CAA News

Space 4 Art will present a CAA National Professional-Development Workshop for Artists on Saturday, October 2, 2010, from 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM. The full-day event, called “The Nuts and Bolts of Professionalizing Your Art Practice,” will concentrate on career-building skills for both emerging and established artists. The San Diego Foundation is cosponsoring the workshop.

Presenters from the San Diego and Los Angeles areas will conduct the workshop, which includes these topics: “It’s All about You”; “Marketing Yourself to Market Your Art”; “Show Me the Money”; and “Getting Your House in Order to Do Business.” Karen Atkinson, an artist, curator, collaborator, and founder of GYST, will offer a lunch keynote on “Hybrid Careers.”

A light breakfast and lunch are included for participants, and a postworkshop reception will take place from 5:00 to 6:00 PM.

Registration for the workshop is first-come, first-served. The investment is $15 for students, seniors, and CAA members; $25 for all others. Stipends are available; contact Susan Schear, CAA national workshop project consultant, at 973-482-1000. You may pay by credit card or PayPal. Please make checks payable to College Art Association and mail to: CAA Workshops, Space 4 Art, 325 15th Street, San Diego, CA 92101.

CAA’s National Professional-Development Workshops for Artists, sustained by a generous grant from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, focus on supporting visual artists in underserved areas. Three additional workshops are scheduled for this fall in Portland, Albuquerque, and Birmingham.

The University of New Mexico in Albuquerque will host a CAA National Professional-Development Workshop for Artists on Saturday, October 9, 2010, from 8:00 AM to 5:30 PM. The full-day event, called “Professionalizing Your Art Practice,” will concentrate on career-building skills for both emerging and established artists.

Preceded by a keynote address from the art historian Libby Lumpkin on “The Changing Climate of the Art World,” the workshop will include these topics, each one hour in length: “CV/Résumé/Artist Statement Preparation”; “Creating a Digital Portfolio”; “Social Media: Facebook and Twitter”; and “Marketing/Self-Promotion/Networking.” A panel discussion on “Getting into Galleries” will conclude the presentations.

Registration for the workshop is first-come, first-served. The investment is $25 for students and CAA members; $40 for all others. Stipends are available; contact Susan Schear, CAA national workshop project consultant, at 973-482-1000. You may pay by credit card or PayPal. Please make checks payable to College Art Association and mail to: Dept. of Art and Art History, MSC04 2560, 1 University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131.

CAA’s National Professional-Development Workshops for Artists, sustained by a generous grant from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, focus on supporting visual artists in underserved areas. Three additional workshops are scheduled for this fall in Portland, San Diego, and Birmingham.

CAA is accepting applications from MFA students who are CAA members for the recently restored Professional-Development Fellowships in the Visual Arts. Full details, including the application form, are posted to the Fellowships section of the website.

In fall 2010, CAA will award five grants of $5,000 each to outstanding students who will receive their MFA degrees in calendar year 2011. Honorable mentions, given at the discretion of the jury, will receive a free one-year CAA membership and complimentary registration to the Annual Conference.

CAA’s Professional-Development Fellowships in the Visual Arts offer financial assistance to promising MFA candidates. Fellows are honored with grants 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.

Applications must be postmarked by Friday, October 1, 2010.

CAA hopes that Professional-Development Fellowships in Art History can again be awarded to doctoral candidates next year.

The Oregon College of Art and Craft in Portland will host a CAA National Professional-Development Workshop for Artists on Saturday, September 25, 2010. The full-day event, called “Marketing and Entrepreneurship for Artists: Maximizing Your Practice,” will concentrate on career-building skills for both emerging and established artists. Workshop cosponsors are two other local institutions: the Pacific Northwest College of Art and the Museum of Contemporary Craft.

Presenters from the region will conduct the workshop, which offers two options for morning and afternoon sessions. In the morning, participants can choose either “Marketing 101: Getting Started” or “Entrepreneurship 101: Taking Personal and Direct Control of Your Business.” In the afternoon, “Marketing 201: Thinking outside the Box” and “Entrepreneurship 201: The Company Perspective” will be offered.

A light breakfast and lunch for participants are included, and a postworkshop reception will take place from 4:00 to 6:00 PM.

Registration for the workshop is first-come, first-served. The investment for students, alumni, seniors, and CAA members is $15; $25 for all others. Stipends are available; contact Susan Schear, CAA national workshop project consultant, at 973-482-1000. You may pay by credit card at www.ocac.edu/caa. Please make checks payable to College Art Association and mail to: Oregon College of Art and Craft, Attn: CAA Registration, 8245 SW Barnes Rd., Portland, OR 97225.

CAA’s National Professional-Development Workshops for Artists, sustained by a generous grant from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation, focus on supporting visual artists in underserved areas. Three additional workshops are scheduled this fall in San Diego, Albuquerque, and Birmingham.

Full details on the recently restored Professional-Development Fellowships in the Visual Arts, including the application form, have just been posted to the CAA website.

Later this fall, CAA will award five grants of $5,000 each to outstanding students who will receive MFA degrees in calendar year 2011. Honorable mentions, awarded at the discretion of the jury, will receive free one-year CAA memberships and complimentary registration to the Annual Conference.

CAA’s Professional-Development Fellowships in the Visual Arts offer financial assistance to promising MFA candidates. Fellows are honored with grants 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.

Applications must be postmarked by Friday, October 1, 2010.

CAA hopes that Professional-Development Fellowships in Art History can again be awarded to doctoral candidates in 2011.

Cosponsored by the Louisiana Crafts Guild, the next CAA National Professional Development Workshop will be held at the Lafayette Science Museum (formerly Natural History Museum), located at 433 Jefferson Street in downtown Lafayette. The three-day event takes place Thursday–Saturday, May 6–8, 2010.

Billed as a “maintenance day,” Thursday, May 6 (NOON–5:00 PM) will provide the opportunity for registered workshop participants to receive professional photographs of their artwork. In addition, Louisiana Crafts Guild members may work with a website professional to update their individual artist-member pages. Appointments for photography or website updates are on a first-come basis; please contact Kimberly Jones at San Souci Gallery, 337-266-7999.

On Friday and Saturday, May 7–8, the workshop will present professional-development seminars filled with career-building skills for visual artists, including valuable information, tools, tips, resources, best practices, and networking. On May 7 (8:00 AM–5:00 PM), Thomas Mann will address entrepreneurial thinking and tactics for artists, small-business management, and demystifying public relations. On the next day (10:00 AM–6:00 PM), Bruce Baker will discuss trends and product development, display and merchandising for shows and galleries, increasing performance at juried shows, sales, and customer-service techniques.

Light breakfasts and lunches on May 7–8 are included for participants, and a postworkshop reception takes place on Friday, May 7 (5:00–7:00 PM). Questions? Contact Susan Schear, CAA national workshop project consultant.

Registration for the workshop is first-come, first-served. The investment for students, seniors, and CAA and guild members is $30; $40 for all others. Stipends are available; please contact Susan Schear at 973-482-1000. Please make checks payable to College Art Association and mail to Kimberly Jones, San Souci Gallery, 219 East Vermilion Street, Lafayette, LA 70501; or you may pay by credit card through the Louisiana Crafts Guild.

Future National Professional Development Workshops will be held in:

• Portland, Oregon: Saturday, September 25, 2010, at the Oregon College of Art and Craft
• Albuquerque, New Mexico: Saturday, October 9, 2010, at the University of New Mexico
• Birmingham, Alabama: Saturday, November 20, 2010, at Space One Eleven

CAA’s workshops are supported by a generous grant from the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation.

CAA has selected the Louisiana Crafts Guild to cosponsor and present the next CAA National Professional Development Workshop.

The three-day event, scheduled for May 6 (12:00 NOON–5:00 PM) and May 7–8 (9:00 AM–5:00 PM), will be held in downtown Lafayette, Louisiana. The workshop will provide professional-development seminars filled with career-building skills for visual artists, including valuable information, tools, tips, resources, best practices, and networking.

Featured presenters and topics include: Thomas Mann (entrepreneurial thinking and tactics for artists, small-business management, and demystifying public relations) and Bruce Baker (trends and product development, display and merchandising for shows and galleries, increasing performance at juried shows, sales, and customer-service techniques).

Light breakfasts and boxed lunches are also included. A postworkshop reception takes place on Friday, May 7 (5:00–7:00 PM). Registration is on a first-come, first-served basis; the cost will be announced soon.

Please visit www.LouisianaCrafts.org or contact Susan Schear, CAA national workshop project consultant, at for details, which are presently being confirmed.

Future workshops will be held in:

• Portland, Oregon: Saturday, September 25, 2010, at the Oregon College of Art and Craft
• Birmingham, Alabama: Saturday, November 20, 2010, at Space One Eleven

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

The College Art Association (CAA) hosted its 98th Annual Conference in Chicago, February 10–13, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. The program included three days of presentations and panel discussions on art history and visual culture; career-development workshops, mentoring programs, and job interviews with colleges and universities; a Book and Trade Fair of academic and trade art publishers and artist-materials distributors; and a host of special events throughout the Chicago area.

Here are some conference highlights.

Attendance

More than 4,000 art professionals from throughout the United States and abroad—including art historians, visual artists, students, educators, curators, critics, collectors, and museum staff—were in attendance.

Sessions

Conference sessions featured presentations from art-history scholars, graduate students, artists, and curators from institutions across the country and internationally. Conference sessions address a range of topics in art history and the visual arts. In total, over 150 sessions, developed by CAA members, affiliated societies, and committees, were offered.

Career Services

Career Services included three days of mentoring and portfolio-review sessions, career-development workshops, and job interviews. Approximately 185 (mentoring only) interviewees and 26 (mentoring only) interviewers were on hand to participate in Career Services.

Book and Trade Fair

This year’s Book and Trade Fair presented 135 exhibitors, including participants from the United States, Mexico, Turkey, England, Belgium, Scotland, and the Netherlands, displaying new publications, artists’ materials, digital resources, and innovative products of interest to artists and scholars. The Book and Trade Fair also featured book signings, lectures, and art-materials demonstrations, as well as three exhibitor-sponsored program sessions on art materials and publishing.

ARTspace and ARTexchange

ARTspace, a “conference within the conference” tailored to the needs and interests of practicing artists, presented this year’s Annual Artists’ Interviews: Tony Tasset was interviewed by John Neff, and Phyllis Bramson was interviewed by Lynn Warren. Over 150 people attended this extraordinary event. Programmed by CAA’s Services to Artists Committee, ARTspace was made possible in part by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.

ARTexchange, an open-portfolio event where CAA artist members displayed drawings, prints, photographs, small paintings, and works on laptop computers. Fifty-two artists participated in ARTexchange this year.

Convocation and Awards for Distinction

More than 600 people attended CAA’s Convocation and Presentation of the 2010 Awards for Distinction. The keynote address was delivered by the renowned photographer Dawoud Bey.

Recipients of CAA’s awards are as follows:

• Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement: Suzanne Lacy
• Artist Award for Distinguished Body of Work: Emory Douglas and Barkley L. Hendricks
• Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award for Writing on Art: Holland Cotter
• Frank Jewett Mather Award: Terry Smith
• Distinguished Feminist Award: Griselda Pollock
• Distinguished Teaching of Art Award: Dean Nimmer
• Distinguished Teaching of Art History Award: Richard Shiff
• Charles Rufus Morey Book Award: Cammy Brothers, Michelangelo, Drawing, and the Invention of Architecture
• Alfred H. Barr, Jr., Award: Debra Diamond, Catherine Glynn, and Karni Singh Jasol, Gardens and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur
• Arthur Kingsley Porter Prize: Michael Schreffler, “‘Their Cortés and Our Cortés’: Spanish Colonialism and Aztec Representation”
• Art Journal Award: Joanna Grabski, “Urban Claims and Visual Sources in the Making of Dakar’s Art World City”
• CAA/Heritage Preservation Award for Distinction in Scholarship and Conservation: David Bomford

CAA’s well-attended Gala Reception was held at the Art Institute of Chicago’s newly inaugurated Modern Wing. Designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Renzo Piano, this stunning space served as the kick-off venue for the conference.

Special Events

CAA’s Annual Exhibition, Picturing the Studio, was presented at the new Sullivan Galleries of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Sold-out tours explored the riches of Chicago’s arts and architecture, from Frank Lloyd Wright to the city’s historic skyscrapers.

Save the Date

CAA’s Centennial Celebration and 99th Annual Conference will be held in New York City from February 9 to 12, 2011.

About CAA

The College Art Association is dedicated to providing professional services and resources for artists, art historians, and students in the visual arts. CAA serves as an advocate and a resource for individuals and institutions nationally and internationally by offering forums to discuss the latest developments in the visual arts and art history through its Annual Conference, publications, exhibitions, website, and other events. CAA focuses on a wide range of issues including education in the arts, freedom of expression, intellectual-property rights, cultural heritage, preservation, workforce topics in universities and museums, and access to networked information technologies. Representing its members’ professional needs since 1911, CAA is committed to the highest professional and ethical standards of scholarship, creativity, criticism, and teaching.

Aristotle once remarked, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Interviewing well is one such skill that is built not only through sheer practice, but also with constructive feedback.

With this in mind, CAA’s Student and Emerging Professionals Committee will help you polish your interview style and tailor your comments appropriately during two events at the 2010 Annual Conference in Chicago. Both sessions will be held on Thursday, February 11, in the Student and Emerging Professionals (SEP) Lounge, found in the Wrigley Room, West Tower, Bronze Level, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.

The first event is a morning lecture and discussion about interviewing techniques, where you can learn how to perfect an “elevator speech.” The second is a special afternoon panel devoted to practice interviews, conducted by seasoned CAA members. Both are moderated by Daniel Larkin, administrative assistant, Friends of Materials for the Arts; and Niku Kashef, artist and adjunct instructor, California State University, Northridge, and Woodbury University. Details are below.

Interviewing Strategies: Interview Techniques and Perfecting Your Elevator Speech
Thursday, February 11, 9:15–10:15 AM
This panel discussion will be an honest and frank discussion on interviewing techniques, focusing on gauging and adapting to the cues of the interviewer, appropriate levels of intellectual detail, and how to keep your “elevator speech” crisp.

Mock Interview Session
Thursday, February 11, 1:00–4:00 PM
These fifteen-minute mock interviews will allow conference attendees to practice interview questioning and techniques, applying what was learned in the morning session. CAA volunteer interviewers include art-history professors, studio-art professors, artists, and more. To schedule an interview, please call Daniel Larkin at 646-246-5497 between 10:00 AM and 10:00 PM (any day of the week). Please note that interviews will be made on a first-come, first-served basis.

The Students and Emerging Professionals Committee looks forward to dynamic discussions and hopes you can join us. If you have questions about these events, or about the committee itself, feel free to contact Daniel Larkin at the phone number listed above.

Are schools mostly looking for professors of Renaissance or modern art? Does California have more teaching jobs than New York? Are there fewer open positions now compared to last year?

CAA’s Online Career Center, which publishes job classifieds in higher education and the museum world, is also an indicator of professional trends in the visual arts. In advance of next week’s Annual Conference, CAA has prepared basic statistics culled from this website, answering the questions above and giving members a sense of what job prospects might be like in Chicago and nationwide.

Using CAA’s two most recent fiscal years and the first half of the current one, this web-only article presents the total number of jobs posted in the Online Career Center, the top-ten specializations within studio art and art history, and the US states with the most open positions, among other facts. The article also compares the number of employers interviewing in Chicago to those at the Los Angeles and Dallas–Fort Worth conferences in 2009 and 2008, respectively.