CAA News Today

American Council for Southern Asian Art

The American Council for Southern Asian Art (ACSAA) has elected three new officers. Stephen Markel, curator and head of the South and Southeast Asian Art Department at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in California, is the new president. Serving as vice president will be Deepali Dewan, curator in the Department of World Cultures at the Royal Ontario Museum and assistant professor in the Department of Art at the University of Toronto. Last, John Cort, professor in the Department of Religion at Denison University in Granville, Ohio, has become a board member.

Association of Academic Museums and Galleries

The Association of Academic Museums and Galleries (AAMG) will hold its next annual conference, “Who’s Muse? Challenges to the Curatorial Profession in Academic Museums,” on May 21, 2011, at the University of Houston’s Blaffer Art Museum in Texas. Curatorial practices in academic museums and galleries are sometimes highly experimental. Faculty members from a wide variety of fields and with limited curatorial experience periodically recommend and help lead exhibition projects. The organization of exhibitions likewise engages both graduate and undergraduate students, museum-education professionals, librarians, and even area school classes in project leadership roles. Exhibitions thus generated offer unorthodox approaches to curatorial planning and execution. Appropriate to a scholarly mission, they can stretch disciplinary boundaries, cross-fertilize disciplinary methodologies, and generate wholly new paradigms for knowledge. Academic museums and galleries thus become vital centers of original research, interdisciplinary dialogue, and participatory learning. While this democratic and laboratory approach to curatorial practice contributes in significant ways to the groundbreaking research and all-important teaching missions of universities and colleges, it can also challenge conventional standards of the curatorial profession. Through the presentation of outstanding case studies and lively roundtable discussions, the 2011 conference will explore the pros and cons of the broad curatorial approaches found in academic museums and galleries.

Association of Historians of American Art

The Association of Historians of American Art (AHAA) seeks to sponsor a scholarly session for CAA’s 2013 Annual Conference in New York. The scholarly session, lasting two-and-half hours and part of the regular conference program, tends to be similar to the type of sessions generally held at CAA, although sometimes more topical issues are addressed. Please read the submission guidelines and send your session proposal by April 1, 2011, for notification by June 1.

Foundations in Art: Theory and Education

Foundations in Art: Theory and Education (FATE) and the Mid-America College Art Association, another CAA affiliated society, will present a joint conference, called “ON STREAM,” at the Ball Park Hilton in St. Louis, Missouri. Taking place March 30–April 2, 2011, the conference will explore how artists and teachers develop and foster creativity in the second decade of the third millennium. For more details, visit the FATE website or contact Jeff Boshart, conference coordinator.

Historians of Eighteenth-Century Art and Architecture

The Historians of Eighteenth-Century Art and Architecture (HECAA) congratulate the recipients of the Mary Vidal Memorial Fund for graduate student travel. Georgina Cole, a PhD student at the University of Sydney in Australia, will present a paper, “Eavesdropping: Rethinking Space and Subjectivity in the Eighteenth Century,” at the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, The second recipient, Susan Wager, a doctoral student at Columbia University in New York, presented a paper, “Madame de Pompadour’s Indiscreet Jewels: Boucher, Reproduction, and Luxury in Eighteenth-Century France,” at CAA’s 2011 Annual Conference in New York.

Historians of German and Central European Art and Architecture

The Historians of German and Central European Art and Architecture (HGCEAA) have announced the results of its recent board election: Marsha Morton is president; Rose-Carol Washton Long is treasurer; Eva Forgacs is secretary; Emily Pugh is newsletter editor; and Jay Clark, James van Dyke, Keith Holz, and Juliet Koss are at-large board members.

Historians of Netherlandish Art

The Historians of Netherlandish Art (HNA) have published the Winter 2011 issue of its open-access, online peer-reviewed, Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art, which features articles by Noëlle L. W. Streeton on Jan van Eyck, Jürgen Müller on Albrecht Dürer, Stephanie Porras on peasant imagery, and Alexandra Onuf on Claesz Visscher’s landscape prints.

The HNA Fellowship for Scholarly Research, Publication, and Travel for 2011 has been awarded to Christopher D. M. Atkins of Queen’s College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, for his book Frans Hals’s Signature Style: Painting, Subjectivity, and the Market in Early Modernity (forthcoming from Amsterdam University Press).

Italian Art Society

The Italian Art Society (IAS) has selected Alison Luchs, curator of early European sculpture at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC, to present the 2011 Italian Art Society–Kress Foundation Lecture. Her talk, entitled “The Wake of Desiderio: His Impact on Sculpture of the Late Quattrocento,” will take place at the historic Accademia delle Arti del Disegno in Florence at 4:00 PM on June 8, 2011.

Leonardo/The International Society for the Arts, Science, and Technology

Leonardo/The International Society for the Arts, Science, and Technology (Leonardo/ISAST) has partnered with the Cultural Programs of the National Academy of Sciences to present DC Art and Science Evening Rendezvous (DASER), a monthly discussion forum on art and science projects in or near Washington, DC. Historically, the artist has communicated, educated, and preserved the ideas of science. But how does the creative processes of artists inform the work of scientists, engineers, physicians, and experts from other disciplines? Each DASER will feature presentations by such practitioners along with time for discussion and socializing. The monthly series began on February 16 at the Keck Center in Washington, DC. The next events take place on March 16 and April 21.

National Council of Arts Administrators

The National Council of Arts Administrators (NCAA) has announced the names and affiliations of its 2011 board officers and members. Officers for the coming year are: Carolyn Henne, Florida State University, Executive Director; Jim Hopfensperger, Western Michigan University, President; Cora Lynn Diebler, University of Connecticut, Secretary; Andrea Eis, Oakland University, Treasurer. Board members for 2011 are: John Kissick, University of Guelph; Sally McRorie, Florida State University; Kim Russo, Ringling College of Art and Design; Sergio Soave, Ohio State University; and Georgia Strange, University of Georgia.

The next NCAA annual meeting, entitled “Push: The Artistic Engine of Innovation,” will take place November 2–5, 2011, at the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia. The NCAA board seeks proposals for presentations, sessions, and/or panels for the annual Arts Administrators Workshops, scheduled for Wednesday, November 2. Initial proposals should be no more than 350 words. Topics may include but are not limited to: leadership and management; promotion and tenure; interpersonal communication; succeeding with external constituencies; budget management; personnel evaluation; personal growth; career paths; and case studies (in any area related to arts administration). Please send proposals and inquiries to Sergio Soave by May 16, 2011. Selected entries will be asked to submit a 1,000-word abstract by June 20. The NCAA board will formally acknowledge the presenters, whose names will be posted to the NCAA website.

Society for Photographic Education

The Society for Photographic Education (SPE) seeks proposals for its forty-ninth national conference, called “Intimacy and Voyeurism: The Public/Private Divide in Photography” and taking place March 22–25, 2012, in San Francisco, California. Topics, which need not be theme based, may include but are not limited to: image making, history, contemporary theory and criticism, new technologies, effects of media and culture, educational issues, and funding. The conference offers six presentation formats: (1) Lecture: presentation on historical topic, theory, or another artist’s work; (2) Imagemaker: presentation on your own artistic work (photography, film, video, performance and installation, multidisciplinary approaches); (3) Panel: a moderator-led group discussing a chosen topic; (4) Demonstration: a how-to presentation; (5) Graduate Student: short presentation of your own artistic work and a brief introduction to your graduate program (you must be enrolled in a graduate program at the time of submission); and (6) Academic Practicum Workshop: lectures and panels that address educational issues. SPE membership is required to submit; proposals are peer reviewed. Visit the SPE website for information on membership and to read the full proposal guidelines. Deadline: June 1, 2011.

Society of Architectural Historians

On March 1, 2010, a multimedia edition of the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians (JSAH Online), led by the editors Hilary Ballon and David Brownlee with the stewardship of the University of California Press, became available to individual members of the Society of Architectural Historians (SAH). As part of the Current Scholarship Program at JSTOR, JSAH Online has begun publishing papers that incorporate images, video, and geographic information system (GIS) technologies, enabling readers to engage in new ways and better understand their arguments. SAH has also mounted a campaign to encourage submissions of this kind and is working with other societies in the arts to do the same. Read more on the Resource Shelf blog and view a sample multimedia article in JSAH Online. SAH also offers instructional videos about how to prepare multimedia content for JSAH Online and other internet-based journals.

In addition, SAH will hold its sixty-fourth annual meeting in New Orleans, April 13–17, 2011. The meeting will focus on new research in the history of architecture, landscapes, and urbanism in 150 papers delivered by historians, preservationists, and architects from around the world. Additional offerings at the meeting include evening receptions, networking opportunities, and a vast array of architecture and landscape tours of the city and region. This year, SAH will offer attendees the opportunity to perform community service at the Priestly School, a charter high school devoted to architecture and the arts.

Southeastern College Art Conference

The Southeastern College Art Conference (SECAC) will hold its sixty-seventh annual meeting at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) in Georgia this fall. Taking place November 9–12, 201, the conference theme is “Text + Texture: an intersection of academics and the arts.” The conference headquarters will be the DeSoto Hilton Hotel, located in the heart of historic Savannah. Featuring extensive panels and sessions for the exchange of ideas and concerns relevant to the practice and study of art, the conference will include the annual awards luncheon and the fourteenth annual members’ exhibition, as well as offer a rich array of tours, workshops, and evening events. Dan Cameron, founding director of Prospect New Orleans, will present a plenary address and jury the SECAC members’ exhibition, to be held at one of SCAD’s premier venues.

The conference website offers PDFs of both the call for papers and the call for entries. Please download and review the documents and follow the instructions for proposals on the website. The deadline for papers is April 20; the deadline for entries is April 1. For more information, write to secac@secollegeart.org or secac2011@scad.edu. All are welcome to SECAC membership, which is required for exhibitors.

Southern Graphics Council International

For a panel called “Coaction: Innovative Printmaking Collaborations” for the 2012 CAA Annual Conference in Los Angeles, the Southern Graphics Council International (SGCI) invites proposals from artists, curators, and historians who have participated in or have written about innovative community print projects that contribute to social change, the environment, communications, and technology. Historically, printmakers are artists who enjoy the sense of community that a print shop creates by sharing their images, ideas, and techniques. They also produce multiples, thus increasing their reach to individuals outside their immediate community in the practice of exchanging prints. The use of the multiple, the shared history of fine art printmaking with commercial graphics, and the need for printmakers to share equipment and expertise have encouraged the propagation of community print projects—many that have redefined the role of printmaking as a vehicle for social innovation. This panel focuses on printmaking collaborations that extend beyond the traditional print exchange or work that is done in the print shop, hence examining partnerships between printmakers and the communities they live in; the impact that collaborations have in these communities; and the innovations in printmaking that have resulted. Please email your proposal—which must include a one-page abstract; 1–4 JPEGs of referenced images (no more than 1.5 MB each); and short CV—to Candace Nicol. Deadline: May 1, 2011.

Visual Resources Association

The Network Development and MARC Standards Office of the Library of Congress, in partnership with the Visual Resources Association (VRA), is now hosting the VRA Core, a data standard for descriptions of works of visual culture and images that document them. VRA has also published user support materials, such as VRA Core examples, FAQs, and presentations.

VRA’s Data Standards Committee formed the Embedded Metadata Working Group (EMwg) to explore use of embedded metadata in images of artworks and other cultural resources. EMwg is developing guidelines and tools to make embedded metadata easy to create and use. The group’s first product is a free custom File Info Panel (beta) for use with Photoshop and Bridge in Adobe’s Creative Suites 4 and 5. This panel allows users—including students, faculty, and image-collection assistants—to enter rich descriptive metadata that can then be ingested into a database or used on a local computer to find and organize images. You can download the info panel and user guide, which contain instructions for installing and using the panel.