CAA News Today
Your Feedback on the 2018 Annual Conference
posted by CAA — May 21, 2018
Attendees at the 2018 Annual Conference. Image: Rafael Cardenas
Artists and scholars are members of CAA because of the connections they form at our Annual Conference. But putting together an Annual Conference is no small task. The process to plan and execute the CAA Annual Conference takes the CAA staff and committees nearly a full year. You might have noticed that we opened the portal for session submissions for the 2019 Annual Conference in New York, February 13-16, just five days after we ended the LA meeting.
We received nearly 1,000 submissions for the 2019 Annual Conference – the highest number in CAA’s history. We had more than 4,200 attendees in Los Angeles. We hope to see more than 5,000 in New York.
As we set ourselves to planning CAA 2019, we take into consideration your ideas and comments. Working from feedback from the Annual Conference survey and from conversations in person we will make the NYC meeting even better.
Here is what you told us:
- More than 73% were satisfied with the 2018 Annual Conference, so that means we will keep doing a lot of the things that we do. However, many of you hated the Los Angeles Convention Center and the distance from the hotels. This is not something we plan to do again.
- There were a few problems with onsite registration and we are re-thinking how we perform this function. Even though we have a seasoned staff in this area, it is only something done once a year and we only do it for three days. That is not an excuse; it’s just that we have to get it perfect on the first day.
- About two thirds of those who attended were art historians or curators. One third of you are practicing artists. 76% of you are associated with a college or university. That tracks closely to our overall membership. Designers have said that they want to participate and you will see that we will have more offerings for them in the years to come.
- You like the phone app and the positive, welcoming feeling at the Annual Conference and the diversity of sessions. The 90-minute sessions seem to be popular. Many of you like the off-site events and enjoyed going The Getty, The Broad, The Huntington Library, and The Hammer Museum. We will continue to offer off-site events. The Book and Trade Hall remains popular. You liked hearing Catherine Opie and Helen Molesworth.
- Some of you were frustrated that there were several sessions happening on the same topic at the same time. We hate when that happens as well, and we do everything we can to avoid it. The problem is that some panelists have no flexibility in their schedule and we are forced to offer the sessions at the times the panelists can be there. But trust us, we will continue to try to not schedule topics on the same topic at the same time.
- Some felt that there was a broad diversity of topics while others felt that there were not enough sessions on their area of concentration. We want to hear more about this. Let us know how we can make this better. Remember – the members are the ones who control what is offered by submitting on a variety of topics.
- Many of you want more professional development sessions. We hear you and we will be offering more in NYC. Stay tuned for a Professional Development Survey coming your way soon. We are also making it a goal to have childcare at the New York meeting!
- Many didn’t like the fact that the Los Angeles Convention Center only had one coffee cart. It did not help that it was poorly staffed and closed mid-afternoon (Yikes!). The NYC Hilton will have many more options, and so will the immediate vicinity outside the Hilton hotel.
- On one hand, many of you liked being in LA; others hated the city and felt it was too expensive and spread out.
- While we can all use more chairs and places to sit, an overwhelming 83% of you believed that you had an opportunity to network with colleagues – one of the most important reasons we offer the Annual Conference.
- 83% of you are considering coming to NYC and we look forward to seeing you!
Keep telling us what you think. It’s how we put together a great Annual Conference.
Kevin Curry and Christopher McNulty
posted by CAA — May 21, 2018
The weekly CAA Conversations Podcast continues the vibrant discussions initiated at our Annual Conference. Listen in each week as educators explore arts and pedagogy, tackling everything from the day-to-day grind to the big, universal questions of the field.
This week, Kevin Curry and Christopher McNulty discuss the challenges and benefits of digital technology in 3D/Sculpture.
Kevin Curry is an Associate Teaching Professor at Florida State University where he teaches digital foundations and sculpture. He’s currently in London teaching a photo for non-majors class.
Christopher McNulty is Professor of Art in the Department of Art & Art History at Auburn University in Alabama and teaches sculpture to undergraduates at all levels. He is a dual citizen of France and the United States.
New in caa.reviews
posted by CAA — May 17, 2018
Todd Cronan writes about Principles of Art History: The Problem of the Development of Style in Early Modern Art by Heinrich Wölfflin. Read the full review at caa.reviews.
Monique Kerman reviews Phenomenal Difference: A Philosophy of Black British Art by Leon Wainwright. Read the full review at caa.reviews.
Yulia Karpova discusses Gruzinskii avangard: 1900–1930 by Iveta Manasherova and Elena Kamenskaya, and the exhibition The Georgian Avant-garde: 1900–1930s: Pirosmani, Gudiashvili, Kakabadze, and Other Artists at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts. Read the full review at caa.reviews.
Christian K. Kleinbub explores Raphael and the Redefinition of Art in Renaissance Italy by Robert Williams. Read the full review at caa.reviews.
Announcing New Benefits for CAA Individual Members
posted by CAA — May 16, 2018
CAA is proud to announce a new suite of benefits for its members starting today. As an association concerned with supporting all aspects of its members’ lives, we are adding a series of benefits to your CAA membership that help you when you travel, with your insurance needs, and with technology and design programs. The full details about these new membership benefits will be behind the CAA membership wall shortly, but they are also ready to use now at the links below.
If you have any questions don’t hesitate to contact our membership services team at Member Services at 212-691-1051, ext. 1.
Hilton Hotels
Get discounts on your room rates when you stay at a Hilton or any of the hotels in the Hilton Hotel family.
Learn more about Hilton hotel discounts
- 10% discount at Hilton full service hotels, and 6% discount at Hilton focus service hotels, non-last room availability (NRLA) Discount
- Full Service hotels include: Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts; Conrad Hotels & Resorts; Canopy by Hilton; Curio by Hilton; Hilton Hotels & Resorts; DoubleTree by Hilton; Tapestry by Hilton; and Embassy Suites by Hilton
- Focus Service Hotels include: Hilton Garden Inn; Hampton by Hilton; Homewood Suites by Hilton; Home2 by Hilton; and Tru by Hilton.
*Discounts not available during CAA Annual Conference
MetLife
Get discounts on Home, Auto, and Dental insurance with MetLife.
Learn more about Home and Auto discounts
Learn more about Dental Insurance discounts
Adobe Programs
CAA members can take advantage of two discounted Adobe programs. Adobe Creative Cloud includes the full suite of Adobe programs to give you every tool in your design toolbox.
Adobe Acrobat Pro gives you complete flexibility with PDF documents, from editing to e-signatures and more.
Association for Art History
Join the Association for Art History, the UK subject association for those involved with art history and visual culture, at a 20% discount on membership.
Please contact Association for Art History directly at +44(0)20 7490 3211 or info@forarthistory.org.uk and have your CAA membership card or CAA member ID ready.
Learn more about the Association for Art History
News from the Art and Academic Worlds
posted by CAA — May 16, 2018
Bernini’s Santa Bibiana, with its missing finger — which has since been reattached. Image: Silvia Mosetti via NYT
DC’s Defunct Corcoran Gallery Announces the New Homes for Over 10,000 Works of Art
Four years after the gallery was abruptly closed, trustees of the institution have announced how more than 10,000 objects from its original $1 billion trove will be distributed. (artnet News)
No Pain, No Brain Gain: Why Learning Demands (A Little) Discomfort
Quality learning requires what brain scientists call “desirable difficulty.” (Fast Company)
Bloomberg Expands Arts Grant Program to Seven More Cities
Bloomberg Philanthropies is investing $43 million in more than 200 small and midsize cultural organizations. (New York Times)
The Risk of Moving Artworks: A Broken Finger and Public Outcry
An art history professor was taking a group of students through the baroque Church of Santa Bibiana when he made what he called a “macabre discovery.” (New York Times)
The Blueprint for Saudi Arabia’s Multi-Billion Euro Cultural Partnership with France
The ten-year deal gives France an exclusive role in an area almost the size of Belgium. (The Art Newspaper)
Soon You May Be Able to Text with 2,000 Egyptian Hieroglyphs
Over 2,000 new Hieroglyphs may soon be available for use on digital devices, thanks to collaboration between Egyptologists and digital linguistics. (Hyperallergic)
The Avant-Garde and the Global South, Artworks in Motion, and More in Art Journal
posted by CAA — May 15, 2018
“Proposition Avant-Garde: A View from the South,” by Geeta Kapur, the distinguished art critic, challenges readers of Art Journal to reconsider, reclaim, and rethink the idea of the avant-garde. The text by the Delhi–based Kapur appears for the first time in the Spring 2018 issue of the journal, along with responses from the scholars Saloni Mathur and Rachel Weiss.
Also featured in the recently published issue are two projects by artists whose works provide illusions of motion. For The Virtual Immigrant, Annu Palakunnathu Matthew created a flip-motion lenticular card, inserted in each copy of the journal, which reveals two interlaced portraits of a young call center worker in India, one image in the casual Western address she wears at work, where she speaks in an acquired American accent, the other in the traditional Indian clothing she wears on more formal occasions. Matthew’s project features multiple portraits of three other call center workers; by calling a toll-free number (844-984-7882) on the back of the card, readers can hear short recordings in which the workers speak about the two cultures they inhabit in the course of their lives.
In his project Material Motion, Eric Dyer exhibits works from the last dozen years based on the zoetrope, a form of animation devised in the nineteenth century. Stills featured on the cover and interior pages of the journal show the evolution of the idea in the artist’s hands, first in spinning sculptures that reveal dozens of tiny animated details—cyclists zooming through an urban landscape; umbrellas furling, unfurling, and passing through rows of people and other umbrellas. Dyer further extended the zoetrope principle in numerous other animated pieces, including two DIY pieces that Art Journal readers can complete with a record turntable and a smartphone app.
The issue features three long-form scholarly essays: the curator Luigia Lonardelli on the unfolding of the 1973 Contemporanea, a massive multidisciplinary exhibition staged in an underground parking lot in Rome; Nika Elder on the repeated appearance of a seemingly simple shift dress in the 1980s–90s photographs of Lorna Simpson, a garment closely examined here for the first time; and Steven Jacobs on a 1960 film by Luc de Heusch in which René Magritte extended his artistic project through cinematic means, gnomically restaging some of his best-known paintings in his home.
The Reviews section opens with Joe Madura’s assessment of the exhibition and catalogue for Art, AIDS, America, with a special focus on the final iteration of the traveling show in Chicago. The section continues with reviews of Amy Bryzgel’s Performance Art in Eastern Europe (reviewed by Adair Rounthwaite), Jenni Sorkin’s Live Form: Women, Ceramics, and Community (by Glenn Adamson), and Jane McFadden’s Walter De Maria: Meaningless Work (by Amanda Boetzkes).
CAA sends print copies of Art Journal to all institutional members and to those individuals who choose to receive the journal as a benefit of membership. The digital version at Taylor & Francis Online is currently available to all CAA individual members regardless of their print subscription choice.
Want to see more? Join CAA today and explore the Spring issue in full.
Show Your Support for the Arts and Humanities
posted by CAA — May 14, 2018
Presenting at the 106th Annual Conference in Los Angeles. Image by Rafael Cardenas.
With an ever-changing academic and museum landscape, it’s clear that CAA must respond to the evolving needs of its members. We can no longer be an organization satisfied only with producing a large annual conference and quarterly journals. We must be a leader in the national conversation about the future of art history and studio arts education; indeed we can work to strengthen all humanities departments in colleges and universities. In addition, the CAA Annual Conference needs to be a supportive environment where everyone can connect as colleagues and friends year round, and to do this, we need your help.
As the world’s largest international visual arts association, we can unite to bridge the generational divide in the field and create a sense of belonging for younger members. We can understand where barriers exist and find ways to break them down. We can provide leadership to solve diversity and inclusion issues on college campuses.
It is our goal to make sure everyone who has a stake in the visual arts, from practicing artists to teachers of art, art history, design, curatorial studies, and museum practices at the college level—at every organization from the loftiest research institution to the most rural community college—feel included and welcomed.
Please consider making a tax-deductible donation that will help the next generation of art historians and visual artists. Your support directly goes to travel scholarships, publications, and reduced membership and registration for student and independent members. Together, we can work to provide everyone in the field the essential resources, contacts, mentorship, and advocacy they need.
Thank you for your generosity and with my best wishes,
Hunter O’Hanian
Executive Director and CEO
Robert Howsare and Zach Fitchner
posted by CAA — May 14, 2018
The weekly CAA Conversations Podcast continues the vibrant discussions initiated at our Annual Conference. Listen in each week as educators explore arts and pedagogy, tackling everything from the day-to-day grind to the big, universal questions of the field.
This week, Robert Howsare and Zach Fitchner discuss teaching printmaking.
Robert Howsare is an Assistant Professor of Art teaching printmaking and foundation courses at West Virginia Wesleyan College.
Zach Fitchner is a printmaking artist and Assistant Professor of Art at West Virginia State University.
New in caa.reviews
posted by CAA — May 11, 2018
Adam R. Stead reviews The Gothic Screen: Space, Sculpture, and Community in the Cathedrals of France and Germany, ca.1200–1400 by Jacqueline Jung. Read the full review at caa.reviews.
Jared Sexton writes about Migrating the Black Body: The African Diaspora and Visual Culture edited by Leigh Raiford and Heike Raphael-Hernandez. Read the full review at caa.reviews.
Do You Know a CAA-Friendly Person Who Knows Numbers?
posted by CAA — May 11, 2018
As you know, CAA is a non-profit organization. Last fall, our beloved Treasurer Jack Hyland passed away after more than twenty years of service to the Association. Board Member Peter Lukehart has agreed to serve as Interim Treasurer until a permanent new treasurer is found.
If you know someone, perhaps a spouse or friend of an existing CAA member, who knows their away around numbers (i.e., budgets, annual financial statements, etc.) who would be willing to serve the Association as its Treasurer, please contact Executive Director Hunter O’Hanian (HOHanian@collegeart.org). Elected by the Board of Directors, the Treasurer is a non-paid position and sits on the Board of Directors. He or she works closely with the Association’s CFO to review financial statements. It is estimated that this role takes approximately 5 hours of volunteer time per quarter, in addition to attendance at the Board of Directors meetings which are usually in February, May and October.