CAA News Today
May CAA News Published
posted by Christopher Howard — May 08, 2009
The May issue of CAA News has just been published. All individual and institutional members will receive it in the mail; you can also download a PDF of the issue now, reformatted to better fit your screen.
In the issue, CAA President Paul Jaskot and Director of Programs Emmanuel Lemakis sum up highlights from the 2009 Annual Conference in Los Angeles, and CAA Board Member Andrea Kirsh writes about her experiences at this year’s Arts Advocacy Day and Humanities Advocacy Day.
The May newsletter also includes instructions for proposing a session for the 2011 Annual Conference in New York—CAA’s centennial year. Please read the guidelines carefully before the submission process begins on June 16, 2009. Deadline: September 1, 2009.
Also published are calls for texts on “the contemporary” for Art Journal and for participation on CAA’s Professional Interests, Practices, and Standards Committees—plus the latest news from CAA’s affiliated societies and listings of solo exhibitions, books published, and exhibitions curated by CAA members.
Call for Art Journal Texts on “the Contemporary”
posted by Christopher Howard — May 05, 2009
Katy Siegel is incoming editor-in-chief of Art Journal and associate professor of art history at Hunter College, City University of New York.
During my tenure as editor-in-chief of Art Journal, I would like to publish a wide-ranging series that assesses contemporary art—its making, exhibition, criticism, history, and social uses. This series could include the kind of state-of-the-field essays that have traditionally been written about historical areas of study for The Art Bulletin. It could also mean more focused historiographic subjects, such as the evolution of “the contemporary” or the rise and fall of postmodernism. Or theoretical discussions of, for example, the relationships between the modern and the contemporary (questions of periodization being of special interest), or more speculative considerations of the changing role of contemporary art in current economic, technological, and social conditions.
I welcome approaches that are ambitious and generalizing, but since “the contemporary” is not really a single unified disciplinary object, I am also seeking writing that is partisan and partial, local and medium-specific. While one person might approach postmodernism from a historical perspective, as an object in the past, another might argue for its continuing validity under current conditions. Different authors might investigate the social meaning of “the contemporary” as opposed to the modern in particular countries at particular moments (the US at midcentury, China today), or for particular institutions, such as the museum, biennial exhibition, or university/college course.
I would like to hear from curators, teachers, critics, and artists about their own concrete experiences in relation to these large, abstract questions. I am interested not only in a wide range of topics, but also a diversity of approaches to those topics: art criticism, discussions, shorter polemical essays, and artists’ projects are all possibilities in addition to the scholarly article.
For more information, please write to katy.siegel@gmail.com.
Spring Art Journal Published
posted by Christopher Howard — May 04, 2009
In her introductory editor’s letter to the recently published Spring 2009 Art Journal, Judith Rodenbeck underlines the notion of retooling in the issue. The authors and contributors, she notes, confront three areas in particular: how the expansive global art world thrives in non-Western countries; how art education is undergoing progressive change outside traditional art academia; and how a history of early computer art can inform contemporary practice.
Gail Gelburd’s essay, “Cuba and the Art of ‘Trading with the Enemy,’ ” looks at Cuban-American relations over the past fifty years and their effect on cultural exchange. In her essay “Urban Claims and Visual Sources in the Making of Dakar’s Art World City,” Joanna Grabski discusses the Dak’Art Biennale in relation to Senghorian Négritude, the city’s School of Fine Arts, and Dakar’s urban fabric.
During the past several years, Art Journal has investigated retoolings in pedagogical issues. “The Currency of Practice: Reclaiming Autonomy for the MFA,” developed from a roundtable discussion that took place at the CAA Annual Conference in 2007, explores alternatives to traditional graduate degrees such as often-nomadic, nonaccredited schools, organizations led and run by artists, and programs for PhDs for artists.
Moving forward by looking back, three essays explore the history and practice of digital art. The artist Paul Hertz presents an overview that draws on his recent cocurated exhibition, Imaging by Numbers: A Historical View of the Computer Print. A computer scientist and pioneering artist, Frieder Nake, examines early European computer artists and their work, which he calls “algorithmic images accepted as art.” Patric D. Prince, a scholar, artist, and collector of computer art, provides a short history of computer-generated imagery and digital printmaking in America before the era of the home computer.
Reviews include texts on recent projects by Boris Groys (a collection of essays and an exhibition) and a book on Marcel Duchamp and artists’ labor. Letters to the editor include two replies to an Art Journal article, “Steps to an Ecology of Communication: Radical Software, Dan Graham, and the Legacy of Gregory Bateson,” from the Fall 2008 issue.
March 2009 Issue of The Art Bulletin Published
posted by Christopher Howard — March 20, 2009
The March 2009 issue of The Art Bulletin, the leading publication of international art-historical scholarship, has been published and was mailed to CAA members earlier this month.
Special to this issue is the publication of Picasso’s Closet, a play by the Chilean American writer and Duke University professor Ariel Dorfman, which examines Pablo Picasso’s thorny politics and raises questions about the role of an artist during wartime. The art historians Pepe Karmel and Patricia Leighton and the theorist Mieke Bal respond.
Two essays examine on art and culture in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century France. Judy Sund reads Antoine Watteau’s Les charmes de la vie as a commentary on the ways that nature was domesticated and aestheticized for wealthy Parisians, with the artist standing as mediator between the realms of culture and nature. Meanwhile, Jennifer Olmsted considers how Eugène Delacroix’s The Sultan of Morocco and His Entourage was at odds with the triumphalist paintings of French domination over North Africa that were also on view at the Salon of 1845 in Paris.
This issue of The Art Bulletin also contains four book reviews on Roman visuality, the Buddhist afterlife in art, the Psalter of Saint Louis, and African architecture. Please read the full table of contents for more details.
NEA Report on Unemployment Rates for Artists
posted by Christopher Howard — March 09, 2009
Unemployment rates are up among working artists and the artist workforce has contracted, according to new research from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Artists in a Year of Recession: Impact on Jobs in 2008 examines how the economic slowdown has affected the nation’s working artists. The study looks at artist employment patterns during two spikes in the current recession—the fourth quarters of 2007 and 2008. Not unexpectedly, this downturn reflects larger economic declines across the nation: a Commerce Department report from late February noted a 6.2 percent decrease in the gross domestic product in the last quarter of 2008. The ten-page publication can be downloaded as a PDF.
Among the findings:
- Artists are unemployed at twice the rate of professional workers, a category in which artists are grouped because of their high levels of education. The artist unemployment rate grew to 6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with 3 percent for all professionals. A total of 129,000 artists were unemployed in the fourth quarter of 2008, an increase of 50,000 (63 percent) from one year earlier. The unemployment rate for artists is comparable to that for the overall workforce (6.1 percent)
- Unemployment rates for artists have risen more rapidly than for US workers as a whole. The unemployment rate for artists climbed 2.4 percentage points between the fourth quarters of 2007 and 2008, compared to a one-point increase for professional workers as a whole, and a 1.9 point increase for the overall workforce
- Artist unemployment rates would be even higher if not for the large number of artists leaving the workforce. The US labor force grew by 800,000 people from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the fourth quarter of 2008. In contrast, the artist workforce shrank by 74,000 workers. Some of this decline may be attributed to artists’ discouragement over job prospects
- Unemployment rose for most types of artist occupations. Artist jobs with higher unemployment rates are performing artists (8.4 percent), fine artists, art directors, and animators (7.1 percent), writers and authors (6.6 percent), and photographers (6.0 percent)
- The job market for artists is unlikely to improve until long after the US economy starts to recover. Unemployment is generally a lagging economic indicator, or a measure of how an economy has performed in the past few months. During the prior recession (2001), artist unemployment did not reach its peak of 6.1 percent until 2003—two years after economic recovery began nationwide.
As an example of how arts jobs intersect with the larger economy, consider the construction industry. Industry-wide declines, which began in 2006, have contributed to the shrinking job market for architects. While this group usually has the lowest unemployment rates among all artist occupations and all professionals, architect unemployment rates doubled, from 1.8 percent in fourth quarter 2007, to 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008. Unemployment in the designer category also doubled, from 2.3 percent to 4.7 percent. This broad category includes interior, commercial, and industrial designers whose work is closely associated with the construction industry. Eighty-three thousand designers left the artist labor market during that time period.
The contraction of the arts workforce has implications for the overall economy. A May 2008 NEA study revealed there are two million full-time artists representing 1.4 percent of the US labor force, only slightly smaller than the number of active-duty and reserve personnel in the military (2.2 million). More recently, a National Governors Association report recognized that the arts directly benefit states and communities through job creation, tax revenues, attracting investments, invigorating local economies, and enhancing quality of life. There are 100,000 nonprofit arts organizations that support 5.7 million jobs and return nearly $30 billion in government revenue every year, according to a study by Americans for the Arts.
The NEA Office of Research and Analysis produced Artists in a Year of Recession: Impact on Jobs in 2008 using published and unpublished data from the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The research note measures unemployment rates among workers who self-reported an artist job as occupying their greatest number of working hours per week, whether the employment was full-time or part-time.
NEA REPORT ON UNEMPLOYMENT RATES FOR ARTISTS
posted by Christopher Howard — March 09, 2009
Unemployment rates are up among working artists and the artist workforce has contracted, according to new research from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). Artists in a Year of Recession: Impact on Jobs in 2008 examines how the economic slowdown has affected the nation’s working artists. The study looks at artist employment patterns during two spikes in the current recession—the fourth quarters of 2007 and 2008. Not unexpectedly, this downturn reflects larger economic declines across the nation: a Commerce Department report from late February noted a 6.2 percent decrease in the gross domestic product in the last quarter of 2008. The ten-page publication can be downloaded as a PDF.
Among the findings:
- Artists are unemployed at twice the rate of professional workers, a category in which artists are grouped because of their high levels of education. The artist unemployment rate grew to 6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008, compared with 3 percent for all professionals. A total of 129,000 artists were unemployed in the fourth quarter of 2008, an increase of 50,000 (63 percent) from one year earlier. The unemployment rate for artists is comparable to that for the overall workforce (6.1 percent)
- Unemployment rates for artists have risen more rapidly than for US workers as a whole. The unemployment rate for artists climbed 2.4 percentage points between the fourth quarters of 2007 and 2008, compared to a one-point increase for professional workers as a whole, and a 1.9 point increase for the overall workforce
- Artist unemployment rates would be even higher if not for the large number of artists leaving the workforce. The US labor force grew by 800,000 people from the fourth quarter of 2007 to the fourth quarter of 2008. In contrast, the artist workforce shrank by 74,000 workers. Some of this decline may be attributed to artists’ discouragement over job prospects
- Unemployment rose for most types of artist occupations. Artist jobs with higher unemployment rates are performing artists (8.4 percent), fine artists, art directors, and animators (7.1 percent), writers and authors (6.6 percent), and photographers (6.0 percent)
- The job market for artists is unlikely to improve until long after the US economy starts to recover. Unemployment is generally a lagging economic indicator, or a measure of how an economy has performed in the past few months. During the prior recession (2001), artist unemployment did not reach its peak of 6.1 percent until 2003—two years after economic recovery began nationwide.
As an example of how arts jobs intersect with the larger economy, consider the construction industry. Industry-wide declines, which began in 2006, have contributed to the shrinking job market for architects. While this group usually has the lowest unemployment rates among all artist occupations and all professionals, architect unemployment rates doubled, from 1.8 percent in fourth quarter 2007, to 3.8 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008. Unemployment in the designer category also doubled, from 2.3 percent to 4.7 percent. This broad category includes interior, commercial, and industrial designers whose work is closely associated with the construction industry. Eighty-three thousand designers left the artist labor market during that time period.
The contraction of the arts workforce has implications for the overall economy. A May 2008 NEA study revealed there are two million full-time artists representing 1.4 percent of the US labor force, only slightly smaller than the number of active-duty and reserve personnel in the military (2.2 million). More recently, a National Governors Association report recognized that the arts directly benefit states and communities through job creation, tax revenues, attracting investments, invigorating local economies, and enhancing quality of life. There are 100,000 nonprofit arts organizations that support 5.7 million jobs and return nearly $30 billion in government revenue every year, according to a study by Americans for the Arts.
The NEA Office of Research and Analysis produced Artists in a Year of Recession: Impact on Jobs in 2008 using published and unpublished data from the Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics. The research note measures unemployment rates among workers who self-reported an artist job as occupying their greatest number of working hours per week, whether the employment was full-time or part-time.
2010 Call for Participation Published
posted by Lauren Stark — February 23, 2009
The 98th Annual Conference will take place February 10–13, 2010, in Chicago, Illinois, the first time since 2001. Listing more than 120 sessions, the 2010 Call for Participation, which you can download now as a PDF, will arrive in the mailboxes of all individual and institutional CAA members in March 2009.
This twenty-four-page publication describes many of next year’s panels and presentations. CAA and session chairs invite your participation: please follow the instructions in the booklet to submit a proposal for a paper or presentation. This publication also includes a call for Poster Session proposals and describes the Open Forms sessions.
In addition to attending and participating in the wide-ranging panels on art history, studio art, contemporary issues, and professional and educational practices, CAA expects participation from many area schools, museums, galleries, and other art institutions. The Hyatt Regency Chicago is the conference hotel, holding most sessions and panels, Career Services and the Book and Trade Fair, receptions and special events, and more. Deadline: May 8, 2009.
March CAA News Published
posted by Christopher Howard — February 20, 2009
The March 2009 CAA News has been posted to the CAA website as a PDF download. Printed copies for individual and institutional members will be mailed next week, with your copy arriving in early March.
Highlighted in the issue are the four 2008 recipients of CAA’s Professional Development Fellowship Program for graduate students: Mary Reid Kelley, Yale University; Justin Shull, Rutgers University; Nichole N. Bridges, University of Wisconsin, Madison; and Wendy Ikemoto, Harvard University. Six honorable mentions are also named.
In the Publications section, CAA announces the appointment of Katy Siegel as the next Art Journal editor-in-chief. In addition, the editorial boards of our three journals—The Art Bulletin, Art Journal, and caa.reviews—and the Millard Meiss Publication Fund Jury all seek new members. Read the calls for nominations and self-nominations inside.
The deadline for submissions to the May 2009 CAA News is March 10. Please read the newsletter submission guidelines or write to Christopher Howard, CAA managing editor.
Conference Book and Trade Fair Exhibitors
posted by Christopher Howard — February 17, 2009
CAA has announced the list of exhibitors who will be present in Los Angeles for this year’s Book and Trade Fair. Taking place at the Los Angeles Convention Center during the 97th Annual Conference, the Book and Trade Fair hosts more than one hundred major college and university publishers, leading trade publishers, and trend-setting independent presses.
The largest national and international art-materials manufacturers and distributors, as well as highly specialized companies with unique products for studio artists, will show their products and wares. Also on hand are a handful of contemporary art journals.
The fair continues to attract a wide array of diverse organizations providing professional services to the visual arts, including programs of advanced study, specialized associations, advanced-degree programs, and independent exhibition services.
At the CAA booth, you can purchase copies of the highly anticipated directories of graduate programs in the arts: Graduate Programs in Art History and Graduate Programs in the Visual Arts. Stop by to browse these publications, talk with CAA staff members, and learn more about CAA’s programs and services.
The Book and Trade Fair in Los Angeles is open for three days: Thursday, February 26, and Friday, February 27, 9:00 AM–6:00 PM, and Saturday, February 28, 9:00 AM–2:30 PM. The 2009 sponsors are ARTstor, Blick Artist Materials, Prestel Publishing, Saskia Ltd./Scholars Resource, the School of Visual Arts, and SlideRoom.
Winter 2008 Art Journal Published
posted by Christopher Howard — February 02, 2009
The Winter 2008 issue of Art Journal has just been published. The table of contents is posted on the CAA website, and your printed copy will arrive in the mail this month.
In the Forum, Suzanne Hudson and Anne Byrd collected papers first presented at their cochaired CAA session from the 2008 Annual Conference in Dallas–Fort Worth. Entitled “I’ll Be Your Mirror, or Why and How Do We Work on Living Artists,” the section presents essays and responses from Hudson, Byrd, Ágnes Berecz, Huey Copeland, Phyllis Tuchman, and Johanna Burton. Richard Meyer’s essay here “ ‘Artists sometimes have feelings,’ ” won CAA’s 2009 Art Journal Award, to be awarded at the upcoming conference in Los Angeles.
Features include “Toward an Aesthetic Marine Biology,” a deep-sea investigation by J. Malcolm Shick, a professor of zoology and oceanography, of underwater imagery in historical and contemporary art and its use in his classroom. Two other texts on pedagogy round out the section: Julia Morrisroe and Craig Roland consider “A Collaborative Approach to Preparing MFA Art Students to Teach at the University Level,” and Harrell Fletcher leads a conversation with his students on the MFA in social practice that he developed at Portland State University.
In Reviews, Lisa Frye Ashe examines the exhibition Morris Louis Now: An American Master and its catalogue, published to accompany a show that originated at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia, in 2006 and traveled to San Diego and Washington, DC. In related art-historical areas, Harry Cooper reviews Mark Godfrey’s book Abstraction and the Holocaust, and Gail Levin looks at the exhibitions Action Painting (on view in Basel, Switzerland in 2008) and Action/Abstraction: Pollock, de Kooning, and American Art, 1940–1976 (opening on February 13 at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo, New York, after stops in New York and St. Louis), while also reviewing their catalogues.