CAA News

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.

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, 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.

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.

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 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.

CAA members have elected four new members to serve on the Board of Directors from 2009 to 2013: Jacqueline Francis, DeWitt Godfrey, Patricia Mathews, and Patricia McDonnell.

Results of the election were announced on February 27, 2009, during the Annual Members’ Business Meeting at the 97th Annual Conference in Los Angeles. These four take office at the next board meeting in May 2009; their original candidate statements appear below.

CAA is still seeking nominations and self-nominations for individuals interested in serving on CAA’s board for the 2010–14 term.

Jacqueline Francis
California College of the Arts and San Francisco State University

For the last two years, I have served on the CAA Committee on Diversity Practices, which works to advance several of CAA’s most important objectives: to define diversity, to communicate its importance to our membership, and to provide strategies for achieving it in the cultural realms in which we operate. As an organization, CAA will be stronger through the recognition of existing diversity within our ranks and through clear articulation about its centrality to stated goals of increasing membership (and hence, revenue), promoting and expanding our services, and demonstrating our continued relevance as a resource nexus and network. This is the vibrant profile that we must present to current and future members, to partner organizations, and to philanthropies and other potential sources of support.

DeWitt Godfrey
Colgate University

Because I spent the first fifteen years of my professional life as an independent artist, followed by a decade of teaching at the university level, I believe I offer some unique insights into CAA’s mission. In addition, my own academic experiences, as a student and professor, are located in departments that combine the study of art practice and art history. The creation, teaching, and reception of art, I have found, resonate strongly in settings that sustain multiple intellectual, critical, and creative discourses.

As CAA approaches its one-hundredth year and embarks on its next strategic-planning process, it must be equally creative and innovative, responding to and taking the lead in its support of emerging hybrid forms of artistic creation and scholarly production. Building on its core strengths, CAA must maintain its vitally important academic and professional standards, sustain the Annual Conference while exploring new models of collegial gatherings, and provide expanded venues for the presentation and publication of creative and scholarly work. CAA needs to better support its recent graduates and emerging professionals, encourage and provide for pedagogical innovation, and reexamine, reaffirm, and reinvigorate strategies to support its artists members. The association should also explore new paths of communication with membership that better address the specific needs of its various constituencies and embrace the opportunities and challenges of an increasingly digital world, as well as increase its advocacy for the place of art in the larger culture by expanding partnerships with other organizations. The planning, articulation, and implementation of these programs, as well as fundraising and membership expansion, are essential to CAA’s long-term fiscal health and stability.

Patricia Mathews
Hobart and William Smith Colleges

CAA has recently moved in constructive directions. I particularly applaud the interest in diversity and would like to improve financial support and organizational visibility for women and underrepresented scholars and artists. Further, as an extremely vital and lively organization, CAA should have a broader profile, especially in light of shrinking resources for arts organizations across the country.

As a member of a small liberal-arts college, I am interested in pedagogy and curricula. I have personally worked to develop these areas at Hobart and William Smith Colleges over the last few years and consider both of importance for the future of art history. To this end, I recently attended a Lilly Conference on College and University Teaching on new ideas in education and have been working closely with the director of the Center of Teaching and Learning at my school. There is a great deal of new literature on how students learn and what keeps them from learning well, and the workshops on pedagogy this year at the CAA Annual Conference in Los Angeles look quite valuable. Accordingly, I would like to institute our own study of best practices for teaching art and art history that could benefit both our professionals and our students.

I would bring to the board an unusual talent among art historians. I supported myself as an undergraduate by working for a small accounting firm, where I kept the books and did taxes for a number of medium-size companies. These skills would be useful in the board’s work with the annual budget.

Patricia McDonnell
Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University

College Art Association—the organization’s name signals its role as an advocate for all who teach the visual arts at the postsecondary level. Many of its members do that in the classroom. Those of us who work in art museums also guide learning about visual culture by enriching people’s firsthand encounters with works of art. Museum curators, editors, conservators, and librarians, as well as faculty artists and art historians, all contribute to the CAA world.

As a longtime curator and now as a museum director, and as a devoted member for seventeen years, I have relied greatly on CAA. Because CAA does an excellent job with its highly valuable Annual Conference and various publications—programs that we should sustain—I am especially interested in expanding the organization’s advocacy role for the visual arts in American culture. This advocacy should extol the intrinsic value of encounters with original works of art and partner with organizations such as Americans for the Arts. Advocacy should emphasize the critical importance of visual-arts education in American life and support for those who teach it.

CAA members may now cast their e-ballots for the CAA Board of Directors Election, as well as submit their proxies for the Annual Members’ Business Meeting. The four recipients receiving the most votes will serve on the board from 2009 to 2013.

If you have previously indicated that you want to cast your vote and submit your proxy online, an email sent yesterday will contain your PIN; your ID is your CAA member number. Please go to www.electionadmin.com/caa.htm to begin the process.

The board candidates are:

• Carol Crown, University of Memphis
• Jacqueline Francis, California College of the Arts and San Francisco State University
• DeWitt Godfrey, Colgate University
• Patricia Mathews, Hobart and William Smith Colleges
• Patricia McDonnell, Ulrich Museum of Art, Wichita State University
• Perri Lee Roberts, University of Miami

Please read each candidate’s statement and biography—and watch their special video introductions—by clicking on his or her name above before casting your vote. Voting began on January 5, 2009, and ends on Friday, February 27, at 5:00 PM (PST).

Results of the election will be announced during the CAA Annual Conference at the Annual Members’ Business Meeting, which takes place on February 27, 5:00–6:00 PM, in West Hall Meeting Room 502A, Level 2, of the Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 S. Figueroa Street.

If you are unable to attend the Annual Members’ Business Meeting, you may submit your proxy online. By doing so, you appoint the individuals named on the proxy to:

• Vote as indicated on your proxy
• Vote, in their discretion, on such other matters as may properly come before such a meeting; and
• Vote in any and all adjournments thereof

As CAA’s governing body, the Board of Directors is charged with CAA’s long-term financial stability and strategic direction. It sets policy regarding all aspects of the organization’s activities, including publications, the Annual Conference, awards and fellowships, advocacy work, and committee procedures.

Questions? Contact Vanessa Jalet, CAA executive assistant, at 212-691-1051, ext. 261.

The first issue of CAA News for 2009 has just been posted to the CAA website. Click on the cover to download a PDF of the issue right away. Printed copies for individual and institutional members will be mailed soon, to begin arriving in mid-January.

The January issue includes statements and biographies of the six candidates for the CAA Board of Directors for 2009–13. Please read these texts, as well as view their short video statements online, before casting your vote.

Also featured are details on the upcoming Regional MFA Exhibition at the 97th Annual Conference in Los Angeles, which features the work of student artists from twelve graduate programs in southern California.

The deadline for submissions to, and advertisements for the March 2009 issue is January 10. Please see the newsletter submission guidelines for instructions or write to Christopher Howard, CAA managing editor.

Nominations and self-nominations are sought for individuals interested in shaping the future of CAA by serving on CAA’s Board of Directors for the 2010–14 term.

The board is responsible for all financial and policy matters related to the organization. It promotes excellence in scholarship and teaching in the history and criticism of the visual arts, and it encourages creativity and technical skill in the teaching and practice of art. CAA’s board is also charged with representing the membership on issues affecting the visual arts and humanities.

Nominations and self-nominations should include the following information: the nominee’s name, affiliation, address, email address, and telephone number, as well as the name, affiliation, and email address of the nominator, if different from the nominee. Please forward all to: Vanessa Jalet, CAA Executive Assistant, CAA, 275 Seventh Ave., 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001. Deadline: April 3, 2009.