CAA News Today
CAA 2024 Board of Directors Election: Vote Now!
posted by CAA — December 18, 2023
As a CAA member, voting is the best way to shape the future of your professional association. Thank you for taking the time to vote!
The CAA Board of Directors is comprised of professionals in the visual arts who are elected annually by the membership to serve four-year terms (or, in the case of Emerging Professional Board members, two-year terms). The Board is charged with the long-term financial stability and strategic direction of CAA; it is also the Association’s governing body. The board sets policy regarding all aspects of CAA activities, including publishing, the Annual Conference, awards and fellowships, advocacy, and committee procedures. For more information, please read the CAA By-laws on Nominations, Elections, and Appointments.
MEET THE CANDIDATES
The 2023–24 Nominating Committee has selected the following candidates for election to the CAA Board of Directors. Click the names of the candidates below to read their personal statements and CVs before casting your vote.
BOARD OF DIRECTOR CANDIDATES (FOUR-YEAR TERM, 2024–2028)

Assistant Professor of Art
Kentucky College of Art + Design (Louisville, KY)

Assistant Professor, Non-Western Art History, Art Program
California State University Channel Islands (Camarillo, CA)

Fulbright Scholar (India)
Organizational Leadership Scholar, Columbia University (New York, NY)

Associate Professor of Art History & Head of Arts & Humanities Major
Yale-NUS College (Singapore)

Assistant Professor of New Media Art
Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff, AZ)

Head Librarian
Sotheby’s Institute of Art (New York, NY)
EMERGING PROFESSIONALS BOARD OF DIRECTOR CANDIDATES (TWO-YEAR TERM, 2024–2026)

PhD Candidate, Tyler School of Art and Architecture
Temple University (Philadelphia, PA)

MFA Candidate
Boston University (Boston, MA)
CAA members must cast their votes online. The deadline for voting is 5 p.m. CT on Thursday, February 15, 2024.
The elected individuals will be announced at the CAA Annual Business Meeting to be held 1–2 p.m. CT on Friday, February 16, 2024.
Questions? Contact Maeghan Donohue, Chief of Staff and Director, Strategic Planning, Diversity & Governance.
Emily Taylor Rice
posted by CAA — December 18, 2023

Statement
My interest in running for the Emerging Professional position on CAA’s Board of Directors stems from my background in Art Education and the important role CAA plays in sustaining and supporting the Arts at all levels. I hold a BS and MA in Art Education and will complete my Master of Fine Arts degree, the terminal degree in Visual Arts, in May 2024. I have been involved in teaching at the University level, curated exhibitions, exhibited my work and participated in artist residencies. My knowledge of Eastern and Western Art History continually enables me to expand my own art practice. If elected to the CAA Board, I would like to be a liaison on the Education Committee or the Services to Artists Committee. I have taught for 17 years at all levels, 12 of them in Asia and the Middle East, which has afforded me an unusual perspective witnessing the value of an art education in the broadest terms. The membership of CAA is wide-reaching and being able to participate in the organization that benefits so many artists, curators, museum professionals, and emerging artists like me will be invaluable.
Noah Randolph
posted by CAA — December 18, 2023

Statement
I am honored to be nominated to serve as the Emerging Professional Director. I am a lecturer at Ursinus College and PhD candidate in the Department of Art History at the Tyler School of Art and Architecture at Temple University. Currently, I am the chair of the CAA Student and Emerging Professionals Committee, which I have served on since 2020. As my term ends this year, I am excited about the potential of continuing my service to CAA as well as my advocacy for students and emerging professionals.
Throughout my time as a member of SEPC, I have been involved in many initiatives that helped expand the scope of the committee, the successes of which depended on the support and dedication of the Board. As CAA is beginning to move towards a model of year-round and evergreen content, I would look forward to using my presence on the board as an active proponent for the projects that SEPC is currently in the process of generating. These will greatly benefit the committee’s constituency, which is among the most precarious of CAA’s audience. I care deeply about CAA’s growth and success and believe that increasing accessibility beyond the conference is at the center of this. My time on the committee has given me great insight into the needs of and demands from students and emerging professionals, and I know that I will be able to use this background as well as my own experience to help make CAA a more robustly inclusive institution that is the incubator for the next generation of artists and scholars.

Statement
Eric M. Wolf, MSLIS, PhD is Head Librarian and Faculty Member at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, New York. He is an active member of CAA, having served as Co-Chair of the Committee on Research and Scholarship and ARLIS/NA Liaison to CAA from 2020-2023. He has served as Secretary on the Executive Board of the Art Libraries Society of North America (2013-2015) as well as serving on various committees, he was President of the Texas/Mexico Chapter of ARLIS/NA in 2019. His research interests range from Italian Renaissance architecture to Post-War American abstraction to museum ethics. He has previously worked as Head Librarian or Library Director at the Menil Collection, and the New York School of Interior Design. He has taught museum ethics courses at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Houston. He teaches Methods of Research and serves as Director of Capstones and Academic Advisor at Sotheby’s Institute of Art. He has published on topics ranging from museum architecture to artists’ estates and is on the Editorial Board of Grove’s Dictionary of Art. Having a broad range of experience with various constituencies within CAA, from working in studio programs, to art business programs, to museum studies programs, as well as working in both academic and museum environments, he has a strong commitment to the professions of art and art history and would like to contribute to CAA at the level of the Board of Directors.
David Van Ness
posted by CAA — December 18, 2023

Statement
Thank you for considering my application for the College Art Association Board of Directors. I believe that my extensive experience both inside and outside the classroom would greatly benefit the board. Following my graduation from graduate school, I spent three years working at U.S. Art Company, where I gained valuable experience in crating, installation, and operations. Despite this, I decided to transition into teaching and left to adjunct teach in a variety of universities and colleges for seven years. This experience eventually led to my appointment as a lecturer and Coordinator of Foundations at Northern Arizona University, where I served for ten years before my position was converted into a tenure position in New Media Arts.
Despite my role as a New Media professor, I believe in a comprehensive approach to studio education that incorporates both traditional methods and innovative technologies. Moreover, I am deeply passionate about advocating for arts education and have a unique ability to bridge the arts with science, history, engineering, and other fields due to my own background and artistic practice.
As we face challenging times for studio arts, design, and art history, all of which are fighting for survival, I am eager to leverage my perspective and diverse roles within academia to inspire and contribute to a strong defense of the opportunities we create for our students and society as a whole. I am also looking to grow and learn from this opportunity to better serve my university, faculty, and students.
Nozomi Naoi
posted by CAA — December 18, 2023

Statement
I would like to nominate myself, Nozomi Naoi to serve on the Board of Directors for CAA. I have always felt strongly about advocating for the arts in a global environment. I believe my professional experience in building a new college in Singapore and serving as Head of Studies of the Arts and Humanities major during its closure by 2025 makes me a strong candidate.
I built the arts curriculum and was part of setting up a new college in Singapore—a college that was co-founded by an American institution (Yale University) and the National University of Singapore (NUS)—and now I am managing its closure as the Head of Studies. This has given me a unique experience in creating an environment that truly envisions an international perspective from the start that is not just as a corrective measure and handling its continuation as I transition to NUS.
I believe my personal background as a Japanese national growing up in Tokyo through an international school system and receiving my BA from Carleton College and MA and PhD from Harvard University truly positions me as a strong candidate to bridge the national and international presence and advocacy of CAA. In addition, my research area of Japanese art history that straddles spheres of media studies, design history, commercial art, and studies of the Asian diaspora; my work with curatorial practice and museum exhibitions; and my experience going through the tenure process during the pandemic allows me to advocate for a diverse group of members in CAA.
My location in Singapore also brings a much-needed bridge between the North American core that CAA has well supported and the intellectual and arts community of the North/South East Asia and Oceania regions. I was elected as a board member candidate in the previous call and although I was not successful, many colleagues have reached out to me expressing their support and excitement for a candidate working on and in this region. This is why I have decided to nominate myself again.
Leslie D. Joynes
posted by CAA — December 18, 2023

Statement
I am honored to be nominated as a member for the CAA Board. CAA has been my home in academia and pivotal in my professional development. For me this is the best time to be member of CAA: we are witnessing unprecedented change in the arts, education, museums and scholarship and above all this is an important opportunity to serve our membership. Active with CAA for twenty years, I have served as conference presenter, professional development mentor and member of CAA’s International Committee and Museum Committee. I am committed to CAA’s mission to advance the highest standards of instruction, knowledge, and practice in the visual arts, to foster intellectual engagement, and to advance skills that enrich individuals and society.
I bring to CAA three-decades of experience as an artist, university educator and scholar. Speaking to CAA’s strategic plan, I seek to support the Board to embrace our diverse membership in the arts, art history, education, museums and scholarship. I also seek to support diversity, our members’ professional journeys and address and support equitable compensation and fair labor practices, as well as navigating changes brought through new technologies.
As a Board member I bring experience as an artist, arts and education advocate, and experience serving global organizations – and will support our Board in identifying solutions for CAA’s future.
As an artist and scholar I will use my creative skills to advocate for the needs of creative practitioners especially in enhancing their careers through professional development. I trained in fine art and theory in London and Tokyo and specialized in cross-cultural collaboration in the arts during my PhD in the UK and post-doctorate in Brazil. I am professor of record from Modern and Contemporary Art History at Renmin University and have lectured on art and entrepreneurship at universities in Asia and Europe. I served on the curatorial team that created the inaugural Taipei Biennial in 1998 and am now initiating an art biennial focused on diversity and inclusivity. Sponsored by the US Department of State, I created models for cross-cultural educational exchange in Mongolia and have led Fulbright research projects in Mongolia (2014), China (2017), India (2022) and Sri Lanka (2022).
I served as Fulbright Senior Scholar at the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts in India and my research has made me aware of the potential for organizations to enhance their international focus and reach. I have also led events in France, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan. As a Columbia University research scholar, I am examining the future of education in a rapidly evolving arts and technology landscape, particularly the impacts of AI on the roles, rules and structures of our professions.
I seek to advocate for our members: CAA is our home in academia. At our CAA conferences, I have had the opportunity to listen and better understand our members’ goals and career challenges. Some have shared how career advancement at times feels like musical chairs. It is important is that we foster inclusive professional communities that can support members to advocate for themselves in their careers at all stages. This has been a key inspiration for my own training as a coach and mentor serving artists and educators. I have initiated coaching pilots at Yale Center for British Art, California State University, University of Melbourne, and recently initiated India’s first mentoring program to serve Naga tribal communities.
I am passionate about teaching: As a university educator, I am now developing combined practice/ theory classes for universities that focus on project-based learning. I am trained in advanced curriculum design in art education and recently served the Future of Education Board for the Thought Leadership Institute. Fostering connection is essential for educators in all stages of their careers and as a Board member I seek to enhance our CAA offerings both in and outside of our conferences with workshops and networking opportunities. Supporting CAA’s Committees, Juries and Editorial Boards: Active in CAA’s International and Museum Committees, I am experienced working with diverse interest groups and can assist in CAA Fundraising and public events to expand CAA’s reach. I lead an Artistic Research Working Group. where we are exploring the futures of research in art education. For the past seven years, I also serve on the Editorial Board for ProjectAnywhere, a journal at University of Melbourne, Australia. Supporting solutions for our strategic and financial direction and expanding CAA’s global reach. I trained in organizational strategy at Boston University (M.Sc. Management) and California State University. (MBA) and have advised global organizations including 3M, Du Pont, General Electric, Dow, and Bayer on their marketing, financial and strategic goals. These experiences uniquely enable me to support the Board to expand CAA’s reach and membership, build sponsorship and support collaboration with other organizations. In New York, I serve on the board for a children’s charity and the Editorial Board for ProjectAnywhere at University of Melbourne and the New School in New York and served as a New York Chair of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals.
Most importantly: I am grateful to serve CAA and our membership.
• Supporting our Board to identify solutions for our strategic direction.
• Multimedia artist, university educator and consultant serving global organizations since 1989.
• Committed to fostering diverse environments that are equitable and inclusive.
• Advocate for our members in their careers including equitable compensation and fair labor practices and navigating technology changes.
Theresa Avila
posted by CAA — December 18, 2023

Statement
I am passionate about the field of Art History and CAA has always been an integral component to my professional markers for success. I have been a part of CAA since I was an undergraduate Art History major and continue to be an engaged member who holds an Associate faculty position. I have participated in many aspects of the conference from volunteer room monitor, to presenter and chair of sessions, and now as the Chair of the Annual Conference Committee. My interest in working with CAA is to support diversity and inclusion, as well as accessibility. As ACC
Chair I have been privy to the inner workings of the organization and have come to learn about the potential impactful role of the Executive Board Members. I am motivated to shift from the ACC to the Executive Board where I hope to bring my three years of putting the conference
together at the submission level into conversation with the rest of the organization’s inner workings. I am eager to engage in broader aspects of CAA and to offer support in building financial stability and strategic planning, as well as policy development. In particular, I am keen
to seek ways to intersect with CAA committees and membership with the hope to grow and develop them both. I believe my personal professional experiences as a curator, scholar, teaching faculty, art administrator, project manager and in funds development offer transferable skills that will benefits my work as part of the CAA Executive Board.
Damon Arhos
posted by CAA — December 18, 2023
Statement
I respectfully and enthusiastically submit my candidacy for the 2024–2028 College Art Association (CAA) Board of Directors term. As an artist and educator who embraces flexibility and lifelong learning, I am motivated by the organization’s mission for advocacy, intellectual engagement, and diversity. In addition, through my artistic and educational practices, I seek to support collaboration and communication while pursuing constructive outcomes. My art practice examines social contexts of gender and sexuality. It explores conceptual frames that reflect my LGBTQ+ identity. As such, I am invested ardently in the many human facets of social justice, especially as these issues relate to equity and inclusion in art and art education. I earned three master’s degrees from accomplished institutions – educational experiences that reflect programmatic diversity in studio art, business, and journalism. My professional experience includes comprehensive responsibility for financial and policy maters both in academia and the technology industry. In addition, as an artist and educator, I have invested significantly in my art practice, leveraging these activities in collaboration with my students. Since 2021, I have served CAA to evaluate conference session proposals as a member of the Council of Readers. During this time, I worked with the organization’s staff to ensure continued scholastic and creative excellence for presentations. As well, I have presented and chaired sessions at past CAA conferences. I believe that as an Assistant Professor of Art at the Kentucky College of Art + Design (KyCAD), I would represent CAA members’ goals and interests effectively.
CAA 111th Annual Business Meeting Minutes
posted by CAA — December 11, 2023
CAA Annual Business Meeting Minutes
New York Hilton Midtown
Friday, February 17, 2023
1 p.m. ET
- Welcome + Call to Order – Jennifer Rissler, CAA President
- Jennifer Rissler called the meeting to order at 1:04 p.m. ET.
- CAA staff members were thanked for working so hard to make the first in-person convening since 2020 a success.
- Jennifer was joined by Executive Director & CEO, Meme Omogbai, and CAA Past President N. Elizabeth Schlatter.
- Approval of 110th Annual Business Meeting Minutes [ACTION ITEM]
- Niku Kashef moved to approve minutes from the CAA 110th Annual Business Meeting; Kelvin Parnell Jr. seconded the motion.
- The minutes were approved unanimously by those present with 14 votes.
- President Report – Jennifer Rissler, CAA President
- A by-law amendment was approved unanimously by the CAA Board of Directors with the required 75% of directors present.
- This amendment was vetted by CAA legal counsel and CAA Past President, N. Elizabeth Schlatter.
- This change allows Appointed Directors to run for the CAA Executive Committee, except for the position of President which will continue to draw from the pool of elected officers only.
- CAA by-laws allow for up to three Appointed Directors on the board; CAA currently has two.
- It was clear at this point in CAA’s evolution that there now exists a need for special skills and expertise to successfully carry out the mission of the Association in the constantly evolving landscape of higher education and the Visual Arts, and as CAA recalibrates for the 21st century.
- This clarification enables CAA to identify talent gaps on the Executive Committee of the Board and to better leverage the unique experience and expertise of every member of the Board regardless of whether they were appointed or elected.
- This proposed clarification only permits Appointed Directors to run for an officer position. It does not guarantee that they will win or that there will always be an Appointed Director on the CAA Executive Committee.
- Executive Director Report + Financial Report– Meme Omogbai, CAA Executive Director + CEO
- Statutorily CAA is required to provide at this meeting the financial status of the Association, based on the audited financial reports:
- The operating financial reports for the fiscal year ended on June 30th, 2022.
- The Association posted a breakeven operating budget with revenue including investments, spinoff matching expenses, and meeting our forecast and budget expectations.
- The Association continues to manage expenses within our means. Operating revenue and expenses totaled $3.3 million, and revenue was just a little over that, at $3.4 million.
- Complete audited financial statements have been provided and will be made available via guidestar.org as well as charitiesnys.com.
- During fiscal year 2021, the Association applied for and received a second draw payroll protection (PPP) loan of $352,195 as part of the CARES Act. In fiscal year 2022, the Association applied for and received full forgiveness of the second draw of the PPP loan.
- Updates on membership:
- As of June 30th, 2022, as audited, there were 394 institutional members and 4298 individual members, reflective of continued systemic higher education and pandemic impacts.
- There were 512 additional subscribers to The Art Bulletin and Art Journal through co-publisher Taylor & Francis.
- Updates on CAA’s Strategic Repositioning plan:
- The Board of Directors approved the CAA Strategic Repositioning plan, which has been updated based upon lived experience adding a fifth fundamental about cultural transformation and continuous learning.
- The plan period was also extended by one year from 2025 to 2026 to accommodate digital transformation delays, as reported at the February 2022 CAA Town Hall meeting.
- The strategic plan was designed to enable us to create a sustainable business model that can support operations, allow for endowment growth, and encourage revenue through responsible and streamlined operations.
- Although we are now operating within our means, membership revenue no longer entirely supports the operations of the Association and has not done so for several years, hence the need for additional revenue streams.
- Combined revenues from membership dues, the CAA Annual Conference, and CAA Publications as of 2022 fiscal year covered only 50% of operating expenses for the year.
- CAA’s digital transformation focuses on building capability, specifically collecting and analyzing both qualitative and quantitative data about the wants and needs of CAA constituents and enabling CAA to serve a global constituency without necessarily a corresponding increase in the number of CAA staff.
- The most significant milestone in this has been implementing Microsoft Dynamics 365, which now serves as the central nervous system of CAA’s infrastructure. Dynamics 365 brings capability for an unprecedented range and depth of data analytics ability to connect with virtually any external and third-party service. New capabilities and benefits for CAA members include monthly installment payment plans.
- There is much more to do in terms of building capability and capacity through redefined technology, infrastructure automation, and technical agility among staff members.
- The core objective for all of this is to build a unified but uniquely personalized experience for every CAA constituent, tailored specifically to their individual membership journey.
- A redesign of CAA’s website was paused due to financial and staffing challenges and therefore changes to the site will be made incrementally.
- Updates on investments:
- The market value of CAA’s investment portfolio on June 30th, 2022, was $10.450 million versus the prior year balance of $11.9 million, reflecting the challenging global financial market conditions.
- The portfolio continues to be managed by Boston Trust Walden.
- As of this meeting, the number of attendees for the CAA 111th Annual Conference is 2,728. This exceeds our registration target of 2,500.
- Statutorily CAA is required to provide at this meeting the financial status of the Association, based on the audited financial reports:
- Old/New Business
- No old business was raised by meeting attendees.
- No new business was raised by meeting attendees.
- Board Member Election Results – Jennifer Rissler, CAA President
- The 2023 Board of Directors slate was announced on December 22nd, 2022, along with an online voting form. Voting closed on Thursday, February 16, 2023 at 5 p.m. ET.
- Congratulations to the following new CAA Directors (4-year term): Denise Baxter, Alex Bostic, Radha Dalal, and Sharon Hecker.
- Congratulations to Carolyn Jean Martin, CAA Emerging Professional Director (2-year term).
- All who were not elected were encouraged to run again next year. Some of the most productive Board members in CAA history had to run several times before they were elected, including some past CAA presidents.
- The CAA Nominating Committee was thanked for their contributions to this election cycle.
- Adjourn
- The 112th Annual Business meeting of the College Art Association will be held in Chicago in 2024, date to be announced.
- The Annual Business meeting was adjourned at 1:20 p.m. ET.



