CAA News Today

The fall meeting of the CAA Board of Directors took place on Sunday, October 23, 2011, in New York. Twenty-two board members were joined by eight staff members and one guest.

Anne Collins Goodyear was elected by the board as president-elect. Her term of office begins in May 2012 and will conclude at the end of April 2014. Goodyear is associate curator of prints and drawings at the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution, in Washington, DC. She has served on the CAA board since 2006 as vice president for external affairs and vice president for publications and is currently vice president for Annual Conference. As vice president for publications, Goodyear headed a task force that reviewed all editorial safeguards and procedures for CAA’s three journals. She is an art historian who has contributed to the field through major exhibitions, including Inventing Marcel Duchamp: The Dynamics of Portraiture in 2009. She is only the second art museum curator to lead CAA in thirty years (the first being Joshua C. Taylor, director of the National Museum of American Art in Washington, DC, in 1981). Before stepping into the presidency, Goodyear will lead a task force on the Annual Conference to explore future web-based extensions.

The Professional Practices Committee, chaired by Charles Wright of Western Illinois University, worked with subcommittees over the past several years and updated five existing but outdated standards and added one new document to CAA’s Standards and Guidelines. Maria Ann Conelli, vice president for committees, presented these standards to the board for approval. The board adopted these standards and commended the subcommittees and the Professional Practices Committee for their outstanding work in providing the field with this critical information. The new standards reflect and correspond to the guidelines of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and regional accreditation commissions where applicable.

Beauvais Lyons of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, chaired the task force to update Professional Practices for Artists, first published in 1977. Extensive changes were made in sections pertaining to the code of ethics, copyright, safe use of materials and equipment, and exhibition and sales. The task-force members were: Charles Wright, Western Illinois University, Chair of the Professional Practices Committee; Brian Bishop, Framingham State University; Margaret Lazzari, University of Southern California; and James Hopfensperger, Western Michigan University.

Judith Thorpe of the University of Connecticut chaired the task force to update Standards for the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts Degrees in Studio Art. A section on multidisciplinary curricula was added, and extensive changes were made to sections on the BFA and studio curriculum and on faculty and staff. The task force comprised: Denise Mullen, Oregon College of Art and Crafts and CAA board; Sergio Soave, Ohio State University; Frederick Cartwright, University of Saint Francis; and Cora Lynn Deibler, University of Connecticut.

Susan Waller of the University of Missouri, Saint Louis and John Klein of Washington University in Saint Louis made up the task force that revised Peer Review in CAA Publications from 2004. The task force consulted the current editors-in-chief and editors-designate of The Art Bulletin and Art Journal as well as members of the Publications Committee that oversees the editorial boards of CAA’s three journals. The standards included a definition of peer review and addressed works submitted to the journals by artists.

Jim Hopfensperger of Western Michigan University chaired the task force on Standards for the Retention and Tenure of Art and Design Faculty, whose members were: Carolyn Cardenas, Utah State University; Dana Clancy, Boston University; Andrea Eis, Oakland University; Amy Hauft, Virginia Commonwealth University; Janet Hethorn, University of Delaware; Robert Hower, University of Texas at Arlington; Patricia Olynyk, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth; Sergio Soave, Ohio State University; Adrian Tio, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth; and Star Varner, Southwestern University. The revised standards recommend transparency in matters of renewal, retention, promotion, and tenure; specified contact hours; and added the categories of collaborative artworks, situated artworks, online work, commissions, consultations, and/or curatorial work to documentation to be considered for retention and promotion review.

A new document, Standards for the Associate of Fine Arts Degree in Studio Art, was developed to recognize that 50 percent of all college students in the United States attend institutions offering two-year degree programs. Bertha Gutman, Delaware County Community College, chaired the task force, whose members were: Carmina L. Cianciulli, Tyler School of Art, Temple University; Sandra Esslinger, Mt. San Antonio College; Martina Hesser, Mesa College; David Koffman, Georgia Perimeter College; and Christina McNearney, Pima Community College.

CAA’s deputy director, Michael Fahlund, announced that CAA had received 168 applications for the Professional-Development Fellowship in Visual Art and 19 for the Professional- Development in Art History. The juries will meet in December to select three visual-art fellows and two art-history fellows with awards of $5,000 each. The awardees will be honored at the Annual Conference in Los Angeles.

Patricia McDonnell, vice president for external affairs, presented the first of three reports on membership development to the board. She thanked Nia Page, director of membership, development and marketing, for the work that she and her staff carried out to identify all national and international sources of future CAA members. The board has requested a plan to increase membership revenue over the next three years, and this comprehensive first-phase report was reviewed and accepted by the board. It was also announced that two new full-time staff members have been hired: Hannah O’Reilly Malyn, development associate, and Nancy Nguyen, institutional membership assistant.

The board approved new guidelines for board liaisons to the Professional Interests, Practices, and Standards Committees. The new guidelines include acting in an advisory (without vote) capacity by attending their assigned committee meetings and reporting back to the vice president of committees, thereby bringing issues of critical importance to the vice president and the board and back to the committees from the board.

Paul Jaskot of DePaul University chaired the Task Force on the Use of Human and Animal Subjects in Art and presented its recommendations to the board. Members of the task force included Wayne Enstice, University of Cincinnati; Michael Golec, School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Ellen Levy, independent artist; Marlena Novak, independent artist; Bernard Rollin, University of Colorado; and Kristine Stiles, Duke University. The task force researched and presented existing guidelines for the use of animals and humans in experiments and performance; sampled existing practices in the art world; prepared and sent a survey to members regarding attitudes about the use of animals in art; and compiled a short bibliography of ethical and artistic debate on these subjects. The task force produced a set of principles and questions that artists and other professionals in the visual arts can consult when using animals and human subjects in art. The task force suggested that another task force be established to develop formal guidelines on the use of animals in art and to develop a page on the CAA website for related resources in the future. The board accepted the recommendations of the task force, commended Paul and the task-force members for their work on this difficult subject, and decided to postpone the formation of another task force, since five new task forces were being presented at the meeting and needed prioritization by the executive director.

A resolution to establish a Task Force on the Annual Conference was presented to the board by Goodyear. The task force, approved by the board, will address electronic extensions of the conference in order to reach a larger, international membership. The vice president announced that the 2013 Annual Conference Committee has reviewed the 279 session proposals that were submitted and selected 111 for the New York conference. In addition to the 111 peer-reviewed sessions there will be 23 affiliated-society sessions, 3 committee sessions, 20 contemporary issues/studio art sessions, 8 educational and professional practices sessions, 53 historical studies sessions, and 4 Open Forms sessions.

Goodyear also announced that 150 people have applied for the Getty Foundation International Travel Grant Program. The jury will meet in November to select twenty awardees, who will receive a free CAA membership for a year, free registration, and free travel and hotel to the 2012 conference in Los Angeles. The program is intended to acclimate art historians or artists teaching art history in developing college art departments to become acquainted with the session proposal submission process, to assist them in networking with colleagues, and to address common professional issues. The project is supported by a grant from the Getty Foundation. The CAA project manager is Janet Landay.

A resolution was presented by a board member, Jean Miller of the University of North Texas, and approved by the board to establish a Task Force on Design. This group will conduct research on design programs in order to attract more designers to CAA membership. A resolution was presented by another board member, Judith Thorpe, to increase participation in CAA by its affiliated societies. The resolutions were approved with the proviso that the formation of the task forces be delayed until Downs determines when the staff support will be available to assist the task forces.

The Executive Committee approved affiliated-society status for the Diasporic Asian Art Network (DAAN).

The annual audit was presented by EisnerAmper, Accountants and Advisors. There were no recommendations, and the chief financial officer, Teresa López, was commended for her work. Copies of the audit will be made available at the Annual Members’ Business Meeting, taking place on Friday, February 24, 2012, at the CAA Annual Conference in Los Angeles; it can also be obtained directly from López. The treasurer, John Hyland Jr., presented a balanced budget. CAA’s investment manager, Domenic Colasecco from Boston Trust, presented a thorough report on the investment portfolio.

At the request of the board, Downs presented a comprehensive report on funding sources at CAA including membership (representing 42 percent of all revenue); earned revenue including grants (45 percent); private contributions (.5 percent); and investment drawdown (9.4 percent). The board will set a specific date to discuss ideas on increasing private contributions to CAA funds.

Downs commended the CAA staff for a successful move to the new office at 50 Broadway and especially thanked Fahlund, who coordinated the move; López, who managed the move’s financial aspects; and Michael Goodman, director of information technology, who oversaw the installation of the new phone system and all the office computers, copiers, and machines, and also helped make necessary changes to the website. The move will assist in a budget reduction because of a five-year lease reduction rebate provided by the City of New York through the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

Open House

Open House at the CAA office, from left: Minerva Navarrete, Michael Fahlund, and Sydelle Zemering

As part of the meetings taking place that weekend for the three journals’ editorial boards, the Annual Conference Committee, and the full Board of Directors, the CAA staff organized an Open House for members at the organization’s new office on Saturday, October 22, 2011. Close to fifty members visited the office and met board and staff members. Two delightful visitors were Minerva Navarrete and Sydelle Zemering, former CAA staff members who regaled us with stories of their experiences at CAA during the 1950s, when the office was in a Madison Avenue townhouse. One board member, Roger Crum of the University of Dayton, introduced several members to the National September 11 Memorial and Museum and the World Trade Center construction site from the vantage point of the twentieth floor of the Club Quarters, World Trade Center hotel. (CAA belongs to the Club Quarters network in major cities around the world, and members receive discounts on room reservations.) This particular Club Quarters is on the southern edge of the World Trade Center site and has extraordinary views of the construction of the towers and the memorial’s fountains. Crum made a presentation on the concept of memorializing September 11 and the skyscraper engineering and safeguards going into the seven towers. After the Open House, several members also visited Occupy Wall Street in Zuccotti Park, just a few blocks north. CAA’s new neighborhood is very lively, with many tourists, commemorators, construction crews, and demonstrators.

Notes on the Panel “The Reluctant Doctorate: PhD Programs for Artists?”

Debates about PhD programs for artists should be welcomed, the artist and educator Ellen K. Levy declared, as a way of addressing several pressing professional considerations that artists face in academia. To help advance the discussion, she moderated a panel called “The Reluctant Doctorate: PhD Programs for Artists?” and hosted by the School of Visual Arts in New York. Held on November 3, 2011, “The Reluctant Doctorate” was not organized to debate the pros and cons of such programs, though the participants did bring up several of each. Instead, the event focused on how such programs can expand opportunities for artists, from the intellectual advantages of philosophical explorations of their own work (and that of others) to the practical concerns of academic status.

Levy, who is completing doctoral work on the art and neuroscience of attention at Z-Node in Zurich, Switzerland, in collaboration with the University of Plymouth in England, spoke first. She believes that the development of PhD programs in the visual arts is inevitable. She also noted the recent discussions at the CAA Annual Conference on the topic, such as an Education Committee session in New York earlier this year and an upcoming panel at the 2012 conference in Los Angeles, as evidence of increasing urgency to validate the academic credentials of the artist’s doctorate. Levy cited CAA’s MFA Standards, last revised in 2008, noting that the organization continues to endorse the MFA as the terminal degree for artists. As to whether the MFA should retain this status, she said that a change will likely be decided not by a vote but by the momentum that PhD programs in the United States for studio artists might gather in forming a critical mass. Other panelists concurred.

Levy clearly stated that an artist does not need a PhD to make art, nor is a PhD program appropriate for many artists. For some—and here she included herself—advanced study has offered numerous benefits. Because of their art, some practitioners have been able to develop special skills and gain access to expertise and to equipment that grants cannot cover. Another benefit is the validation of artists’ writings.

George Smith, founder and president of the Institute for Doctoral Studies in the Visual Arts, based in Portland, Maine, described his program as a philosophy degree that does not challenge the MFA. Students carry out research and write dissertations on a broad spectrum of philosophical concerns that inform contemporary art.

Mary Anne Staniszewski, a cultural historian and associate professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, described the ten-year process of developing the PhD program in the Department of the Arts at her school, which provides artists with similarly broad academic resources enjoyed by students in other fields. She compared the development of the PhD in music, established in 1945, and how many other institutions now offer doctoral degrees in music composition and practice in addition to history and theory. Staniszewski also addressed the degree’s practical advantages to artists. She recalled a study carried out in 1972 in which 59 percent of artists with MFAs who wanted to apply for the position of dean, or for comparable jobs in higher administrative, were barred from doing so because they lacked a doctorate. She believes that the PhD will bring greater heft as artists move into important decision-making positions in the academy.

Ute Meta Bauer described her European academic history at the New Bauhaus (now the Institute of Design at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago) and at the University of Vienna in Austria, where she taught before becoming an associate professor and head of the Program in Art, Culture, and Technology in the School of Architecture and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. Since academies in Europe perceive the arts and artists more positively, the need for PhD programs to help advance artists’ careers has not been pressing. Artists are free to take postgraduate courses, and the academy supports an interdisciplinary approach reaching into many fields as well as the practical application of artistic production. Another major difference between American and European institutions for artists is the price of education: European students pay little for their undergraduate degrees, but tuition increases dramatically for graduate school. The opposite, Bauer noted, can be true in the US. She views MFA coursework as leading to a PhD, with the curriculum for each being complementary, not necessarily in competition.

Tim Gilman-Sevcik characterized the PhD program at the European Graduate School in Switzerland, where he is a doctoral candidate, as the most inexpensive and expansive program he could find. The goal of the PhD there, he explained, is to be a catalyst for creative work. The dissertation is a philosophical thesis that adds to the intellectual disorientation, risk, and eventual potency of an artist’s future work. At the same time, this research is a discourse based in text and situated in extensive research, as opposed to a studio practice.

After the presentation, Levy engaged the panelists in a Q&A, asking “What are the most valuable reasons for artists to pursue a PhD?” Smith responded by saying that a doctoral program provides a rigorous study of philosophy, sharpens the eye and mind, and eventually contributes to the visual dynamism of the arts in the US. Staniszewski underscored the value of artists collaborating with scholars in diverse fields and providing an alternative to the drive to create work for galleries and the market. Bauer countered with her own question, “Why not? Why wouldn’t artists want to pursue research and have the opportunity to expand their investigations in an academic setting?” Gilman-Sevcik agreed that programs for artists expand the limited opportunities currently available to artists: teaching in the academy, showing in galleries, or designing practical applications.

Levy posed two more questions to the panelists: “Does an artist perusing a PhD need the MFA? What will the PhD do to the status of the MFA?” Smith asserted that no MFA is required for the PhD at IDSVA, since his program offers a degree in philosophy. The other speakers, though, confirmed that the MFA is a precondition for all other PhD programs for artists.

The panelists dispelled the concern that artists generally have less ability to carry out research and write. While the speakers acknowledged that the MFA has fewer research and writing requirements than other master’s level graduate programs in the visual arts, they indicated that PhD programs provide just that opportunity, for artists to better develop these skills.

The last question from Levy was, “What utility is given to the institution with a PhD program for artists?” Staniszewski emphasized the value of the PhD to reposition the visual arts as a valuable intellectual endeavor. In the past few years, some groups have promoted the economic impact and service function of the arts to gain higher esteem by the public and governmental entities. She also claimed that the PhD in the visual arts will restore academic and public standing without placing art in service to the economy or commercial design. Bauer stressed the relatively small size of PhD programs in the US and abroad, in which the average number of admissions is one student at a time. The panelists generally agreed that the PhD program was not for everyone, but those who wish to enroll in one and are qualified to do so should be given the chance to pursue this degree. Institutions that offer PhDs are highly selective in admitting students and have an obligation to help to place them in positions once students complete the degree.

The CAA Board of Directors held its fall meeting in New York on Saturday and Sunday, October 22–23, 2010. Twenty-two board members attended in person or joined by conference call.

President Barbara Nesin organized the biennial retreat for Saturday, which took place in the office of the law firm Debevoise and Plimpton. To bring everyone up to date with governance responsibilities, several board members and outside consultants discussed such topics as fiduciary obligation, directors’ and officers’ insurance, business planning, and diversity. Jeffrey Cunard, longtime CAA counsel, reviewed the board’s key roles: maintaining authority and accepting accountability; setting organizational direction; providing oversight; and ensuring necessary resources. In addition, he discussed how a board acts in accordance with legal standards and its three requirements: duty of care (stay informed and ask questions); duty of loyalty (show undivided allegiance to the organization’s welfare); and duty of compliance (stay faithful to the organization’s mission).

Michael Fahlund, deputy director, covered board-liability and errors-and-omissions insurance regarding publishing. Chinwe Onyeagoro from O-H Community Partners, an economic-development consulting firm, discussed institutional business planning for economic and social value, and Yasmin Ramirez of Hunter College’s Centro de Estudios Puertorriqueños spoke on “The Creative Class of Color and Its Implications for CAA,” which urged the board to engage in community-based artists’ initiatives. David Moughalian, dean of the Art Institute of New York, facilitated the retreat as moderator.

On Sunday, the board convened with seven senior-staff members in a conference room at the Jolly Madison Hotel in New York to discuss current and future CAA business. The meeting addressed financial matters first. Teresa Lopez, chief financial officer, presented a report from the board treasurer, Jack Hyland, Jr., on the annual audit of CAA accounts carried out by Eisner Amper Accountants and Advisors. The board approved the results and, since all was in order, made no recommendations for changes of procedure or controls. Hyland congratulated the staff for achieving a balanced budget in fiscal year 2010 for the first time in seven years. The approved budget for the current fiscal year (2011) is balanced, and programs and publications that saw reductions last year were restored. CAA’s investments as of June 30, 2010, were at $7,136,565—up from $6,760,944. An impending CAA office move next summer, however, will require a draw on investments.

Linda Downs, executive director, reported that CAA has made progress in all seven goal areas in the 2010–2015 Strategic Plan. In particular, a weekly CAA News email introduced in September addressed the first goal of the plan: increased communication with members. In addition, two recently formed groups have been reviewing editorial procedures and investigating publications that meet needs expressed by CAA members. The Task Force on Editorial Safeguards, chaired by Anne Collins Goodyear, vice president for publications, will present formal recommendations at the February 2011 board meeting. Patricia McDonnell, board member and chair of the Task Force on Practical Publications, anticipated that her team will need eighteen months to complete its charge of investigating related publications at other associations, surveying members on specific topics, establishing procedures for determining subjects, soliciting participation, and vetting manuscripts. The board agreed that CAA would need to develop a sustainable business plan if the program moved forward. Goodyear also updated the board on developments for online versions of CAA’s printed Graduate Programs in Art History and Graduate Programs in the Visual Arts, which are currently being assembled and updated. Web-based access will better serve students seeking to apply to graduate programs.

CAA members helped fulfill a strategic goal to develop leadership capacity last February when they voted to change the organization’s By-laws to allow up to three appointed directors from outside the visual arts to join the board. A nominating committee headed by Maria Ann Conelli, vice president for committees, has been formed to identify candidates for these new positions who would bring additional expertise such as marketing, finance, and fundraising to the board.

Paul Jaskot, past president, presented steps needed for agreements to copublish The Art Bulletin and Art Journal with, for example, a university press or other institution, and for online development of the journals. Member surveys, he said, can determine the value of CAA’s publications and the need for online applications, research on possible copublishers, and a business analysis and plan for all three journals. Goodyear recommended that the strategic plan’s priority ranking for digital publications be changed from low to high, which the board approved.

Downs reported on Centennial programs for upcoming Annual Conferences in New York (2011) and Los Angeles (2012). The strategic plan calls on the organization to reimagine and reinvigorate approaches to the conference. As part of that effort, Jaskot has asked major artists, scholars, and professionals in the visual arts to address core concepts of “feminism,” “experience,” “art/technology,” and other broad topics for debate and discussion in special conference sessions. Thus far, Norma Broude, Griselda Pollock, Eduard Duval-Carrié, Robert S. Nelson, Mark Tribe, and Chris Csikszentmihályi have agreed to organize these interdisciplinary sessions. The 2011 conference will also highlight a major Centennial publication, a history of CAA entitled The Eye, the Hand, the Mind: 100 Years of the College Art Association. Edited by Susan Ball with contributions by fourteen authors, the book will be published by Rutgers University Press in January and made available at the conference.

Downs then discussed Centennial publications projects outlined in the strategic plan. The editorial boards of CAA’s three journals are proceeding with their “virtual anthologies” of significant articles, reviews, and projects from the full run of back issues, with introductory material, that will appear on the CAA website. Recommended texts for the two print publications will appear as links to JSTOR; caa.reviews will highlight its selections on its own website. The editorial board for The Art Bulletin has identified thirty-two essays from past issues, with six general introductions explaining how and why they were chosen. (This method was preferred to framing each text individually.) The Art Journal Editorial Board worked in the other direction. Howard Singerman, reviews editor, volunteered to research and write an essay on the history of the journal; editorial-board members will read it and then recommend archival texts, which will likely include artists’ projects as well as essays and reviews. The unique online nature of caa.reviews led the journal’s editorial board to a different approach. By means of analytical information, it determined the most-read review for each of the journal’s twelve years. The project thus has a populist, “readers’ choice” element to it. Editorial-board members are now writing short introductions to each review (200–300 words), and the editor-in-chief, Lucy Oakley, is writing an omnibus introductory essay. Goodyear announced new members of the Publications Committee and the caa.reviews Editorial Board, and presented preliminary plans for a larger web presence for Art Journal. CAA will announce these plans when they are finalized in January 2011.

Sue Gollifer, vice president for Annual Conference, outlined a proposal to create a celebratory event at the upcoming Annual Members’ Business Meeting at the New York conference. In addition to announcing results of the 2011–15 board election, the business meeting will address critical issues in the visual arts to be raised by members.

To determine how CAA may better interact with and address the needs of its affiliated societies, Jean Miller, a new board member, interviewed more that forty affiliate leaders as a follow-up to the first meeting with them held at the Chicago conference in February 2010. She presented a wealth of information from her conversations, which revealed that affiliates have a wide range of needs and interests and are eager to open more lines of communication. CAA staff has also redesigned the website to give affiliates a greater presence on the homepage, and CAA News is running monthly announcements of Affiliated Society News instead of every two months. Miller will lead a second face-to-face meeting with leaders from affiliates at the New York conference in February.

Jaskot, chair of the Task Force on the Use of Animals and Human Subjects in Art, said he is currently forming the group. The task force, established by the board at its February 2010 meeting, will carry out research on guidelines and best practices related to the use of animals and human subjects in visual art and investigate related standards adopted by other organizations.

Since the lease for CAA’s office in New York is ending in July 2011, the staff has been searching for new office space in Manhattan. Downs and Carri Lyon of the real-estate firm Cushman and Wakefield presented several options. Since September 11, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation has provided incentives to attract nonprofit organizations to the Wall Street area. Judging from square-foot prices elsewhere, the downtown area appears to be the optimal location for the new CAA office. Plans to move in July 2011 are still on track.

The board will next meet for a full-day meeting on Sunday, February 13, one day after the 2011 Annual Conference ends. The directors welcome your thoughts on the above issues and more; please make sure you attend the Annual Members’ Business Meeting to discuss critical issues in the field, welcome newly elected board members, and toast CAA’s one-hundredth birthday.

The CAA Board of Directors held its second meeting of the year in New York on Sunday, May 1, 2011 at the offices of the law firm Debevoise & Plimpton LLC in Manhattan. President Barbara Nesin welcomed the four newly elected board members—Leslie Bellavance, Denise Mullen, Saul Ostrow, and Georgia Strange—who were attending their first meeting. Nesin also recognized Anne-Imelda Radice, who recently joined the board as an appointed director. In addition, new officers began their one-year appointmentat the May meeting (see the board list for all names, titles, and affiliations).

The board reviewed a three-year budget projection for CAA for fiscal years 2012–14 and approved the fiscal year 2012 budget. This is the first time that CAA staff has developed a multiyear budget projection in order to better plan and effect positive changes for the future. The 2012 budget includes: an increase in staff for publications, membership, and information technology; a professional analysis of the journals to determine the feasibility of transitioning to electronic formats for The Art Bulletin and Art Journal and to prepare a business plan for practical publications; and increased funds for Professional-Development Fellowships for artists and art historians.

Linda Downs, CAA executive director, presented an overview of recent advocacy initiatives and recommendations for greater board and member participation. Andrea Kirsh, former vice president for external affairs, is assisting the organization on advocacy issues by researching and preparing public statements in cooperation with the executive director and legal counsel. The board agreed to clarify CAA’s position in support of the proposed legislation on orphan works and to publicly post a statement that can also be sent to art schools and art departments.

The board approved a resolution to use online voting in the annual election of directors to the board, eliminating paper ballots. (CAA had employed both formats for several years.) Concerned about the low number of members who vote in elections, the group considered strategies to address the issue. Surveys of members indicate that the primary reason they do not vote is because they do not know the candidates. CAA currently provides short videos from the candidates as well as written statements and biographies that describe their backgrounds and their interests in serving on the board. CAA also reminds members to vote through email messages. The board welcomes suggestions on how to increase voter participation (see below for contact information).

Patricia McDonnell, who led the Task Force on Practical Publications, presented a resolution to develop a business plan to launch practical publications. The board approved the resolution , and the business plan will become part of the professional analysis of the journals to be carried out in the next two years.

Anne Collins Goodyear, who led the Task Force on Editorial Safeguards and Procedures, presented a resolution to revise CAA’s statement on conflict of interest. The amendment specifically addressed procedures for editors and added language about the importance of confidentiality. The new Statement on Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality, published last month, will be read and signed annually by board members, journal editors, committee members, and award jurors.

The board welcomes conversations on any question or issue related to the association and invites members to submit agenda items to the board and to the Annual Members’ Business Meeting. Send your ideas and suggestions to Vanessa Jalet, CAA executive assistant. Upcoming board meetings are scheduled for: Sunday, October 23, 2011, in New York; and Sunday, February 26, 2012, in Los Angeles, a day after the Annual Conference. The business meeting will be held on Friday, February 24, 2012, during the Los Angeles conference.

You may also read about two previous board meetings, held in October 2010 and February 2011.

The CAA Board of Directors held its first meeting of the year in New York on Sunday, February 13, 2011. Twenty-four board members attended in person at the Hilton New York in midtown Manhattan.

The board welcomed its first appointed director, Anne-Imelda Radice, a senior consultant for the Dilenschneider Group who has a strong record of public service. The director of the Institute of Museum and Library Services from 2006 to 2010, she also served in the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts and worked as a museum curator and director. Radice earned a PhD in art and architectural history from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

Rick Asher, president of the National Committee for the History of Art (NCHA), summarized the relationships among his organization, CAA, and the Comité International d’Histoire de l’Art (CIHA). For example, NCHA includes two CAA representatives on its board—currently Nicola Courtright and Paul Jaskot, both past CAA board presidents. Asher reminded the CAA board about the upcoming CIHA conference, to be held in Nuremberg, Germany, in July 2012. He also expressed a desire to foster more regional participation and will look to CAA for assistance in the future.

Barbara Nesin, CAA president, and Linda Downs, CAA executive director, thanked the board and staff for an outstanding Annual Conference and Centennial Kickoff. Drawing a record seven thousand attendees this year, the conference presented new approaches to sessions, such as bringing together leaders in the field for the Centennial Sessions, and the use of new technologies. Nesin and Downs commended the Services to Artists Committee for outstanding programming in ARTspace.

The newly elected board members were announced: Leslie Bellavance, Alfred University; Denise Mullen, Oregon College of Art and Craft; Saul L. Ostrow, Cleveland Institute of Art; and Georgia K. Strange, University of Georgia. These four will begin their four-year terms at the next board meeting in May 2011. Nesin thanked five directors who will rotate off the board at the end of April for their dedicated service: Sue Gollifer, University of Brighton; Ken Gonzales-Day, Scripps College; Andrea Kirsh, independent scholar and curator; Amy Ingrid Schlegel, Tufts University; and William E. Wallace, Washington University in St. Louis. The entire board joined Nesin in extending a heartfelt appreciation for the dedication of Paul Jaskot of DePaul University, who joined the board in 2004 and served as president from 2008 to 2010.

In the past eighteen months, CAA has made progress on accomplishing a third of the tasks described in the 2010–2015 Strategic Plan, particularly in communications, membership, and Centennial publications. Andrea Kirsh, vice president for external affairs, reported on an increase in student and artist members and thanked the board for its involvement in solicitations for the Centennial Campaign.

Maria Ann Conelli, vice president for committees, presented the annual review of CAA’s Professional Interest, Standards, and Practices Committees. She commended the Committee on Women in the Arts, the Education Committee, the Museum Committee, the Professional Practices Committee, the Services to Artists Committee, and the Student and Emerging Professionals Committee for their outstanding work this year.

Michael Fahlund, deputy director, announced the recipients of the 2010–11 Professional Development Fellowships: Alma Leiva, Virginia Commonwealth University; Sheryl Oring, University of California, San Diego; Brittany Ransom, University of Illinois, Chicago; Mina T. Son, Stanford University; and Amanda Valdez, Hunter College, City University of New York. Fahlund also discussed the recently launched podcasts series on career-development topics.

Sue Gollifer, vice president for Annual Conference, confirmed the record attendance of seven thousand attendees and applauded the great success of the Centennial Sessions. She also thanked Jean Miller, a fellow board member, for helping her organize the first Strategic Plan Focus Group Discussion, which was devoted to technology and communications.

Anne Collins Goodyear, vice president for publications, presented the Resolution and Recommendations on Editorial Safeguards and Procedures, which represented the results of an eighteen-month review of CAA publications and research into similar scholarly publishers. After a thorough analysis of the editorial practices of The Art Bulletin, Art Journal, and caa.reviews, the task force concluded that CAA is among the leaders in addressing safeguards and editorial practices. The Recommendation on Editorial Safeguards and Procedures will soon be published on the CAA website.

Patricia McDonnell presented a preliminary report from the Task Force on Practical Publications, which she heads. The board convened the task force to address the expressed need for publications on pedagogy and professional development, and the final recommendations will be presented to the board at its May meeting. (Read the task force’s previous report from September 2010.)

Officer elections were held, and the following members will begin their one-year terms in May: Patricia McDonnell, vice president for external affairs; Maria Ann Conneli, vice president for committees; Anne Collins Goodyear, vice president for Annual Conference; Randall Griffin, vice president for publications; and DeWitt Godfrey, secretary. In addition, three board members have been elected to the 2011 Nominating Committee: Jay Coogan, Jacqueline Francis, and Patricia Matthews.

The board approved applications from four organizations to become CAA affiliated societies: Art, Literature, and Music in Symbolism and Decadence (ALMSD); the Asian American Women Artists Association (AAWAA); the Curator’s Network at Independent Curators International; and the National Alliance of Artists from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (NAAHBCU).

The board welcomes your thoughts on the above issues and more in preparation of its next full-day meeting, scheduled for Sunday, May 1, 2011. Send your ideas and suggestions to Vanessa Jalet, CAA executive assistant. You may also read about the previous board meeting, held in October 2010.