landesman has also been active on numerous boards, including the Municipal Arts Society; an advocacy organization concerned with New York City’s public spaces and preservation; the Times Square Alliance, which has radically changed the heart of the city by improving its safety, sanitation, and aesthetic; and the Educational Foundation of America. Over the years, he returned to the Yale School of Drama and Yale Rep to teach.
Photo: Michael Eastman.
Rocco Landesman Is New NEA Chairman
posted by Christopher Howard — August 10, 2009
On Friday, August 7, 2009, the US Senate confirmed Rocco Landesman, a Broadway theater producer, as the tenth chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Nominated by President Barack Obama, Landesman succeeds Dana Gioia, who resigned in January 2009. Patrice Walker Powell, the NEA’s deputy chairman for state, regions, and local arts agencies, had served as acting chairman in the interim.
Upon his confirmation Landesman said, “I am honored to receive the Senate’s vote of confirmation. I look forward to serving the nation as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. I believe this is an auspicious time for the NEA and the country. Art is essential to the civic, economic, and cultural vitality of our nation. It reflects who we are and what we stand for—freedom of expression, imagination, and vision. I am eager to work with our many partners to bring quality arts programs to neighborhoods and communities across the country.”
Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Landesman pursued his undergraduate education at Colby College and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and earned a doctorate in dramatic literature at the Yale School of Drama. At the completion of his course work, he stayed at the school for four years, working as an assistant professor.
His ensuing career has been a hybrid of commercial, philanthropic, and artistic engagements. In 1977, he left Yale to start a private investment fund, which he ran until his appointment in 1987 as president of Jujamcyn, a company that owns and operates five Broadway theaters. Before and after joining Jujamcyn, Landesman produced Broadway shows, the most notable of which are Big River (1985 Tony for best musical), Angels in America, and The Producers (2001 Tony for best musical). In 2005, he bought Jujamcyn and managed it until President Obama announced his intention to nominate him to the NEA chairmanship.
Landesman has also been active on numerous boards, including the Municipal Arts Society; an advocacy organization concerned with New York City’s public spaces and preservation; the Times Square Alliance, which has radically changed the heart of the city by improving its safety, sanitation, and aesthetic; and the Educational Foundation of America. Over the years, he returned to the Yale School of Drama and Yale Rep to teach.
Photo: Michael Eastman.
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.
Timothy Rub to Direct the Philadelphia Museum of Art
posted by Christopher Howard — June 29, 2009
Timothy Rub has been named George D. Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Rub, who has been director and chief executive officer of the Cleveland Museum of Art in Ohio since 2006, begins work at the Pennsylvania museum in September. The fifty-seven-year-old succeeds Anne d’Harnoncourt, who died on June 1, 2008.
In Cleveland, Rub guided the museum’s comprehensive capital project and fundraising campaign, oversaw the reinstallation of its extensive holdings of European and American art in its renovated 1916 building and new East Wing, and brought to completion the first phase of its seven-year renovation and expansion project designed by the renowned architect Rafael Viñoly. He also initiated a strategic-planning process, managed the development of a touring exhibitions program that sent shows generated from the museum’s collection to Beijing, Tokyo, Seoul, Munich, and a number of venues in Canada and the United States.
A specialist in architecture and modern art, Rub also directed the Cincinnati Art Museum from 2000 to 2006, led the Hood Museum of Art at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, from 1991 to 1999, and was a Ford Foundation Fellow and then curator at the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum, in New York from 1983 to 1987.
At the Hood Museum of Art, his exhibitions and catalogues include The Age of the Marvelous; Goddess and Polis: The Panathenaic Festival in Ancient Athens, and Jose Clemente Orozco in the United States, 1928–1934; in Cincinnati, he produced Petra: Lost City of Stone.
Rub received a bachelor’s degree in art history, cum laude with highest honors, from Middlebury College in Middlebury, Vermont; a master’s degree in art history from the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University; and a master’s degree in public and private management from Yale University.
Photo: Timothy Rub, the George D. Widener Director and Chief Executive Officer of the Philadelphia Museum of Art (photograph by Kelly & Massa and provided by the Philadelphia Museum of Art)
June Obituaries in the Arts
posted by Christopher Howard — June 22, 2009
CAA recognizes the personal and professional achievements of the following artists, art historians, critics, curators, and collectors in the visual arts:
- Gilbert Alfred Bouchard, a Canadian art critic who wrote for the Edmonton Journal for nearly twenty-five years, has died. He was 47
- Robert Colescott, an American painter who represented the United States at the Venice Biennial in 1997, died on June 4, 2009, in Tucson, Arizona. He was 83
- Louise Deutschman, a curator and director of Waddell Gallery, Alex Rosenberg Gallery, and Sidney Janis Gallery, died on May 10, 2009, at the age of 92
- Ellen D’Oench, a curator for the Davison Art Center and adjunct professor of art at Wesleyan University, died on May 22, 2009, at age 78
- Johnny Donnels, a New Orleans–based photographer, died on March 19, 2009. He was 84
- Arthur Erickson, a modernist Canadian architect who designed many buildings in Vancouver, died on May 20, 2009, at age 84
- Patrick Farrow, a sculptor and gallery owner who was Mia Farrow’s brother, died on June 15, 2009, in Castleton, NH. He was 66
- Ib Geertsen, a Danish abstract painter who was associated with the Konkrete movement, died on June 3, 2009, at age 90
- Frederick Hammersley, a painter who was one of the four Los Angeles–based Abstract Classicists, died on May 31, 2009. He was 90
- William Hemmerling, a Southern folk artist based in Louisiana, died on June 15, 2009, at the age of 66
- Mary Henry, a geometric abstract painter based in the Pacific Northwest, died on May 20, 2009. She was 96
- David Ireland, a sculptor and conceptual artist based in San Francisco, died on May 17, 2009. He was 78
- Pirkle Jones, a California photographer who focused on social activism, died on March 15, 2009, at the age of 95
- Mildred Schiff Lee, an art collector and philanthropist who lived in Palm Beach, FL, died on May 7, 2009. She was 89
- Sam Maloof, a modernist furniture designer and woodworker based in southern California, died on May 21, 2009, at age 93
- Frank Herbert Mason, a painter and longtime instructor at the Art Students League in New York, died on June 16, 2009. He was 87 or 88
- Margaret Mellis, an influential figure in modern British art, died on March 17, 2009, at age 95
- John Michelini, a landscape painter from New Hampshire, died in mid-May 2009, at the age of 43
- Philip Stein, a muralist whose work appears at the Village Vanguard in New York, died on April 27, 2009. He was 90
Read all past obituaries in the arts on the CAA website.