CAA News Today
News from the Art and Academic Worlds
posted by Christopher Howard — January 30, 2013
Each week CAA News publishes summaries of eight articles, published around the web, that CAA members may find interesting and useful in their professional and creative lives.
The Case for Naming a US Secretary of Culture
Along with adding the finishing touches to his inaugural address on Monday, President Barack Obama has plenty on his plate. He is consumed by the responsibilities of selecting new Cabinet members and preparing strategies to get them confirmed. He already had his fair share of critics, and the last thing he needs is a music critic telling him how to run the country. So I’m sorry to have to be the one to remind you, Mr. President, that you’ve left someone out: Secretary of Culture. (Read more in the Los Angeles Times.)
As Art Values Rise, So Do Concerns about Market’s Oversight
When some of the world’s richest people gather for the glittering New York auction season this spring, they will spend hundreds of millions of dollars in an art market that allows opaque transactions and has few outside monitors. At major auctions the first bids announced for a piece are typically fictional—numbers pulled from the air by the auctioneer to jump-start bidding. (Read more in the New York Times.)
Displaying Prices in Art Galleries
In the context of an article exploring the need for more regulation of the art market, with a list of examples of questionable practices in the current system, the New York Times reporters Robin Pogrebin and Kevin Flynn raise again the issue of galleries not posting prices of the work for sale in their spaces. I don’t see why this is really a newsworthy “problem.” In the ten-plus years I’ve been in the art business, I have never once heard anyone complain unprompted about the lack of prices being posted other than journalists. (Read more at Edward Winkleman.)
Secret Painting in Rembrandt Masterpiece Coming into View
Scientists may be one step closer to revealing a hidden portrait behind a 380-year-old Rembrandt painting, Old Man in Military Costume, which resides at the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Scientists had noticed the painting bears faint traces of another portrait beneath its surface. Researchers had previously probed the painting with infrared, neutron, and conventional X-ray methods but could not see the behind the top coat, largely because Rembrandt used the same paint (with the same chemical composition) for the underpainting and the final version. (Read more in LiveScience.)
Thirty-Hour Work Week Is a Critical Threshold for More Than Just Health Care
The way colleges count adjuncts’ workloads is important not only for determining whether they are eligible for health insurance under the new health-care law, but also for their participation in some other federal programs. A federal student-loan-forgiveness program uses the same thirty-hour benchmark as the health-care law for determining full-time employment, a key requirement for eligibility. (Read more in the Chronicle of Higher Education.)
Report Finds Fundamental Flaws in Many Nonprofits’ Fundraising
A new national survey of nonprofit executives suggests it isn’t just the uncertain economy that’s making it hard for charities—including arts and culture groups—to meet their fundraising goals. The research says there’s something fundamentally amiss with the way many of them go about courting donors. “This study reveals that many nonprofit organizations are stuck in a vicious cycle that threatens their ability to raise the resources they need to succeed,” begins the thirty-six-page report. (Read more in the Los Angeles Times.)
The Never Before Told Story of the World’s First Computer Art (It’s a Sexy Dame)
During a time when computing power was so scarce that it required a government defense budget to finance it, a young man used a $238 million military computer, the largest such machine ever built, to render an image of a curvy woman on a glowing cathode ray tube screen. The year was 1956, and the creation was a landmark moment in computer graphics and cultural history that has gone unnoticed until now. (Read more in the Atlantic.)
Will 3D-Printed Houses Stand Up as Architecture?
Three-dimensional printing may have been used for a long time in the world of architecture, allowing visionaries to conjure ever more elaborate and unbuildable forms from the ether. But the technology has never been used to build anything bigger than a prototype model. This could all be set to change, now that the Dutch architect Janjaap Ruijssenaars has unveiled designs for the world’s first 3D-printed house. (Read more in the Guardian.)
Free Wi-Fi at the Conference
posted by Christopher Howard — January 29, 2013
For the first time, CAA will offer free wireless internet at the Hilton New York to all 2013 Annual Conference attendees from Tuesday, February 12, to Sunday, February 17. Service will be available in all session rooms, the Interview Hall, the Book and Trade Fair, and Career Services, including the Student and Emerging Professionals Lounge.
Officially, coverage will encompass the entire Concourse Level, Second Floor, Third Floor, and the Americas Halls 1 and 2. The Hilton’s lobby, restaurants, and bar, however, may not be covered. To connect, use your laptop or mobile device to find the wireless network called CAA WiFi and enter the password “arts2013” (without quotes) into the WPA2 encryption key. The password is case sensitive and must be in lowercase.
Connecting to the internet at the conference is essential, whether you are searching for a job, contacting friends and colleagues in New York, or communicating with your school or institution back home. The following information below may be subject to change but should be reliable.
Hilton New York
The Hilton New York offers two tiers of wireless internet service in rooms to its guests and thus has two prices: $14.99 and $18.99 per twenty-four hours. The hotel, though, was not able to confirm the exact download speed for each. For full details in advance, please contact the Hilton, not CAA. While onsite, ask a hotel representative from the concierge or check-in desk for more information.
Sheraton New York
The Sheraton New York is generously offering free high-speed internet access in rooms to all guests who are attending the conference (a value of $14.95 per day). When you check in, tell the hotel representative that you are here for CAA and ask for the log-in information. The Sheraton also provides free Wi-Fi inside the hotel lobby to anyone—you need not be a guest. To gain access, simply request the password from the concierge or check-in desk, as you cannot automatically connect just by opening a browser. For more information in advance, please contact the Sheraton, not CAA. While onsite, ask a hotel representative for more information.
Park Central Hotel
The Park Central Hotel, the conference hotel for students, charges $14.10 for twenty-four-hour access to its wireless connection, which can be used by guests throughout the building. For full details in advance, please contact the Park Central, not CAA. While onsite, ask a hotel representative at the concierge or check-in desk for more information. A Starbucks with free Wi-Fi is located next door to the Park Central, and sometimes its internet bleeds into the hotel lobby.
Candidate Center
As part of the conference’s Career Services, the Candidate Center—located in Concourse A, Concourse Level, Hilton New York—houses a bank of computers that CAA members may use only for the Online Career Center. No other internet use is allowed on these computers. Hours are Wednesday, February 13–Friday, February 15, 9:00 AM–7:00 PM. You must have a CAA membership card to enter the Candidate Center.
Starbucks
Bottoms up, coffee drinkers! A smallish Starbucks—located directly across the street from the Hilton, at the northeast corner of Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue) and West Fifty-Third Street—offers free wireless internet to its guests. No special password is needed—just connect when you open a browser. This location is usually open from 6:00 AM to 9:00 PM during the week, and from 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM on Saturday and Sunday, according to the company.
A handful of other Starbucks are within a few blocks of the conference. Use OpenWiFiSpots (below) or download the free Starbucks smart-phone app for Apple or Android devices for the locations.
Other Area Hot Spots
OpenWiFiSpots, which calls itself a comprehensive directory of free wireless hot spots, lists sixty-four free sources near the Hilton in midtown Manhattan, including hotels, cafés, and restaurants. This list, however, may not be completely up to date.
caa.reviews Seeks Editor-in-Chief
posted by Betty Leigh Hutcheson — January 28, 2013
The caa.reviews Editorial Board invites nominations and self-nominations for the position of editor-in-chief for a three-year term, July 1, 2014–June 30, 2017. This term is preceded by one year of service on the editorial board as editor designate, July 1, 2013–June 30, 2014, and followed immediately by one year of service as past editor. Candidates should have published substantially in the field and may be academic, museum-based, or independent scholars; institutional affiliation is not required. An online journal, caa.reviews is devoted to the peer review of new books, museum exhibitions, and projects relevant to the fields of art history, visual studies, and the arts.
Working with the editorial board, the editor-in-chief is responsible for the content and character of the journal. He or she supervises the journal’s Council of Field Editors, assisting them to identify and solicit reviewers, articles, and other content for the journal; develops projects; and makes final decisions regarding content.
The editor-in-chief attends the caa.reviews Editorial Board’s three meetings each year—held twice in New York in the spring and fall and once at the Annual Conference in February—and submits an annual report to CAA’s Board of Directors. CAA reimburses the editor-in-chief for travel and lodging expenses for the two New York meetings in accordance with its travel policy, but he or she pays these expenses to attend the conference. The editor-in-chief also works closely with the CAA staff in New York and receives an annual honorarium of $4,000.
Candidates must be current CAA members and should not be serving on the editorial board of a competitive journal or on another CAA editorial board or committee. Nominators should ascertain their nominee’s willingness to serve before submitting a name; self-nominations are also welcome. Please send a statement describing your interest in and qualifications for appointment, a CV, at least one letter of recommendation, and your contact information to: Codirectors of Publications, caa.reviews Editor-in-Chief Search, College Art Association, 50 Broadway, 21st Floor, New York, NY, 10004; or email the documents to Betty Leigh Hutcheson, CAA codirector of publications. Deadline: April 15, 2013; finalists will be interviewed in early May.
Art Journal Editorial Board Seeks One Member
posted by Alyssa Pavley — January 28, 2013
CAA invites nominations and self-nominations for one individual to serve on the Art Journal Editorial Board for a four-year term: July 1, 2013–June 30, 2017. Candidates may be artists, art historians, critics, curators, educators, or other professionals in the visual arts; institutional affiliation is not required. Art Journal, published quarterly by CAA, is devoted to twentieth- and twenty-first-century art and visual culture.
The editorial board advises the Art Journal editor-in-chief and assists him or her to seek authors, articles, artist’s projects, and other content for the journal; guides its editorial program and may propose new initiatives for it; performs peer review and recommends peer reviewers; and may support fundraising efforts on the journal’s behalf. Members also assist the editor-in-chief to keep abreast of trends and issues in the field by attending and reporting on sessions at the CAA Annual Conference and other academic conferences, symposia, and events in their fields.
The Art Journal Editorial Board meets three times a year: twice in New York in the spring and fall and once at the CAA Annual Conference in February. CAA reimburses members for travel and lodging expenses for the two New York meetings in accordance with its travel policy, but members pay these expenses to attend the conference. Members of all editorial boards volunteer their services to CAA without compensation.
Candidates must be current CAA members and should not be serving on the editorial board of a competitive journal or on another CAA editorial board or committee. Members may not publish their own work in the journal during the term of service. Nominators should ascertain their nominee’s willingness to serve before submitting a name; self-nominations are also welcome. Please send a statement describing your interest in and qualifications for appointment, a CV, and your contact information to: Chair, Art Journal Editorial Board, College Art Association, 50 Broadway, 21st Floor, New York, NY 10004; or email the documents to Alyssa Pavley, CAA editorial assistant. Deadline: April 15, 2013.
Art Bulletin Editorial Board Seeks Three Members
posted by Alyssa Pavley — January 28, 2013
CAA invites nominations and self-nominations for three individuals to serve on the Art Bulletin Editorial Board for a four-year term, July 1, 2013–June 30, 2017. The ideal candidate has published substantially in the field and may be an academic, museum-based, or independent scholar; institutional affiliation is not required. The Art Bulletin features leading scholarship in the English language in all aspects of art history as practiced in the academy, museums, and other institutions.
The editorial board advises the Art Bulletin editor-in-chief and assists him or her to seek authors, articles, and other content for the journal; guides its editorial program and may propose new initiatives for it; performs peer review and recommends peer reviewers; and may support fundraising efforts on the journal’s behalf. Members also assist the editor-in-chief to keep abreast of trends and issues in the field by attending and reporting on sessions at the CAA Annual Conference and other academic conferences, symposia, and events in their fields.
The Art Bulletin Editorial Board meets three times a year: twice in New York in the spring and fall and once at the CAA Annual Conference in February. CAA reimburses members for travel and lodging expenses for the two New York meetings in accordance with its travel policy, but members pay these expenses to attend the conference. Members of all editorial boards volunteer their services to CAA without compensation.
Candidates must be current CAA members and should not be serving on the editorial board of a competitive journal or on another CAA editorial board or committee. Members may not publish their own work in the journal during the term of service. Nominators should ascertain their nominee’s willingness to serve before submitting a name; self-nominations are also welcome. Please send a statement describing your interest in and qualifications for appointment, a CV, and your contact information to: Chair, Art Bulletin Editorial Board, College Art Association, 50 Broadway, 21st Floor, New York, NY 10004; or email the documents to Alyssa Pavley, CAA editorial assistant. Deadline: April 15, 2013.
caa.reviews Editorial Board Seeks One Member
posted by Alyssa Pavley — January 28, 2013
CAA invites nominations and self-nominations for one individual to serve on the caa.reviews Editorial Board for a four-year term, July 1, 2013–June 30, 2017. Candidates may be artists, art historians, critics, curators, educators, or other professionals in the visual arts with stature in the field and experience in writing or editing book and/or exhibition reviews; institutional affiliation is not required. The journal also seeks candidates with a strong record of scholarship and at least one published book or the equivalent who are committed to the imaginative development of caa.reviews. An online journal, caa.reviews is devoted to the peer review of new books, museum exhibitions, and projects relevant to art history, visual studies, and the arts.
The editorial board advises the editor-in-chief of and field editors for caa.reviews and helps them to identify books and exhibitions for review and to solicit reviewers, articles, and other content for the journal; guides its editorial program and may propose new initiatives for it; and may support fundraising efforts on the journal’s behalf. Members also assist the editor-in-chief to keep abreast of trends and issues in the field by attending and reporting on sessions at the CAA Annual Conference and other academic conferences, symposia, and events in their fields.
The caa.reviews Editorial Board meets three times a year: twice in New York in the spring and fall and once at the CAA Annual Conference in February. CAA reimburses members for travel and lodging expenses for the two New York meetings in accordance with its travel policy, but members pay these expenses to attend the conference. Members of all editorial boards volunteer their services to CAA without compensation.
Candidates must be current CAA members and should not be serving on the editorial board of a competitive journal or on another CAA editorial board or committee. Nominators should ascertain their nominee’s willingness to serve before submitting a name; self-nominations are also welcome. Please send a statement describing your interest in and qualifications for appointment, a CV, and your contact information to: caa.reviews Editorial Board, College Art Association, 50 Broadway, 21st Floor, New York, NY 10004; or email the documents to Alyssa Pavley, CAA editorial assistant. Deadline: April 15, 2013.
caa.reviews Seeks Field Editors for Books and Exhibitions
posted by Alyssa Pavley — January 28, 2013
CAA invites nominations and self-nominations for six individuals to join the caa.reviews Council of Field Editors, which commissions reviews within an area of expertise or geographic region, for a three-year term: July 1, 2013–June 30, 2016. An online journal, caa.reviews is devoted to the peer review of new books, museum exhibitions, and projects relevant to art history, visual studies, and the arts.
The journal seeks four field editors for books in four areas: African art, theory and historiography, Egyptian and ancient Near Eastern art, and American art. In addition, two field editors are needed for exhibitions in two areas: on the West Coast covering art after 1800 and in New York and internationally, covering exhibitions of modern and contemporary art. Candidates may be artists, art historians, critics, curators, educators, or other professionals in the visual arts; institutional affiliation is not required.
Working with the caa.reviews editor-in-chief, the caa.reviews Editorial Board, and CAA’s staff editor, each field editor selects content to be reviewed, commissions reviewers, and reviews manuscripts for publication. Field editors for books are expected to keep abreast of newly published and important books and related media in his or her field of expertise, and those field editors for exhibitions should be aware of current and upcoming exhibitions (and other related projects) in their geographic regions.
The Council of Field Editors meets annually at the CAA Annual Conference. Field editors must pay travel and lodging expenses to attend the conference. Members of all CAA committees and editorial boards volunteer their services without compensation.
Candidates must be current CAA members and should not be serving on the editorial board of a competitive journal or on another CAA editorial board or committee. Nominators should ascertain their nominee’s willingness to serve before submitting a name; self-nominations are also welcome. Please send a statement describing your interest in and qualifications for appointment, a CV, and your contact information to: caa.reviews Editorial Board, College Art Association, 50 Broadway, 21st Floor, New York, NY 10004; or email the documents to Alyssa Pavley, CAA editorial assistant. Deadline: April 15, 2013.
CAA Seeks Publications Committee Member
posted by Alyssa Pavley — January 25, 2013
CAA invites nominations and self-nominations for one member at large to serve on its Publications Committee for a three-year term, July 1, 2013–June 30, 2016. Candidates, who must possess expertise appropriate to the committee’s work, may be artists, art historians, critics, curators, educators, or other professionals in the visual arts; institutional affiliation is not required.
Meeting three times a year, the Publications Committee is a consultative body that advises the CAA Publications Department staff and the CAA Board of Directors on publishing projects. It provides oversight for the editorial boards of The Art Bulletin, Art Journal, and caa.reviews, as well as the juries for CAA’s book grants; sponsors a practicum session at the Annual Conference; and, with the CAA vice president for publications, serves as liaison to the board, membership, editorial boards, book-grant juries, and other CAA committees.
The Publications Committee meets three times a year: twice in New York in the spring and fall and once at the CAA Annual Conference in February. CAA reimburses members for travel and lodging expenses for the two New York meetings in accordance with its travel policy, but members pay these expenses to attend the conference. Members of all CAA committees volunteer their services without compensation.
Candidates must be current CAA members and should not be serving on another CAA editorial board or committee. In addition, they may not be individuals who have served as members of a CAA editorial board within the past five years. Nominators should ascertain their nominee’s willingness to serve before submitting a name; self-nominations are also welcome. Appointments are made by the CAA president in consultation with the vice president for publications. Please send a statement describing your interest in and qualifications for appointment, a CV, and your contact information to: Publications Committee, College Art Association, 50 Broadway, 21st Floor, New York, NY 10004; or email the documents to Alyssa Pavley, CAA editorial assistant. Deadline: April 15, 2013.
Directory for Diversity Practices
posted by CAA — January 24, 2013
CAA’s Committee on Diversity Practices would like to introduce the Directory for Diversity Practices and to invite CAA members to submit syllabi and recommend additional material for it. The Directory for Diversity Practices has been developed to provide a range of updated documents, texts, and links related to ethnicity, race, gender, sexuality, disability, and aging for use in the classroom. It is accessible via the CAA website under the tab marked Resources.
The directory is divided into five user-friendly sections:
- Getting Started
- Classroom and Curricula
- Diversity in Academe
- Images and Documents of Art and Culture
- Syllabi
The Committee on Diversity Practices is dedicated to building a useful and evolving resource for teaching the visual arts and art history. CAA encourages you to visit the site and to let the committee know how it can add to the directory in order for it to be more useful. The committee regards this directory as a work in process and seeks comments and submissions (emails below) from the CAA community at large.
Submissions Guide
Suggestions for any of the five areas are welcome and will be added as appropriate. Material included in its entirety must be in the public domain, contributed by the authors or copyright owners who have given permission to publish it on the CAA website, and/or otherwise publicly available. Contributions should be relevant, applicable, and up to date. Older material will be selected on its continuing relevance.
The committee welcomes the submission of syllabi addressing issues and topics related to diversity and art. It hopes to significantly expand this section, which promises to be a valuable resource for anyone seeking current models for inclusive curricula. Kindly send your syllabus as a Word file. Please remove any references to the specific details of the class (dates, name of institution, office hours and location, etc.). Professors retain the copyright for their work.
Please visit the directory and send your comments and contributions to both Zoya Kocur, Middlesex University, and Yasmin Ramirez, Hunter College, City University of New York.
Mellon Foundation Helps CAA Initiate a Publishing Award for Emerging Scholars
posted by Christopher Howard — January 23, 2013
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation has awarded the College Art Association (CAA) a one-year grant of $60,000 to administer the Meiss/Mellon Author’s Book Award. The award is a temporary measure to provide financial relief to early-career scholars in art history and visual studies who are responsible for paying for rights and permissions for images in their publications. The Meiss/Mellon Author’s Book Award will provide grants directly to emerging scholars to offset the high costs of image acquisition. Recipients will be selected on the basis of the quality and financial need of their project, and awards will be made twice during the year (in the spring and fall) in conjunction with CAA’s Millard Meiss Publication Fund awards to publishers. CAA anticipates awarding between eight and ten Meiss/Mellon Author’s Book Awards in 2013.
The Meiss/Mellon Author’s Book Award supports image rights and reproduction costs for books on topics in art history and visual studies. The Society of Architectural Historians (SAH) also received one year of funding from the Andrew Mellon Foundation and will award grants to emerging scholars who are publishing monographs on the built environment. Both the CAA and SAH awards will provide leading authors in the early stages of their careers with the financial resources to acquire images for scholarly publications. For information about the SAH award, visit www.sah.org or contact Beth Eifrig at info@sah.org.
Applications for the first round of the Meiss/Mellon Author’s Book Award are now being accepted. The deadline for submission is March 15, 2013, with a second round of applications due on September 15, 2013. CAA will administer the Meiss/Mellon Author’s Book Award according to guidelines developed for the Millard Meiss Publication Fund grant, an award established in 1975 by a generous bequest from the late Professor Millard Meiss. The jury for the award, comprising distinguished, mid-career or senior scholars whose specializations cover a broad range of art scholarship, has discretion over the number of and size of the awards. For further information about the award and to apply, please visit www.collegeart.org/meissmellon.
CAA seeks to alleviate high reproductions rights costs related to publishing in the arts. With funding from a separate grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, CAA recently initiated a project to explore the overall impact of copyright on the arts and how different understandings of copyright affect creative and scholarly choices in the visual arts. Over a four-year period, from 2013–2016, CAA will produce an issues report and a code of best practices for fair use in the creation and curation of artworks and scholarly publishing in the visual arts.
For further information please contact Virginia Reinhart, CAA marketing and communications associate, at vreinhart@collegeart.org or 212-392-4426. For information on applying to the Meiss/Mellon Author’s Book Award, please contact Alex Gershuny, CAA editorial associate, at agershuny@collegeart.org or 212-392-4424.