CAA News

CAA has designed the Career Services Guide to inform job seekers and employers about placement activities at the 2013 Annual Conference in New York. The publication, available as a PDF, will help you navigate Career Services events and provides answers to frequently asked questions. Study this guide carefully so that you will know what to expect from conference interviewing and how best to prepare for a successful experience.

Job candidates can review the basics of the conference employment search. Read about the Candidate Center, your home base at the conference, as well as Orientation, an introduction to Career Services where you can ask questions. In addition, learn more about the Online Career Center, where you can search for position listings, post application materials, and arrange interviews. The publication includes tips for improving your CV, portfolio, and supplemental application materials.

Employers will find details in the guide for renting interview booths and tables as well as recommendations for posting jobs and conducting interviews at the conference. You can begin preparations now for Career Services through the Online Career Center or onsite at the Interviewer Center.

Printed copies of the Career Services Guide will be distributed onsite at Orientation and in the Candidate Center. All conference Career Services will take place at the Hilton New York. For more information about job searching, professional-development workshops, and more, visit the Career Services section of the conference website.

Students and emerging professionals have the opportunity to sign up for a twenty-minute practice interview at the 2013 Annual Conference in New York. Organized by the Student and Emerging Professionals Committee, Mock Interview Sessions give participants the chance to practice their interview skills one on one with a seasoned professional, improve their effectiveness during interviews, and hone their elevator speech. Interviewers also provide candid feedback on application packets.

Mock Interview Sessions are offered free of charge; you must be a CAA member to participate. Sessions are filled by appointment only and scheduled for Thursday, February 14, 10:00 AM–NOON and 4:00–6:00 PM; and Friday, February 15, 10:00 AM–NOON and 4:00–6:00 PM. Conference registration, while encouraged, is not necessary to participate.

To apply, download, complete, and send the Mock Interview Sessions form to Jennifer Stoneking-Stewart, chair of the Student and Emerging Professionals Committee. You may enroll in one twenty-minute session. Deadline: February 4, 2013.

You will be notified of your appointment day and time by email. Please bring your application packet, including cover letter, CV, and other materials related to jobs in your field. The Student and Emerging Professionals Committee will make every effort to accommodate all applicants; however, space is limited.

Onsite enrollment will be limited and first-come, first-served. Sign up in the Student and Emerging Professionals Lounge starting on Thursday, February 14, at 8:00 AM.

For the 2013 Annual Conference in New York, the Student and Emerging Professionals Committee seeks established professionals to volunteer as practice interviewers for the Mock Interview Sessions. Participating as an interviewer is an excellent way to serve the field and to assist with the professional development of the next generation of artists and scholars.

In these sessions, interviewers pose as a prospective employer, speaking with individuals in a scenario similar to the Interview Hall at the conference. Each session is composed of approximately 10–15 minutes of interview questions and a quick review of the application packet, followed by 5–10 minutes of candid feedback. Whenever possible, the committee matches interviewers and interviewees based on medium or discipline.

Interested candidates must be current CAA members and prepared to give six successive twenty-minute interviews with feedback in a two-hour period on one or both of these days: Thursday, February 14, 10:00 AM–NOON and 4:00–6:00 PM; and Friday, February 15, 10:00 AM–NOON and 4:00–6:00 PM. Conference registration, while encouraged, is not required to be a mock interviewer. Desired for the sessions are art historians, art educators, designers, museum-studies professionals, critics, curators, and studio artists with tenure and/or experience on a search committee. You may volunteer for one, two, three, or all four Mock Interview Sessions.

Please send your name, affiliation, position, contact information, and the days and times that you are available to Jennifer Stoneking-Stewart, chair of the Student and Emerging Professionals Committee. Deadline: January 14, 2013.

The Mock Interview Sessions are not intended as a screening process by institutions seeking new hires.

CAA, in partnership with Columbus College of Art and Design (CCAD), will present its next National Professional-Development Workshop for Artists on Saturday, November 10, 2012. The one-day event, called “Art and Entrepreneurship in the Creative Community,” will explore the necessity of entrepreneurship coexisting with creativity for those artists who strive to have their work seen and heard by a larger public.

“Art and Entrepreneurship in the Creative Community” will take place on Saturday, November 10, from 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM, with a lunch break from NOON to 1:00 PM. An open-studio reception for all participants for networking and sharing is scheduled from 5:30 to 7:30 PM. The sessions take place at the Canzani Centeron the CCAD campus at 60 Cleveland Avenue (at East Gay Street), Columbus, OH 43215 (map). Registration is free for all CCAD students and faculty; $35 for all other participants. Lunch is not included and can be purchased across the street at the market. A limited number of stipends are available for those who register in advance. Please contact Susan Schear, CAA national workshop project consultant, at 973-482-1000 for more information.

The workshop will begin at 8:00 AM with check-in and a complimentary continental breakfast. At 9:00 AM, Bill Strickland, president of Manchester Bidwell Corporation and recipient of the White House’s Coming Up Taller Award, will give the keynote speech, “The Economic Value of the Creative Community.“ Strickland will also address the idea of Columbus as a unique creative community by sharing his unshakable message of leadership, self-worth, and the intrinsic ability in all of us to achieve remarkable transformation in our lives. At 10:00 AM, participants may choose between two sessions to attend. In the first, “Enhancing Your Creative Studio – Life in the Studio,” Rebecca Ibel, owner of the former Rebecca Ibel Gallery and current curator for the Pizzuti Collection, will discuss the ingredients that artists need to stimulate their practice, support their work, and push their professional interest. The second, called “Enhancing Your Creative Design Practice – The New Entrepreneur,” will be led by Beverly Bethge, the founder of Ologie, a national branding agency based in Columbus. She will talk about changes in the design industry, becoming a collaborative design entrepreneur, and learning what you need to do to develop your teamwork skills and build your personal brand.

After lunch, Jonathan Politi, a lawyer based in Youngstown, Ohio, will lead a session titled “Understanding the Value of Intellectual Property,” from 1:00 to 2:30 PM. Politi will cover several fundamental issues of law as it applies to an artist’s professional practice. “Management and Leadership – Take Charge Collaboration” will be presented from 2:30 to 3:30 PM and led by Elaine Grogan Luttrull, founder of Minerva Financial Arts, a company that provides financial services to artists and arts organizations. Her session will explore the nature of collaboration from a management and leadership perspective and demonstrate that building an effective team is often the key to working creatively. The final session of the day, taking place from 3:30 to 4:30 PM, will be led by Kevin Gadd, founder of Venture Highway, an integrated online platform for teaching entrepreneurship. His presentation, “Entrepreneurship – Taking Your Creativity to Market,” will examine how different opportunities result in different organizational structures and how understanding the unique requirements of these structures can serve a variety of ideas. After the workshop, participants are invited to attend an open-studio reception from 5:30 to 7:30 PM.

Registration for the workshop is first-come, first-served. Because space is limited, CAA encourages you to register in advance. To pay by credit card, debit card, or PayPal, please go to www.collegeart.org/registercolumbusworkshop. If paying by check, make it payable to College Art Association and mail to: Kevin Conlon, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Columbus College of Art and Design, 60 Cleveland Avenue, Columbus, OH 43215. Please include your name, complete mailing address, email, and phone number and also write “Art and Entrepreneurship Workshop” on the outside of the envelope. If paying by cash at the door, you must still register in advance by contacting Susan Schear.

Workshop Partners

Columbus College of Art and Design, founded in 1879, is one of the oldest and largest private art and design colleges in the United States with 1,350 undergraduate and graduate students. CCAD offers bachelors and masters degrees in fine arts. Undergraduate students choose from nine majors: photography, industrial design, advertising and graphic design, animation, illustration, fine arts, fashion design, interior design, and cinematic arts.

As a leading professional organization in the visual arts, the College Art Association serves the needs and interests of 12,000 individual and 2,000 institutional members. Founded in 1911, CAA publishes two scholarly journals in art history, an online reviews journal for books and exhibitions, a weekly email newsletter, and a website with news about the organization, its members, and the larger art and academic worlds. CAA also hosts an Annual Conference for 4,000 to 6,000 artists, scholars, and students, provides career services, and advocates the visual arts on a national level.

As a CAA member, you have access to a diverse range of mentors at Career Services during the 101st Annual Conference, taking place February 13–16, 2013, in New York. All emerging, midcareer, and even advanced art professionals can benefit from one-on-one discussions with dedicated mentors about artists’ portfolios, career-management skills, and professional strategies.

You may enroll in either the Artists’ Portfolio Review or Career Development Mentoring—please choose one. Participants are chosen by a lottery of applications received by the deadline; all applicants are notified of their scheduled date and time slot by email in early 2013. Both sessions are offered free of charge. Conference registration, while encouraged, is not necessary to participate. All applicants must be current CAA members.

Artists’ Portfolio Review

The Artists’ Portfolio Review offers CAA members the opportunity to have digital images or DVDs of their work reviewed by artists, critics, curators, and educators in personal twenty-minute consultations. Whenever possible, CAA matches artists and mentors based on medium or discipline. You may bring battery-powered laptops; wireless internet, however, is not available in the room. Sessions are filled by appointment only and are scheduled for Thursday, February 14, and Friday, February 15, 2013, 8:00 AM–NOON and 1:00–5:00 PM each day.

To apply, download and complete the Career Development Enrollment Form or fill out the paper form in the 2013 Conference Information and Registration booklet, which will be mailed to all individual and institutional CAA members in October 2012. Send the completed form by email to Lauren Stark, CAA manager of programs; by fax to 212-627-2381; or by mail to: Artists’ Portfolio Review, College Art Association, 50 Broadway, 21st Floor, New York, NY 10004. Deadline extended: January 4, 2013.

Career Development Mentoring

Artists, art historians, art educators, and museum professionals at all stages of their careers may apply for one-on-one consultations with veterans in their fields. Through personal twenty-minute consultations, Career Development Mentoring offers a unique opportunity for participants to receive candid advice on how to conduct a thorough job search; present cover letters, CVs, and digital images; and prepare for interviews. Whenever possible, CAA matches participants and mentors based on medium or discipline. Sessions are filled by appointment only and are scheduled for Thursday, February 14, and Friday, February 15, 2013, 8:00 AM–NOON and 1:00–5:00 PM each day.

To apply, download and complete the Career Development Enrollment Form or fill out the paper form in the 2013 Conference Information and Registration booklet, which will be mailed to all individual and institutional CAA members in October 2012. Send the completed form by email to Lauren Stark, CAA manager of programs; by fax to 212-627-2381; or by mail to: Career Development Mentoring, College Art Association, 50 Broadway, 21st Floor, New York, NY 10004. Deadline extended: January 4, 2013.

Image: A mentoring session at the CAA Annual Conference (photograph by James Rexroad)

For the 101st Annual Conference, taking place February 13–16, 2013, in New York, CAA seeks established professionals in the visual arts to volunteer as mentors for two Career Services programs: the Artists’ Portfolio Review and Career Development Mentoring. Participating as a mentor is an excellent way to serve the field and to assist the professional growth of the next generation of artists and scholars.

Art historians and studio artists must be tenured; critics, museum educators, and curators must have five years’ experience. Curators and educators must be currently employed by a museum or university gallery.

Artists’ Portfolio Review

CAA seeks artists, critics, curators, and educators to serve in the Artists’ Portfolio Review. In this program, mentors review and provide feedback on digital images or DVDs of work by artist members in personal twenty-minute consultations. Whenever possible, CAA matches artists and mentors based on medium or discipline. Mentors provide an important service to artists, enabling them to receive professional criticism of their work.

Interested candidates must be current CAA members and prepared to give five successive twenty-minute critiques in a two-hour period on one of the two days of the review: Thursday, February 14, and Friday, February 15, 2013, 8:00 AM–NOON and 1:00–5:00 PM each day. Conference registration, while encouraged, is not required to be a mentor. Please send your CV and a brief letter of interest to Lauren Stark, CAA manager of programs. Deadline: December 14, 2012.

Career Development Mentoring

CAA seeks mentors from all areas of studio art, art history, art education, film and video, graphic design, the museum professions, and other related fields to serve in Career Development Mentoring. In this program, mentors give valuable advice to emerging and midcareer professionals, reviewing cover letters, CVs, digital images, and other pertinent job-search materials in personal twenty-minute consultations. Whenever possible, CAA matches participants and mentors based on medium or discipline.

Interested candidates must be current CAA members and prepared to give five successive twenty-minute critiques in a two-hour period on one of the two days of the review: Thursday, February 14, and Friday, February 15, 2013, 8:00 AM–NOON and 1:00–5:00 PM each day. Conference registration, while encouraged, is not required to be a mentor. Please send your CV and a brief letter of interest to Lauren Stark, CAA manager of programs. Deadline: December 14, 2012.

Career Development Mentoring is not intended as a screening process by institutions seeking new hires. CAA does not accept applications from individuals whose departments are conducting a faculty search in the field in which they are mentoring. Mentors should not be attending the conference as candidates for positions in the same field in which mentees may be applying.

CAA, in partnership with Oregon College of Art and Craft (OCAC), will present its next National Professional-Development Workshop for Artists on Saturday, October 6, 2012. The one-day event, called “Hybrid Careers,” will explore in separate sessions the four steps of the creative endeavor: “Seeking,” “Solving,” “Making,” and “Reflecting.”

“Hybrid Careers” will take place on Saturday, October 6, from 8:15 AM to 12:00 NOON and again from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. There will be a lunch break from 12:00 NOON to 1:00 PM, and an open-studio reception for all participants for networking and sharing from 4:00 to 5:00 PM. The sessions take place at the Jean Vollum Drawing, Painting, and Photography Building on the OCAC campus at 8245 Southwest Barnes Road, Portland, OR 97225 (map). The workshop is $35. Each of the four sessions will be presented once in the morning and once in the afternoon. Workshop registrants must choose two sessions for the day.

The workshop will begin at 8:15 AM with check-in and a complimentary continental breakfast. The sessions start at 9:00 AM. “Seeking,” led by Katy Asher, an artist and alumna of Portland State University, and Carl Diehl, an artist and an instructor at Pacific Northwest College of Art (PNCA), will focus on means of sparking and expanding on flickers of inspiration. In “Solving,” participants will actively engage in determining theories or hypotheses of how to solve problems, guided by Susanna Hohmann, an instructor in the OCAC/PCNA graduate program in applied craft and design and a designer at Terrazign, along with Carly Mick, also of Terrazign. “Making,” led by Jake Sorenson, a sculptor and OCAC alumnus, and Brett Binford, co-owner of Mudsharks Studio, will explore the process and evolution of the conceptual object. Finally, Kate Bingaman-Burt, an artist, designer, and assistant professor at Portland State University, and Jeremy Pelley of the Official Manufacturing Company (OMFGCO) will lead “Reflecting,” which will encourage participants to reach a greater understanding of their likes and dislikes. From this knowledge, they can then learn to focus on projects that they can really believe in.

Read full descriptions of all four sessions.

Registration for the workshop is first-come, first-served. Because space is extremely limited, registration must be completed in advance; it will not be possible to register at the door. To pay by credit card, debit card, or PayPal, go to www.collegeart.org/registerportlandworkshop. Then contact Susan Schear at 973-482-1000 and indicate which two sessions you would like to attend. If paying by check, contact Susan Schear to affirm your registration and session selection. Then make your check payable to College Art Association and mail it to: Thomas Orr, Interim Dean, 8245 Southwest Barnes Road, Portland, OR 97225. Please include your name, complete mailing address, email, and phone number and also note “Hybrid Careers Workshop” on the outside of the envelope.

If you have any questions, please contact Susan Schear at 973-482-1000 and include your name, mailing address, email, and phone number in your voicemail or email.

Workshop Partners

Oregon College of Art and Craft is a creative community offering undergraduate degrees and certificates, graduate degrees, and continuing-education classes for adults and children.

Additional workshop partners are: Pacific Northwest College of Art; Official Manufacturing Company (OMFGCO); Vizwerks; Interior Design at Marylhurst University (IDMU); Mudsharks Studios; and Terrazign.

As a leading professional organization in the visual arts, the College Art Association serves the needs and interests of 12,000 individual and 2,000 institutional members. Founded in 1911, CAA publishes two scholarly journals in art history, an online reviews journal for books and exhibitions, a weekly email newsletter, and a website with news about the organization, its members, and the larger art and academic worlds. CAA also hosts an Annual Conference for 4,000 to 6,000 artists, scholars, and students, provides career services, and advocates the visual arts on a national level.

CAA, in partnership with the San Diego Foundation and the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture, will present its next National Professional-Development Workshop for Artists on Friday and Saturday, June 29–30, 2012. The two-day event, called “Business of the Arts for Visual Artists: ‘Brand You’ and ‘Marketing Yourself to Market Your Art,’” will explore strategies for launching, renewing, and sustaining a career in the arts.

“Brand You” will take place on Friday evening, June 29, 5:00–7:00 PM, and “Marketing Yourself to Market Your Art” is scheduled for Saturday, June 30, 8:30 AM–5:15 PM. Both sessions will be held at the San Diego Foundation, 2508 Historic Decatur Road, Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92106.

The workshop kicks off on Friday evening with a wine-and-cheese networking reception, after which David Lecours, owner and creative director of Lecours Design, will deliver the keynote address, “Brand You.” His presentation will focus on how artists can determine their unique strengths and individual voices, apply them in the marketplace, and promote a personal brand for success.

On Saturday, Ashley McLean Emenegger, an art consultant, independent curator, writer, visual artist, and career coach, will present a full-day session entitled, “Marketing Yourself to Market Your Art.” Participants will learn how to identify and reach the target audience for their work. A continental breakfast and boxed lunch, included in the registration fee, will be served. Following the workshop, the San Diego Foundation will host a wine-and-cheese networking reception for participants.

The workshop is $15 for Friday only; $25 for Saturday only; and $35 for both days. Participants attending both days will receive the second edition of Business of Art: An Artist’s Guide to Profitable Self-Employment. A limited number of stipends are available for those who register for both days; please contact Susan Schear, CAA national workshop project consultant, at 973-482-1000. You may pay by credit card, debit card, or PayPal. If paying by check, write it out to College Art Association and mail to: Meryl Zwanger, San Diego Foundation, 2508 Historic Decatur Road, Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92106; include your name, complete mailing address, email, and phone number. Please specify if your registration is for Friday only, for Saturday only, or for both Friday and Saturday.

CAA’s National Professional Development Workshops for Artists, which focus on supporting visual artists in underserved areas, are sustained by a generous grant from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation.

Workshop Partners

Founded in 1975, the San Diego Foundation promotes and increases effective and responsible charitable giving. It manages more than $560 million in assets, almost half of which reside in endowment funds that extend the impact of today’s gifts to future generations. Since its inception, the foundation has granted more than $700 million to San Diego’s nonprofit community. The CAA workshop, cosponsored by the foundation, is part of Innovation through the Arts, a multifaceted, multiyear initiative launched in 2010 to help San Diego realize its potential as a center of creativity and innovation. The initiative is achieved through three primary programs that together seek to advance San Diego’s artistic community by supporting professional artists, nonprofit arts and culture organizations, and strategic efforts that increase arts education in the city’s K–12 schools. Advised by the foundation’s Arts and Culture Working Group, Innovation through the Arts is made possible by the James Irvine Foundation and other generous philanthropic organizations and individuals.

The City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture advises the mayor and city council on promoting, encouraging, and increasing support for the region’s artistic and cultural assets. The commission also helps to integrate arts and culture into community life and to showcase San Diego as an international tourist destination. Supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts and the California Arts Council, the commission has been officially designated by the City of San Diego as a CAC State/Local Partner since the early 1980s.

As a leading professional organization in the visual arts, the College Art Association serves the needs and interests of 12,000 individual and 2,000 institutional members. Founded in 1911, CAA publishes two scholarly journals in art history, an online reviews journal for books and exhibitions, a weekly email newsletter, and a website with news about the organization, its members, and the larger art and academic worlds. CAA also hosts an Annual Conference for 4,000 to 6,000 artists, scholars, and students, provides career services, and advocates the visual arts on a national level.

CAA has begun accepting applications from MFA and PhD students for its Professional-Development Fellowships in Art History and Visual Arts. For the current cycle, CAA will award grants of $5,000 each to outstanding students who will receive their MFA and PhD degrees in calendar year 2013.

Fellows also receive a free one-year CAA membership and complimentary registration to the 101st Annual Conference in New York, taking place February 13–16, 2013. Honorable mentions, given at the discretion of the jury, earn a free one-year CAA membership and complimentary conference registration.

CAA’s fellowship program supports promising artists and art historians who are enrolled in MFA and PhD programs nationwide. Awards are intended to help them with various aspects of their work, whether it be for job-search expenses or purchasing materials for the studio. CAA believes a grant of this kind, without contingencies, can best facilitate the transition between graduate studies and professional careers.

Please visit the Fellowship section for more information and to download the 2013 MFA and PhD Application Forms. The deadline for applications is Monday, October 1, 2012. Winners will be announced in January 2013.

CAA invites nominations and self-nominations for two individuals to serve on the juries for CAA’s Professional-Development Fellowships for a three-year term, 2012–15. CAA’s fellowship program supports promising artists and art historians who are enrolled in MFA and PhD programs nationwide, assisting them during the transition between graduate studies and professional careers with unrestricted $5,000 grants.

Needed now are one person for the Professional-Development Fellowships in Art History Jury, and one person for the Professional-Development Fellowships in Visual Arts Jury. Both juries have four voting members each. Candidates must possess senior-level expertise appropriate to the jury’s work; they may be artists, art historians, critics, curators, or other professionals in the visual arts; institutional affiliation is not required.

Jurors review all submissions in October and November prior to a one-day meeting, held at the CAA office in New York in early December or early January, to discuss the merits of the applications and portfolios. Fellowship recipients are named by mid-January. All jurors volunteer their services to CAA without compensation.

Jurors must be current CAA members and should not be serving on another CAA editorial board or committee. CAA’s president and vice president for committees appoint jury members for service. Nominators should ascertain their nominee’s willingness to serve before submitting a name; self-nominations are also welcome. Please send a statement (no more than 150 words) describing your interest in and qualifications for appointment, an abbreviated CV (no more than two pages), and your contact information by email to Michael Fahlund, CAA deputy director; submissions must be sent as Microsoft Word attachments. Deadline: June 8, 2012.