CAA News Today
CAA Statement on Rescinding DACA
posted by CAA — September 05, 2017
Members of the University Leadership Initiative hold a press conference at the Capitol on Wednesday, February 18, 2015, concerning the recent DACA ruling. DEBORAH CANNON / AMERICAN-STATESMAN
The College Art Association believes students of all backgrounds have a right to the benefits of higher education and a place in society. President Trump’s recent decision to wind down the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) is a denial of the foundational beliefs of the United States of America. Congress must now act in the best interest of the entire country, rather than in response to a political base, in forming new immigration policies.
Last fall, 646 college and university presidents signed a letter encouraging colleagues and other leaders across the business, civic, religious, and nonprofit sectors to uphold DACA. We stand with those higher education leaders today and stress how important it is for our members and all advocates to stand up for basic human rights in this country. Learn more about the DACA Program.
Sign the United We Dream petition to keep DACA.
Defend DACA on social media using the hashtags #heretostay, #DACA, and #dreamers.
ARTexchange Submissions for CAA 2018 – Deadline Extended!
posted by CAA — September 05, 2017
The Services to Artists Committee invites artist members to participate in ARTexchange, CAA’s pop-up exhibition and annual meet-up for artists and curators. This social event provides an opportunity for artists to share their work and build affinities with other artists, historians, curators, and cultural producers. ARTexchange will take place at the 106th Annual Conference in Los Angeles on Friday evening, February 23, 2018, from 5:30 to 7:30 PM.
Each artist is given the space on, above, and beneath a six-foot table to exhibit their work: prints, paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, and small installations; performance, process-based, interactive, and participatory works are especially encouraged. CAA encourages creative use of the space and in the past this set up has sparked many unique displays. Please note that artwork cannot be hung on walls, and it is not possible to run power cords from laptops or other electronic devices to outlets.
To participate as an exhibiting artist in 2018, email caaprograms@collegeart.org, with “ARTexchange” and your last name in the subject line, by (deadline extended!) December 15, 2017, with the following information: (1) a short description of what you will exhibit and how you will use the six-foot table space (provide details regarding performance, sound, spoken word, or technology-based work, including laptop presentations); (2) your CAA member number (memberships must be active through February 24, 2018); and (3) your website or a link to a digital portfolio.
Because ARTexchange is a popular venue and participation is based on available space, early applicants are given preference. Participants are responsible for their work; CAA is not liable for losses or damages. Sales of work are not permitted.
New in caa.reviews
posted by CAA — September 01, 2017
Patrick Hajovsky reads Ancient Origins of the Mexican Plaza: From Primordial Sea to Public Space by Logan Wagner, Hal Box, and Susan Kline Morehead. Read the full review at caa.reviews.
Fredo Rivera reviews Constitutional Modernism: Architecture and Civil Society in Cuba, 1933–1959 by Timothy Hyde. Read the full review at caa.reviews.
Marnin Young discusses Modernism and Authority: Picasso and His Milieu around 1900 by Charles Palermo. Read the full review at caa.reviews.
News from the Art and Academic Worlds
posted by CAA — August 30, 2017
Each week CAA News shares eight articles, published around the web, that CAA members may find interesting and useful in their professional and creative lives.
Writing a PhD Thesis? What Does It take?
Take a look at advice for writing a PhD thesis. Is this what you would tell your students? What else would you tell them? (Via Times Higher Education).
Check the Sofa for Loose Change!
It’s time to plan your fall travels. Here are 30 of the most important exhibitions for the fall. Near and far, old and new, there is something for everyone. Check back in December and let us know how many you made it to. Go! (Via Artnet News).
Making Art in a Hurricane
Within a week after Katrina hit New Orleans, artist Lori Gordon starting making work from the wreckage. Opportunities abound in Texas. (Via NPR).
What to Wear in Korea
The Asian Art Museum in San Francisco is the only US venue for an exhibition of Korean couture which spans over 600 years. Fall 2018. (Via Asian American Press).
Are You Surprised?
For-profit colleges find few reasons to lobby the new secretary of education, Betsy DeVos. (Via Chronicle).
How Much Did You Pay for That?
The National Gallery in London paid 11.6 million pounds ($15 million) for a painting by Bernardo Bellotto. Who says landscapes don’t matter anymore? (Via Art History News).
Wait! That’s My Phone!
Depicting the founding of Springfield, MA, this 1937 painting shows a Native American holding what can be seen as nothing other than an iPhone. What could it be? (Via Daily Mail).
Deadlines are Approaching for 2017 CAA Professional-Development Fellowships
posted by CAA — August 30, 2017
Photography by Daniel Seth Kraus, 2016 Professional-Development Fellowship Awardee
October 2 (PhD candidates) and November 10 (MFA candidates) are the deadlines for the CAA Professional-Development Fellowships. The program supports promising artists, designers, craftspeople, historians, curators, and critics who are enrolled in MFA, PhD, and other terminal-degree programs nationwide.
Fellows are honored with $10,000 grants to support their work, whether it be for job-search expenses or purchasing materials for the studio.
“I remember sitting in my graduate school studio applying for the award. I was day-dreaming about how it could help me be a self-sustaining artist and maybe start my career in teaching. A few months later I received notification of the award and I’m happy to say the grant has helped me enormously with both of my day-dreams, artistic and academic. CAA’s Professional-Development Fellowship for Visual Artists has stabilized a shaky phase of my career and life, continuing an artistic practice after graduate school. The award funds helped me to kick-start my studio space, travel for photography research, and secure teaching positions right out of graduate school. CAA’s support of developing visual artists is certainly outstanding and to an even greater extent, appreciated. I’m happy to now be a CAA member and encourage others to apply for the fellowship without hesitation.” —Daniel Kraus, 2016 Professional-Development Fellowship Recipient
One award will be presented to a practitioner—an artist, designer, and/or craftsperson—and one award will be presented to an art, architecture, and/or design historian, curator, or critic. Fellows also receive a free one-year CAA membership and complimentary registration to the 2018 Annual Conference in Los Angeles, February 21-24. Honorable mentions, given at the discretion of the jury, also earn a free one-year CAA membership and complimentary conference registration.
CAA initiated its fellowship program in 1993 to help student artists and art historians bridge the gap between their graduate studies and professional careers.
New in caa.reviews
posted by CAA — August 25, 2017
Pascale Rihouet discusses A Feast for the Eyes: Art, Performance, and the Late Medieval Banquet by Christina Normore. Read the full review at caa.reviews.
Morgan Thomas visits Everywhen: The Eternal Present in Indigenous Art from Australia, which was on view at the Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, MA, from February 5–September 18, 2016. Read the full review at caa.reviews. Image credit: Tommy Watson, Wipu Rockhole, 2004. Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney. © Tommy Watson/Courtesy of Yanda Aboriginal Art.
Heather Madar reviews Daughter of Venice: Caterina Corner, Queen of Cyprus and Woman of the Renaissance by Holly S Hurlburt. Read the full review at caa.reviews.
Taking Down Public Art – What do Art Historians and Scholars Think?
posted by CAA — August 24, 2017
Public art, statues, and monuments have seldom been in the news more than in the past few weeks. Figures from Christopher Columbus to Robert E. Lee, from Peter Stuyvesant to Stonewall Jackson have been topics for debate. Regardless of one’s political or cultural point of view, nearly everyone seems to have an opinion.
We want to know what CAA members think about preserving or removing public works of art. How closely tied are a historical figure’s actions to a depiction of the person? How important are these pieces of public art to preserve? Should they be removed? Should they be destroyed? We want to know what you think and why.
We will compile the results of this form and report back CAA members’ thoughts and feelings on these monuments at this moment in history.
News from the Art and Academic Worlds
posted by CAA — August 23, 2017
Each week CAA News summarizes eight articles, published around the web, that CAA members may find interesting and useful in their professional and creative lives.
Humanities for All
The Publicly Engaged Humanities project will document the full range of publicly engaged humanities work that college and university faculty and students have carried out over the past decade. Over two years, we will collect examples of this work and build a visually rich website that features representative project profiles and synthetic claims about the state of the field. (Read more from the National Humanities Alliance.)
This New Bootcamp Is Grooming Artists to Run for Office
Even for the most politically engaged artist, it’s a big step from making politically charged artworks to entering the fray as a candidate. While some artists have the skills and knowledge to work in politics, the road from being in a biennial to appearing on a ballot is not easy to navigate. Enter the Artist Campaign School. (Read more from Artsy.)
Instead of Focusing on Yesterday’s Monuments, Artists Are Building Tomorrow’s
Five years before Charlottesville, curators Paul Farber and Ken Lum led a course at the University of Pennsylvania called Memory, Monuments, and Urban Space. Together, the professors and students in attendance discussed the meaning of monuments in this contemporary age. (Read more from the Huffington Post.)
Why the White House’s Arts and Humanities Committee Decided to Resign All at Once
On Friday morning, the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities made the startling decision to resign from Donald Trump’s committee all at once. In a joint statement, its members explained in specific terms why they no longer felt comfortable serving the president in the wake of his inflammatory remarks about the Charlottesville tragedy. (Read more from Vanity Fair.)
Read Kara Walker’s Furious Letter to America’s Navel-Gazing Art World
Famous for her black paper cut-outs depicting simultaneously whimsical and grotesque scenes of slavery and human depravity, Kara Walker is one of the biggest stars in contemporary American art. But in our current political turmoil, the African American artist is getting sick of her vaunted position. (Read more from Quartz.)
Should Protesters Be Allowed to Have Guns?
The question is also posing dilemmas for mayors and university presidents, who fear the violence will come to their towns and schools. Their best option may be to ban the carrying of guns to these events, but their legal position is tenuous. In many states, they’ll need to convince a court that it’s only by banning weapons that the First Amendment rights of all demonstrators can be honored. (Read more from Politico.)
#fyi: On Slack and Surf Clubs
I love Slack. The jury is still out on whether or not this sort of inspired link-sharing is conducive to my at-work productivity, but it has led me to consider the link between the respective practice of the recreational Slack team and the mid-2000s internet artist surfing club. (Read more from Rhizome.)
What Is Dark Yellowing?
Dark yellowing is the reversible, temporary yellowing that dried oil paint undergoes when stored in the dark or subdued lighting. While noted in many historical writings, most painters remain unaware of it and become surprised or concerned when they discover it happening to their own works. (Read more from Just Paint.)
Institutional News
posted by CAA — August 22, 2017
Read about the latest news from CAA’s institutional members.
Institutional News is published every two months: in February, April, June, August, October, and December. To learn more about submitting a listing, please follow the instructions on the main Member News page.
August 2017
The Archives of American Art, part of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, has launched a new online guide to archival collections in the Chicago area that are related to American art. A $413,000 grant from the Terra Foundation for American Art supported a comprehensive survey of art-related archives in more than seventy-five Chicago-area institutions.
Storm King Art Center in New Windsor, New York, has received a 2017 Artistic Production Grant from the VIA Art Fund for Heather Hart’s The Oracle of Lacuna.
The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota, has received a 2017 Artistic Production Grant from the VIA Art Fund for Daniel Buren’s Viole/Toile – Toile/Viole.
The Yale Center for British Art in New Haven, Connecticut, and the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art have won a gold-level MUSE Award from the American Alliance of Museums for their jointly published, open-access digital journal. Part of the MUSE Open Culture category, the award recognizes British Art Studies for its high standards of excellence in the use of media and technology for Gallery, Library, Archive, and Museum programs.
New in caa.reviews
posted by CAA — August 18, 2017
Katja Müller-Helle reads Die Tode der Fotografie II: Tod, Theorie, und Fotokunst by Katharina Sykora. In the second volume of The Deaths of Photography series, the author argues that “the interplay between photography and death engenders language and images powerful enough to produce a ‘multiplication of ideas,’” focusing “on the history of theories of photography’s death in relation to artistic positions.” Read the full review at caa.reviews.
Nadja Rottner discusses Elena Shtromberg’s Art Systems: Brazil and the 1970s and Irene V. Small’s Hélio Oticica: Folding the Frame. Both “propose a new social-art history, which posits art as the gateway onto knowledge,” but “key differences” between them “can be traced back to alternative readings of the notion of the system and how communication is imbricated by and constructs circuits of sociality.” Read the full review at caa.reviews.
Jessica Bell Brown reviews Lynette Yiadom-Boakye: Verses After Dusk, an exhibition catalogue from Serpentine Gallery. Featuring the artist’s “stunning painterly and writerly interrogations of fictional characters and black figures in her paintings, etchings, short stories, poems, and essays, along with texts by” Glenn Ligon, Hilton Als, and Amira Gad, it asks viewers to unravel “what it means to represent a body in space.” Read the full review at caa.reviews.
James F. Osborne examines two books by Ömür Harmanşah: Cities and the Shaping of the Memory in the Ancient Near East and Place, Memory, and Healing: An Archeology of Anatolian Rock Monuments. These “thoughtful and provocative monographs” focus on different topics—cities and landscape monuments—but both reveal “an urgent concern” for scholars “to embrace the socially constructed nature of the built environment.” Read the full review at caa.reviews.