CAA News Today
Millard Meiss Jury Seeks Specialist in Non-Western Art
posted by CAA — April 11, 2011
CAA seeks nominations and self-nominations for scholars with a specialization in non-Western subject matter to serve on the jury for the Millard Meiss Publication Fund for a four-year term, July 1, 2011–June 30, 2015. Candidates must be actively publishing scholars with demonstrated seniority and achievement; institutional affiliation is not required.
The Meiss jury awards grants that subsidize the publication of book-length scholarly manuscripts in the history of art and related subjects. Members review manuscripts and grant applications twice a year and meet in New York in the spring and fall to select the awardees. CAA reimburses jury members for travel and lodging expenses in accordance with its travel policy.
Candidates must be current CAA members and should not be serving on another CAA editorial board or committee. Jury members may not themselves apply for a grant in this program during their term of service. Nominators should ascertain their nominee’s willingness to serve before submitting a name; self-nominations are also welcome. Please send a letter describing your interest in and qualifications for appointment, a CV, and contact information to: Millard Meiss Publication Fund Jury, College Art Association, 275 Seventh Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001; or send all materials as email attachments to Alex Gershuny, CAA editorial associate. Deadline: April 22, 2011.
Committee on Women in the Arts Picks for April 2011
posted by CAA — April 10, 2011
Each month, CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts selects the best in feminist art and scholarship. The following conversation and three exhibitions should not be missed. Check the archive of CWA Picks at the bottom of the page, as several museum and gallery shows listed in previous months may still be on view or touring.
April 2011
Diane Burko
“Global Warming: Women in Science and Art Discuss Climate Issues and Activism”
Rutgers University
Center Hall Auditorium, Busch Campus Center, 604 Bartholomew Road, Piscataway, NJ 08854
April 20, 2011
A discussion between the artist Diane Burko and Åsa Rennermalm, assistant professor in the Geography Department at Rutgers University, takes place on Wednesday, April 20, 2011, 7:15–8:30 PM. Kathryn Uhrich, a professor and dean of Math and Physical Sciences at Rutgers, is the moderator.
Sheila Hicks: 50 Years
Institute of Contemporary Art
University of Pennsylvania, 118 South 36th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
March 24–August 7, 2011
A student of Joseph Albers at Yale University, Sheila Hicks was inspired by the Bauhaus principle of ignoring traditional boundaries separating art, craft, and design. Her work with fabric, fiber, and found objects came to prominence in the 1950s, and this retrospective, first mounted at the Addison Gallery of American Art in Andover, Massachusetts, features more than ninety of her most important pieces, including a major installation on loan from Target’s headquarters in Minneapolis. Sheila Hicks: 50 Years offers insights into the artist’s thinking and her approach to materials.
Lynda Benglis, The Graces, 2003–5, cast polyurethane, lead, and stainless steel, dimensions from left to right: 103 x 26 x 26 in.; 113 x 21½ x 23 in.; 95 x 30 x 27 in. (artwork © Lynda Benglis, DACS, London/VAGA, New York)
Lynda Benglis
New Museum of Contemporary Art
235 Bowery, New York, NY 10002
February 9–June 19, 2011
This exhibition, Lynda Benglis’s first retrospective in New York and her first solo show in the city in twenty years, spans the range of her career. The survey covers her early wax paintings and brightly colored poured latex works, the Torsos and Knots series from the 1970s, and her recent experiments with plastics, cast glass, paper, and gold leaf. Lynda Benglis also contains a number of rarely exhibited works, such as Phantom (1971), an installation consisting of five monumental sculptures that glow in the dark, and Primary Structures (Paula’s Props), an installation first shown in 1975. Because throughout her career Benglis was constantly experimenting with materials and techniques, some of which were ephemeral or less than permanent, a few of the works exhibited are the only survivors of some series of works.
Reviewing the show for the New York Times, Roberta Smith wrote, “This exhibition stresses Ms. Benglis’s dual role as innovator and commentator, adept at extending ideas of her mostly male contemporaries while also skewing and skewering them with her own implicitly libidinous sensibility.”
Vija Celmins: Television and Disaster 1964–1966
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
5905 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90036
March 13–June 5, 2011
Vija Celmins is best known as a painter of soft, monochromatic images of stars and spider webs. However, as a young artist in Los Angeles in the mid-1960s, she created a series of brightly colored works with violent themes such as crashing warplanes, smoking handguns, and other images of death and disaster influenced by the violence of the era and mass media representations of it. Vija Celmins: Television and Disaster 1964–1966 is the first exhibition to concentrate on these paintings and sculptures made during this brief period.
Join the Editorial Boards for The Art Bulletin, Art Journal, and caa.reviews
posted by CAA — March 30, 2011
CAA invites nominations and self-nominations for service on the editorial boards for its three scholarly journals—The Art Bulletin, Art Journal, and caa.reviews—for four-year terms.
Art Bulletin Editorial Board
CAA invites nominations and self-nominations for two individuals to serve on the Art Bulletin Editorial Board for a four-year term: July 1, 2011–June 30, 2015. 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 editorial board advises the editor-in-chief of The Art Bulletin 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 their own expenses for the conference.
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 letter describing your interest in and qualifications for appointment, a CV, and your contact information to: Chair, Art Bulletin Editorial Board, College Art Association, 275 Seventh Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001; or email the documents to Alex Gershuny, CAA editorial associate. Deadline: April 15, 2011.
Art Journal Editorial Board
CAA invites nominations and self-nominations for two individuals to serve on the Art Journal Editorial Board for a four-year term: July 1, 2011–June 30, 2015. Candidates are individuals with a broad knowledge of modern and contemporary art; institutional affiliation is not required.
The editorial board advises the editor-in-chief of Art Journal 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 their own expenses for the conference.
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 letter describing your interest in and qualifications for appointment, a CV, and your contact information to: Chair, Art Journal Editorial Board, College Art Association, 275 Seventh Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001; or email the documents to Alex Gershuny, CAA editorial associate. Deadline: April 15, 2011.
caa.reviews Editorial Board
CAA invites nominations and self-nominations for one individual to serve on the caa.reviews Editorial Board for a four-year term, July 1, 2011–June 30, 2015. Candidates may be artists, art historians, art critics, art educators, curators, or other art professionals 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 is committed to the imaginative development of caa.reviews.
The editorial board advises the editor-in-chief of and the 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.
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 letter describing your interest in and qualifications for appointment, a CV, and your contact information to: Chair, caa.reviews Editorial Board, College Art Association, 275 Seventh Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001; or email the documents to Alex Gershuny, CAA editorial associate. Deadline: April 15, 2011.
Deadline Extended for Applications for Reviews Editor of The Art Bulletin
posted by CAA — March 30, 2011
CAA has extended the deadline for applications for the position of reviews editor of The Art Bulletin to Monday, April 11, 2011. The Art Bulletin is the leading quarterly journal in the English language of scholarship in all areas of art history and visual studies.
Art Bulletin Reviews Editor
The Art Bulletin Editorial Board invites nominations and self-nominations for the position of reviews editor for a three-year term: July 1, 2012–June 30, 2015, with service as incoming reviews editor designate in 2011–12. Candidates should be art scholars with stature in the field and experience in editing book and/or exhibition reviews; institutional affiliation is not required. They should also be published authors of at least one book.
The reviews editor is responsible for commissioning all book and exhibition reviews in The Art Bulletin. He or she selects books and exhibitions for review, commissions reviewers, and determines the appropriate length and character of reviews. The reviews editor also works with authors and CAA’s codirectors of publications in the development and preparation of review manuscripts for publication. He or she is expected to keep abreast of newly published and important books and recent exhibitions in art history, criticism, theory, visual studies, and museum publishing. This three-year term includes membership on the journal’s editorial board.
The reviews editor attends the three annual meetings of the Art Bulletin Editorial Board—held twice in New York in the spring and fall and once at the CAA Annual Conference in February—and submits an annual report to CAA’s Publications Committee. CAA reimburses the reviews editor 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.
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 at least one letter of recommendation to: Art Bulletin Reviews Editor Search, College Art Association, 275 Seventh Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001; or email the documents to Alex Gershuny, CAA editorial associate. Deadline extended: April 11, 2011; finalists will be interviewed on Friday, April 29, 2011, in New York.
Join the Wyeth Publication Grant Jury
posted by CAA — March 28, 2011
CAA seeks nominations and self-nominations for two individuals with expertise in any branch of American art history, visual studies, or a related field to serve on the jury for the Wyeth Foundation for American Art Publication Grant for a three-year term, July 1, 2011–June 30, 2014. Candidates must be actively publishing scholars with demonstrated seniority and achievement; institutional affiliation is not required.
The Wyeth jury awards grants that subsidize the publication of book-length scholarly manuscripts in the history of American art and related subjects. Members review manuscripts and grant applications once a year and meet in New York in the fall to select awardees. CAA reimburses jury members for travel and lodging expenses in accordance with its travel policy.
Candidates must be current CAA members and should not be serving on another CAA editorial board or committee. Jury members may not themselves apply for a grant in this program during their term of service. Nominators should ascertain their nominee’s willingness to serve before submitting a name; self-nominations are also welcome. Please send a letter of interest describing your interest in and qualifications for appointment, a CV, and contact information to: Wyeth Foundation for American Art Publication Grant, College Art Association, 275 Seventh Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001; or send all materials as email attachments to Alex Gershuny, CAA editorial associate. Deadline: May 13, 2011.
Rutgers University Hosts a Conference on “Hide/Seek: Museums, Ethics, and the Press”
posted by CAA — March 24, 2011
The Institute of Museum Ethics at Seton Hall and the Institute of Ethical Leadership at Rutgers Business School will hold “Hide/Seek: Museums, Ethics, and the Press,” a public conversation about current ethical challenges in the field, on Saturday, April 9, 2011. Registration begins at 9:30 AM, and the conference takes place 10:00 AM–4:00 PM. Lunch will be served.
Participants will examine the controversy surrounding the recent National Portrait Gallery exhibition Hide/Seek: Difference and Desire in American Portraiture, highlighting the ethical issues involved, discussing the role of print and electronic media and other instances where museums’ ethical practices are interrogated, and exploring related issues such as artists’ rights.
Rutgers University in Newark is the host: 190 University Ave, Newark, NJ. Registration is free, but space is limited. Visit the conference website for more details and to register.
Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences Established in Response to Congress
posted by CAA — March 23, 2011
Last month the American Academy of Arts and Sciences announced the creation of the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences, a national group dedicated to bolstering teaching and research in the humanities and social sciences—fields that are critical to culture, education, and America’s economic competitiveness.
Leading the commission are two cochairs: Richard H. Brodhead, president of Duke University, and John W. Rowe, chairman and chief executive officer of Exelon Corporation. The group also includes prominent Americans from the humanities, the social sciences, the physical and life sciences, business, law, philanthropy, the arts, and the media, including Chuck Close, George Lucas, Emmylou Harris, Billie Tsien, and John Lithgow. Other representatives come from the Institute for Advanced Study, Lockheed Martin, the Association of American Universities, the J. Paul Getty Trust, the American Council of Learned Societies, TIAA-CREF, and Adobe Systems, among others. Many commission members serve as presidents of universities and colleges nationwide.
The commission formed in response to a bipartisan request from the United States government. Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee) and Mark Warner (D-Virginia) and Representatives Tom Petri (R-Wisconsin) and David Price (D-North Carolina) gave the following charge:
What are the top ten actions that Congress, state governments, universities, foundations, educators, individual benefactors, and others should take now to maintain national excellence in humanities and social scientific scholarship and education, and to achieve long-term national goals for our intellectual and economic well-being; for a stronger, more vibrant civil society; and for the success of cultural diplomacy in the twenty-first century?
The commission’s findings will serve as a companion to a forthcoming report of the National Academies on the future of the research university and on ways to strengthen the American scientific enterprise. The group will draw on past research efforts, data from the Humanities Indicators, and the experience and expertise of a multidisciplinary group of national leaders to recommend specific, actionable steps to maintain the nation’s excellence in the humanities and the social sciences. The commission expects to complete its work over the next eighteen to twenty-four months.
For more information on the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences, please read the National Humanities Center press release.
Philanthropic Response to the Earthquake and Tsunami in Japan
posted by CAA — March 22, 2011
The Foundation Center is actively collecting and disseminating information about the philanthropic response to the devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan. You can view this information via an RSS feed. If your organization has made—or is planning to make—any relief funding for the disaster, please take a moment to send your grant data (including specified recipients, their location, a description of the grant, and the amount of funding provided) to Japancrisis@foundationcenter.org. The center will post this information to the RSS feed to help show the public the scope and impact of the philanthropic community’s response.
Join the Millard Meiss Publication Fund Jury
posted by CAA — March 21, 2011
CAA seeks nominations and self-nominations for scholars with a specialization in non-Western subject matter to serve on the jury for the Millard Meiss Publication Fund for a four-year term, July 1, 2011–June 30, 2015. Candidates must be actively publishing scholars with demonstrated seniority and achievement; institutional affiliation is not required.
The Meiss jury awards grants that subsidize the publication of book-length scholarly manuscripts in the history of art and related subjects. Members review manuscripts and grant applications twice a year and meet in New York in the spring and fall to select the awardees. CAA reimburses jury members for travel and lodging expenses in accordance with its travel policy.
Candidates must be current CAA members and should not be serving on another CAA editorial board or committee. Jury members may not themselves apply for a grant in this program during their term of service. Nominators should ascertain their nominee’s willingness to serve before submitting a name; self-nominations are also welcome. Please send a letter describing your interest in and qualifications for appointment, a CV, and contact information to: Millard Meiss Publication Fund Jury, College Art Association, 275 Seventh Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001; or send all materials as email attachments to Alex Gershuny, CAA editorial associate. Deadline: April 22, 2011.
Committee on Women in the Arts Picks for March 2011
posted by CAA — March 10, 2011
Each month, CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts selects the best in feminist art and scholarship. The following artists’ conversation and three exhibitions should not be missed. Check the archive of CWA Picks at the bottom of the page, as several museum and gallery shows listed in previous months may still be on view or touring.
March 2011
Margarita Cabrera, contents of Backpack (Green), 2006, vinyl, thread, fabric, and mixed media, 16 x 13 x 4 in. (artwork © Margarita Cabrera; photograph provided by the artist, Walter Maciel Gallery, and the Sweeney Art Gallery)
Margarita Cabrera: Pulso y Martillo (Pulse and Hammer)
Sweeney Art Gallery
Culver Center of the Arts, University of California, Riverside, 3834 Main Street, Riverside, CA 92501
February 5–April 2, 2011
For years, Margarita Cabrera has worked on a number of collaborative projects that combine contemporary art practices, indigenous Mexican folk art and craft traditions, and relations between the United States and Mexico. These projects have actively investigated the creation of fair working conditions and the protection of immigrant rights. This exhibition includes a survey of past works from 2003 to 2008; a performance, called Florezca Board of Directors: Performance; and a new installation, Pulse and Hammer.
Taking place on Saturday, March 5, Florezca Board of Directors: Performance will be the first meeting of the “leaders” of Florezca Inc., a multinational corporation founded by Cabrera for undocumented people in the US. Consisting of Cabrera, students, and others, the performance will mix rehearsed statements with improvisation. Also a collaboration with Juan Felipe Herrera, a creative-writing professor at Riverside, Florezca Board of Directors: Performance is part of daylong series of events exploring issues around the border, undocumented workers, and a maquiladora-based economy.
For Pulse and Hammer, Cabrera will install approximately one thousand copper butterflies in Culver Center’s North Atrium Gallery, creating a swarmlike environment that represents the manic transformation of the Mexican economy.
Yoko Ono and Kara Walker in Conversation
Museum of Modern Art
11 West 53 Street, New York, NY 10019
March 8, 2011
In conjunction with the exhibition Contemporary Art from the Collection, the artists Yoko Ono and Kara Walker will discuss their art and how social, political, and gender issues inform their work. Glenn Lowry, director of the museum, will moderate the conversation, which takes place on Tuesday, March 8, at 6:30 PM.
Maira Kalman and Rick Meyerowitz’s cover of the New Yorker
Maira Kalman: Various Illuminations (of a Crazy World)
Jewish Museum
1109 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10128
March 11–July 31, 2011
The illustrator, author, and designer Maira Kalma is perhaps best known for the cartoon map of New York City that she created with Rick Meyerowitz for a New Yorker cover from December 10, 2001. Organized by the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, this retrospective exhibition includes works on paper from a thirty-year period and highlights lesser-known photographs, textiles, and performances.
Color Moves: Art and Fashion by Sonia Delaunay
Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution
2 East 91st Street, New York, NY 10128
March 18–June 5, 2011
With her husband Robert Delaunay, Sonia Delaunay founded the early-twentieth-century movement, Orphism. This exhibition focuses on her work with fashion and textiles that display the same strong colors and geometric shapes as her paintings. Included are designs from her fashion line, Atelier Simultané, created in Paris during the 1920s, and textiles she designed in the 1930s for the Metz & Co., a department store in Amsterdam.


