CAA News Today

Statement

Currently, I serve as the Director of Bowling Green State University’s School of Art, a large and comprehensive program comprised of 550 students and 34 faculty members. In addition to my administrative duties, I teach courses in drawing and maintain an active studio practice focused on drawing and photography.  

I believe that my strong record of national-level professional service has well-qualified me for Board service. Since 2016, I’ve served on CAA’s Professional Practice Committee. Perhaps the highlight of my PPC service was co-chairing the sub-committee that last year completed revisions to the guidelines for retention and tenure of art historians. In addition, I’ve served or continue to serve on PPC sub-committees charged with revising CAA’s guidelines for distance education, teaching digital media, baccalaureate degrees in studio art, assessment in studio art as well as CAA’s overview statement on standards/guidelines. I’m also a member of the Board of Directors of the National Council of Arts Administrators (NCAA), a CAA affiliated organization dedicated to addressing pressing issues in arts administration. In my role as Co-Chair of NCAA’s Conference Committee, I’ve co-organized three NCAA/CAA affiliate panel sessions for CAA conferences. Last year’s session, “So Who Wants to be an Arts Administrator?”, was devoted to recruitment and support of emerging administrators, an issue of great importance to the future of visual arts education. Finally, I serve as an institutional on-site evaluator for National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD) accreditation and re-accreditation reviews. 

Leadership of a School of Art situated within a region-focused public university with a substantial population of first-generation college students has made me especially sensitive to the issue of preserving academic access. I see this as an urgent matter. If education in the arts and humanities becomes inequitably available, then the voices and experiences of a large part of our society won’t be heard, resulting in a profound negative impact on the quality of cultural and political discourse in our country. Given what’s at stake, keeping educational and cultural institutions accessible, inclusive and diverse in the face of pandemic accelerated enrollment declines and budget cuts is a challenge we must take up collectively. As the preeminent professional organization in visual arts education, CAA is uniquely positioned to bring together its various constituencies for the purpose of jointly developing programs, strategies and advocacy language required to navigate in our present circumstances and to re-imagine our futures. It would be a singular honor to offer my experience to CAA’s Board of Director’s in a moment when the organization’s mission to assure the vitality and inclusivity of visual arts interpretation and practice has never been more necessary. 

Download Charles Kanwischer’s CV