CAA News Today

The fall meeting of the CAA Board of Directors took place on Sunday, October 23, 2011, in New York. Twenty-two board members were joined by eight staff members and one guest.

Anne Collins Goodyear was elected by the board as president-elect. Her term of office begins in May 2012 and will conclude at the end of April 2014. Goodyear is associate curator of prints and drawings at the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, DC. She has served on the CAA board since 2006 as vice president for external affairs and vice president for publications and is currently vice president for Annual Conference. As vice president for publications, Goodyear headed a task force that reviewed all editorial safeguards and procedures for CAA’s three journals. She is an art historian who has contributed to the field through major exhibitions, including Inventing Marcel Duchamp: The Dynamics of Portraiture in 2009. She is only the second art museum curator to lead CAA in thirty years (the first being Joshua C. Taylor, director of the National Museum of American Art in Washington, DC, in 1981). Before stepping into the presidency, Goodyear will lead a task force on the Annual Conference to explore future web-based extensions.

The Professional Practices Committee, chaired by Charles Wright of Western Illinois University, worked with subcommittees over the past several years and updated five existing but outdated standards and added one new document to CAA’s Standards and Guidelines. Maria Ann Conelli, vice president for committees, presented these standards to the board for approval. The board adopted these standards and commended the subcommittees and the Professional Practices Committee for their outstanding work in providing the field with this critical information. The new standards reflect and correspond to the guidelines of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and regional accreditation commissions where applicable.

Beauvais Lyons of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, chaired the task force to update Professional Practices for Artists, first published in 1977. Extensive changes were made in sections pertaining to the code of ethics, copyright, safe use of materials and equipment, and exhibition and sales. The task-force members were: Charles Wright, Western Illinois University, Chair of the Professional Practices Committee; Brian Bishop, Framingham State University; Margaret Lazzari, University of Southern California; and James Hopfensperger, Western Michigan University.

Judith Thorpe of the University of Connecticut chaired the task force to update Standards for the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts Degrees in Studio Art. A section on multidisciplinary curricula was added, and extensive changes were made to sections on the BFA and studio curriculum and on faculty and staff. The task force comprised: Denise Mullen, Oregon College of Art and Crafts and CAA board; Sergio Soave, Ohio State University; Frederick Cartwright, University of Saint Francis; and Cora Lynn Deibler, University of Connecticut.

Susan Waller of the University of Missouri, Saint Louis and John Klein of Washington University in Saint Louis made up the task force that revised Peer Review in CAA Publications from 2004. The task force consulted the current editors-in-chief and editors-designate of The Art Bulletin and Art Journal as well as members of the Publications Committee that oversees the editorial boards of CAA’s three journals. The standards included a definition of peer review and addressed works submitted to the journals by artists.

Jim Hopfensperger of Western Michigan University chaired the task force on Standards for the Retention and Tenure of Art and Design Faculty, whose members were: Carolyn Cardenas, Utah State University; Dana Clancy, Boston University; Andrea Eis, Oakland University; Amy Hauft, Virginia Commonwealth University; Janet Hethorn, University of Delaware; Robert Hower, University of Texas at Arlington; Patricia Olynyk, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth; Sergio Soave, Ohio State University; Adrian Tio, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth; and Star Varner, Southwestern University. The revised standards recommend transparency in matters of renewal, retention, promotion, and tenure; specified contact hours; and added the categories of collaborative artworks, situated artworks, online work, commissions, consultations, and/or curatorial work to documentation to be considered for retention and promotion review.

A new document, Standards for the Associate of Fine Arts Degree in Studio Art, was developed to recognize that 50 percent of all college students in the United States attend institutions offering two-year degree programs. Bertha Gutman, Delaware County Community College, chaired the task force, whose members were: Carmina L. Cianciulli, Tyler School of Art, Temple University; Sandra Esslinger, Mt. San Antonio College; Martina Hesser, Mesa College; David Koffman, Georgia Perimeter College; and Christina McNearney, Pima Community College.

CAA’s deputy director, Michael Fahlund, announced that CAA had received 168 applications for the Professional-Development Fellowship in Visual Art and 19 for the Professional- Development in Art History. The juries will meet in December to select three visual-art fellows and two art-history fellows with awards of $5,000 each. The awardees will be honored at the Annual Conference in Los Angeles.

Patricia McDonnell, vice president for external affairs, presented the first of three reports on membership development to the board. She thanked Nia Page, director of membership, development and marketing, for the work that she and her staff carried out to identify all national and international sources of future CAA members. The board has requested a plan to increase membership revenue over the next three years, and this comprehensive first-phase report was reviewed and accepted by the board. It was also announced that two new full-time staff members have been hired: Hannah O’Reilly Malyn, development associate, and Nancy Nguyen, institutional membership assistant.

The board approved new guidelines for board liaisons to the Professional Interests, Practices, and Standards Committees. The new guidelines include acting in an advisory (without vote) capacity by attending their assigned committee meetings and reporting back to the vice president of committees, thereby bringing issues of critical importance to the vice president and the board and back to the committees from the board.

Paul Jaskot of DePaul University chaired the Task Force on the Use of Human and Animal Subjects in Art and presented its recommendations to the board. Members of the task force included Wayne Enstice, University of Cincinnati; Michael Golec, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Ellen Levy, independent artist; Marlena Novak, independent artist; Bernard Rollin, University of Colorado; and Kristine Stiles, Duke University. The task force researched and presented existing guidelines for the use of animals and humans in experiments and performance; sampled existing practices in the art world; prepared and sent a survey to members regarding attitudes about the use of animals in art; and compiled a short bibliography of ethical and artistic debate on these subjects. The task force produced a set of principles and questions that artists and other professionals in the visual arts can consult when using animals and human subjects in art. The task force suggested that another task force be established to develop formal guidelines on the use of animals in art and to develop a page on the CAA website for related resources in the future. The board accepted the recommendations of the task force, commended Paul and the task-force members for their work on this difficult subject, and decided to postpone the formation of another task force, since five new task forces were being presented at the meeting and needed prioritization by the executive director.

A resolution to establish a Task Force on the Annual Conference was presented to the board by Goodyear. The task force, approved by the board, will address electronic extensions of the conference in order to reach a larger, international membership. The vice president announced that the 2013 Annual Conference Committee has reviewed the 279 session proposals that were submitted and selected 111 for the New York conference. In addition to the 111 peer-reviewed sessions there will be 23 affiliated-society sessions, 3 committee sessions, 20 contemporary issues/studio art sessions, 8 educational and professional practices sessions, 53 historical studies sessions, and 4 Open Forms sessions.

Goodyear also announced that 150 people have applied for the Getty Foundation International Travel Grant Program. The jury will meet in November to select twenty awardees, who will receive a free CAA membership for a year, free registration, and free travel and hotel to the 2012 conference in Los Angeles. The program is intended to acclimate art historians or artists teaching art history in developing college art departments to become acquainted with the session proposal submission process, to assist them in networking with colleagues, and to address common professional issues. The project is supported by a grant from the Getty Foundation. The CAA project manager is Janet Landay.

A resolution was presented by a board member, Jean Miller of the University of North Texas, and approved by the board to establish a Task Force on Design. This group will conduct research on design programs in order to attract more designers to CAA membership. A resolution was presented by another board member, Judith Thorpe, to increase participation in CAA by its affiliated societies. The resolutions were approved with the proviso that the formation of the task forces be delayed until Downs determines when the staff support will be available to assist the task forces.

The Executive Committee approved affiliated-society status for the Diasporic Asian Art Network (DAAN).

The annual audit was presented by EisnerAmper, Accountants and Advisors. There were no recommendations, and the chief financial officer, Teresa López, was commended for her work. Copies of the audit will be made available at the Annual Members’ Business Meeting, taking place on Friday, February 24, 2012, at the CAA Annual Conference in Los Angeles; it can also be obtained directly from López. The treasurer, John Hyland Jr., presented a balanced budget. CAA’s investment manager, Domenic Colasecco from Boston Trust, presented a thorough report on the investment portfolio.

At the request of the board, Downs presented a comprehensive report on funding sources at CAA including membership (representing 42 percent of all revenue); earned revenue including grants (45 percent); private contributions (.5 percent); and investment drawdown (9.4 percent). The board will set a specific date to discuss ideas on increasing private contributions to CAA funds.

Downs commended the CAA staff for a successful move to the new office at 50 Broadway and especially thanked Fahlund, who coordinated the move; López, who managed the move’s financial aspects; and Michael Goodman, director of information technology, who oversaw the installation of the new phone system and all the office computers, copiers, and machines, and also helped make necessary changes to the website. The move will assist in a budget reduction because of a five-year lease reduction rebate provided by the City of New York through the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

Open House

Open House at the CAA office, from left: Minerva Navarrete, Michael Fahlund, and Sydelle Zemering

As part of the meetings taking place that weekend for the three journals’ editorial boards, the Annual Conference Committee, and the full Board of Directors, the CAA staff organized an Open House for members at the organization’s new office on Saturday, October 22, 2011. Close to fifty members visited the office and met board and staff members. Two delightful visitors were Minerva Navarrete and Sydelle Zemering, former CAA staff members who regaled us with stories of their experiences at CAA during the 1950s, when the office was in a Madison Avenue townhouse. One board member, Roger Crum of the University of Dayton, introduced several members to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum and the World Trade Center construction site from the vantage point of the twentieth floor of the Club Quarters, World Trade Center hotel. (CAA belongs to the Club Quarters network in major cities around the world, and members receive discounts on room reservations.) This particular Club Quarters is on the southern edge of the World Trade Center site and has extraordinary views of the construction of the towers and the memorial’s fountains. Crum made a presentation on the concept of memorializing September 11 and the skyscraper engineering and safeguards going into the seven towers. After the Open House, several members also visited Occupy Wall Street in Zuccotti Park, just a few blocks north. CAA’s new neighborhood is very lively, with many tourists, commemorators, construction crews, and demonstrators.