CAA News Today
Artists Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison Will Speak at Convocation at the 2011 Centennial Conference
posted by CAA — July 23, 2010
Dear colleagues,
It is with great pleasure that I announce the keynote speakers for Convocation at CAA’s Centennial Conference in New York: the artists Helen Mayer Harrison and Newton Harrison. This event, free and open to the public, will take place in February 2011.
The Harrisons are interdisciplinary, collaborative, multimedia, environmental, educational, activist, visionary, ethical, and humane. They exemplify many aspects of contemporary artistic practice and speak to numerous concerns of the CAA membership.
I first met Newton in the early 1990s: he was a visiting artist when I was a graduate student in Indiana. (I also met Helen years later at a gallery reception in Colorado.) He left a tremendous impression on me as someone with a truly perceptive mind, possessing the foresight, talent, and determination to create visually compelling art on a scale that makes a positive difference in life on our planet. The Harrisons have been doing this for over forty years. His and Helen’s concept of the individual contributing to the elevation of a collective “conversational drift” resonates today more than ever.
For more information on the Harrisons and their work, please visit their website. Other great sources include the New York Art World, Ronald Feldman Gallery, which represents the artists, Left Matrix, and the Community Arts Network, which republishes an essay on the artists by Arlene Raven.
I’d like to thank Sue Gollifer, CAA vice president for Annual Conference, for her thoughtful consultation with me about potential speakers, and Emmanuel Lemakis, CAA director of programs, for his assistance with confirming and making arrangements for our honored guests.
Please join me in welcoming the Harrisons and spreading the word about our good fortune to have them address CAA as keynote speakers for our 2011 Convocation.
Sincerely,
Barbara Nesin, MFA
President, College Art Association
Department Chair of Art Foundations, Art Institute of Atlanta
Batya Tamar Studio at the Arts Exchange
Propose a Session for the 2012 Annual Conference in Los Angeles
posted by Lauren Stark — June 30, 2010
CAA invites individual members to propose a session for the 2012 Annual Conference, taking place February 22–25, 2012, in Los Angeles. Proposals should cover the breadth of current thought and research in art, art and architectural history, theory and criticism, pedagogical issues, museum and curatorial practice, conservation, and developments in technology. The Los Angeles conference closes CAA’s Centennial year, which will begin at the New York meeting in February 2011.
The Annual Conference Committee welcomes session proposals from established artists and scholars, along with younger scholars, emerging and midcareer artists, and graduate students. Particularly welcome are those proposals that highlight interdisciplinary work. Artists are especially encouraged to propose sessions appropriate to dialogue and information exchange relevant to artists.
Proposals are only accepted online; paper forms and postal mailings are not required. To set up an account in CAA’s content management system, please email Lauren Stark, CAA manager of programs, who will register your email address and provide you with a password. For full details on the submission process, please visit Chair a Conference Session. Deadline: September 1, 2010; no late applications are accepted.
Audio Downloads from the 2010 Chicago Conference Still Available
posted by Emmanuel Lemakis — June 21, 2010
The 2010 Annual Conference in Chicago, one of the best attended in recent years, had an incredibly diverse array of sessions. Audio recordings for eighty-one of those panels are now available for sale.
A set of MP3 audio recordings from the Chicago conference is available for only $149.95, either as a download or on interactive CD-ROMs. Individual sessions, available only as downloads, are $24.95 each. Please visit Conference Media to view the list of sessions and to order.
Available sessions include such timely topics as “Lifeloggers: Chronicling the Everyday” and “Autofictions, Avatars, and Alter Egos: Fabricating Artists.” Thematic art-historical topics, on analyzing repetition in ancient art and on violence and narrative in early modern art, also make appearances, as do state of the field talks on the art history of the African diaspora and on American-art textbooks. Included in the mix are pedagogical sessions involving “Autonomizing Practices in Art, Art History, and Education” and “WTF: Talking Theory with Art and Art-History Undergrads,” among others.
Whether you took part in, attended, or missed a particular conference session, these recordings are a must-have for your library, research, or teaching. Listen to them while walking across campus, while driving in your car or using public transportation, or while relaxing in your home.
In addition to the Chicago sessions, you can also purchase session audio recordings from the 2006–9 conferences in Boston, New York, Dallas–Fort Worth, and Los Angeles. See http://conference.collegeart.org/audio for details.
Photo: The audience of a 2010 Annual Conference session (photograph by Bradley Marks)
Proposals for Papers on Damien Hirst Sought by Conference Session Chairs
posted by Christopher Howard — June 04, 2010
The chairs of a session for the 2011 CAA Annual Conference—Debora Silverman of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Sarah Thornton, author of Seven Days in the Art World—seek proposals of papers for a panel called “Prophet/Profit: The Famous Case of Damien Hirst.”
Damien Hirst has garnered more global media attention and appears to have amassed more wealth than any other living artist. His work has transformed the relationship of artist and auction house and punctuated the halls of the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Rijksmuseum. But what is Hirst’s place in art history? The scholarship on Hirst is thin on the ground compared to the miles of copy devoted to him in the popular press. We invite papers that address any aspect of his artistic practice, including its forms, themes, biographical issues, and socioeconomics. Silverman will present a paper entitled “Marketing Thanatos,” linking the violence of Hirst’s artworks to a range of historical sources from the Psalms to Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Thornton, a regular contributor to the Economist, will compare Hirst’s artistic and marketing strategies to those of Andy Warhol and other artists who work as “creative directors.” Thomas Crow of the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, will act as the discussant. We are keen to be joined by scholars representing a range of perspectives.
When crafting your proposal, please follow the guidelines established in the 2011 Call for Participation. Send your proposal to both Silverman and Thornton. Deadline: September 17, 2010.
Propose a Paper or Presentation for the 2011 Annual Conference
posted by Lauren Stark — April 14, 2010
The 99th Annual Conference in New York—which kicks off CAA’s centennial year—takes place February 9–12, 2011. Listing more than 120 sessions, the 2011 Call for Participation arrived in the mailboxes of all CAA members earlier this month; you can also download a PDF of the publication from the CAA website immediately.
This publication describes many of next year’s panels and presentations. CAA and session chairs invite your participation: please follow the instructions in the booklet to submit a proposal for a paper. This publication also includes a call for Poster Session proposals and describes the Open Forms sessions.
In addition to attending and participating in the wide-ranging panels on art history, studio art, contemporary issues, and professional and educational practices, CAA expects participation from many area schools, museums, galleries, and other art institutions. The Hilton New York is the conference hotel, holding most sessions and panels, Career Services and the Book and Trade Fair, receptions and special events, and more. Deadline for proposals: May 3, 2010.
March Issue of CAA News Published
posted by Christopher Howard — March 19, 2010
The March CAA News—which presents a wrap-up of the wildly successful 2010 Annual Conference in Chicago—has just been published. You may download a PDF of it immediately.
This issue offers conference summaries from multiple perspectives by key players, including CAA’s conference director Emmanuel Lemakis, Services to Artists Committee members Brian Bishop and Sabina Ott, and more. Dawoud Bey’s keynote address at Convocation is reprinted in full, and a report from the Board of Directors meeting is also included. And don’t miss the wide selection of full-color photographs from the many conference events.
If you missed the web article on the Coalition on the Academic Workforce’s statement on part-time faculty, or the calls for editorial-board members of CAA’s journals, you can catch up with the March newsletter.
The CAA News editor is still accepting submissions for the Endnotes section for the May issue. Please send your listings for recent solo exhibitions, books published, and exhibitions curated, as well as news about your new position or your grant or fellowship, to Christopher Howard.
Interested in advertising in CAA News? Please contact Bradford Nordeen at 212-691-1051, ext. 252.
CAA Wraps Its 98th Annual Conference in Chicago
posted by Nia Page — February 24, 2010
The College Art Association (CAA) hosted its 98th Annual Conference in Chicago, February 10–13, 2010, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago. The program included three days of presentations and panel discussions on art history and visual culture; career-development workshops, mentoring programs, and job interviews with colleges and universities; a Book and Trade Fair of academic and trade art publishers and artist-materials distributors; and a host of special events throughout the Chicago area.
Here are some conference highlights.
Attendance
More than 4,000 art professionals from throughout the United States and abroad—including art historians, visual artists, students, educators, curators, critics, collectors, and museum staff—were in attendance.
Sessions
Conference sessions featured presentations from art-history scholars, graduate students, artists, and curators from institutions across the country and internationally. Conference sessions address a range of topics in art history and the visual arts. In total, over 150 sessions, developed by CAA members, affiliated societies, and committees, were offered.
Career Services
Career Services included three days of mentoring and portfolio-review sessions, career-development workshops, and job interviews. Approximately 185 (mentoring only) interviewees and 26 (mentoring only) interviewers were on hand to participate in Career Services.
Book and Trade Fair
This year’s Book and Trade Fair presented 135 exhibitors, including participants from the United States, Mexico, Turkey, England, Belgium, Scotland, and the Netherlands, displaying new publications, artists’ materials, digital resources, and innovative products of interest to artists and scholars. The Book and Trade Fair also featured book signings, lectures, and art-materials demonstrations, as well as three exhibitor-sponsored program sessions on art materials and publishing.
ARTspace and ARTexchange
ARTspace, a “conference within the conference” tailored to the needs and interests of practicing artists, presented this year’s Annual Artists’ Interviews: Tony Tasset was interviewed by John Neff, and Phyllis Bramson was interviewed by Lynn Warren. Over 150 people attended this extraordinary event. Programmed by CAA’s Services to Artists Committee, ARTspace was made possible in part by a generous grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.
ARTexchange, an open-portfolio event where CAA artist members displayed drawings, prints, photographs, small paintings, and works on laptop computers. Fifty-two artists participated in ARTexchange this year.
Convocation and Awards for Distinction
More than 600 people attended CAA’s Convocation and Presentation of the 2010 Awards for Distinction. The keynote address was delivered by the renowned photographer Dawoud Bey.
Recipients of CAA’s awards are as follows:
- Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement: Suzanne Lacy
- Artist Award for Distinguished Body of Work: Emory Douglas and Barkley L. Hendricks
- Distinguished Lifetime Achievement Award for Writing on Art: Holland Cotter
- Frank Jewett Mather Award: Terry Smith
- Distinguished Feminist Award: Griselda Pollock
- Distinguished Teaching of Art Award: Dean Nimmer
- Distinguished Teaching of Art History Award: Richard Shiff
- Charles Rufus Morey Book Award: Cammy Brothers, Michelangelo, Drawing, and the Invention of Architecture
- Alfred H. Barr, Jr., Award: Debra Diamond, Catherine Glynn, and Karni Singh Jasol, Gardens and Cosmos: The Royal Paintings of Jodhpur
- Arthur Kingsley Porter Prize: Michael Schreffler, “‘Their Cortés and Our Cortés’: Spanish Colonialism and Aztec Representation”
- Art Journal Award: Joanna Grabski, “Urban Claims and Visual Sources in the Making of Dakar’s Art World City”
- CAA/Heritage Preservation Award for Distinction in Scholarship and Conservation: David Bomford
CAA’s well-attended Gala Reception was held at the Art Institute of Chicago’s newly inaugurated Modern Wing. Designed by Pritzker Prize–winning architect Renzo Piano, this stunning space served as the kick-off venue for the conference.
Special Events
CAA’s Annual Exhibition, Picturing the Studio, was presented at the new Sullivan Galleries of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
Sold-out tours explored the riches of Chicago’s arts and architecture, from Frank Lloyd Wright to the city’s historic skyscrapers.
Save the Date
CAA’s Centennial Celebration and 99th Annual Conference will be held in New York City from February 9 to 12, 2011.
About CAA
The College Art Association is dedicated to providing professional services and resources for artists, art historians, and students in the visual arts. CAA serves as an advocate and a resource for individuals and institutions nationally and internationally by offering forums to discuss the latest developments in the visual arts and art history through its Annual Conference, publications, exhibitions, website, and other events. CAA focuses on a wide range of issues including education in the arts, freedom of expression, intellectual-property rights, cultural heritage, preservation, workforce topics in universities and museums, and access to networked information technologies. Representing its members’ professional needs since 1911, CAA is committed to the highest professional and ethical standards of scholarship, creativity, criticism, and teaching.
CAA Thanks Chicago Conference Attendees and Participants
posted by Christopher Howard — February 17, 2010
CAA sincerely thanks all attendees and participants of the 98th Annual Conference in Chicago. Despite weather-related delays, you all helped to make this year’s event one of the most well attended and exciting in recent years.
We look forward to seeing you next year in New York for CAA’s centennial conference, February 9–12, 2011!
Annual Conference Blog by Columbia College Chicago Students
posted by Christopher Howard — February 09, 2010
The official blog of the 2010 Annual Conference, which began publishing last week, is offering a unique, exciting perspective of this year’s meeting. In place of the usual mix of CAA member artists and art historians, fifteen graduate and undergraduate students from Columbia College Chicago will be giving an hour-by-hour account—in words, pictures, and video—of all things CAA.
Look not only for discussions on sessions, the Book and Trade Fair, and other CAA-sponsored events (bloggers have listed their must-sees), but also for postings from late-night conversations and sunrise coffee talks, as well as buzz from the evening receptions and gallery openings.
Recruited by professors Paul Catanese and Terence Hannum of Columbia College Chicago, the fifteen bloggers include several artists working in the MFA program in interdisciplinary art and media, as well as one art historian in training. Students from other diverse disciplines—public relations, documentary filmmaking, arts and media management, journalism, interactive media, and graphic design—have also joined the blogging team.
Nearly all these young writers have never attended a CAA conference, so their fresh approach to our venerable event is highly anticipated. Your thoughts are also welcome: the conference blog’s comments section is open to everyone.
Student and Emerging Professionals Committee Offers Conference Sessions on Job-Interview Techniques
posted by Christopher Howard — February 05, 2010
Aristotle once remarked, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Interviewing well is one such skill that is built not only through sheer practice, but also with constructive feedback.
With this in mind, CAA’s Student and Emerging Professionals Committee will help you polish your interview style and tailor your comments appropriately during two events at the 2010 Annual Conference in Chicago. Both sessions will be held on Thursday, February 11, in the Student and Emerging Professionals (SEP) Lounge, found in the Wrigley Room, West Tower, Bronze Level, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago.
The first event is a morning lecture and discussion about interviewing techniques, where you can learn how to perfect an “elevator speech.” The second is a special afternoon panel devoted to practice interviews, conducted by seasoned CAA members. Both are moderated by Daniel Larkin, administrative assistant, Friends of Materials for the Arts; and Niku Kashef, artist and adjunct instructor, California State University, Northridge, and Woodbury University. Details are below.
Interviewing Strategies: Interview Techniques and Perfecting Your Elevator Speech
Thursday, February 11, 9:15–10:15 AM
This panel discussion will be an honest and frank discussion on interviewing techniques, focusing on gauging and adapting to the cues of the interviewer, appropriate levels of intellectual detail, and how to keep your “elevator speech” crisp.
Mock Interview Session
Thursday, February 11, 1:00–4:00 PM
These fifteen-minute mock interviews will allow conference attendees to practice interview questioning and techniques, applying what was learned in the morning session. CAA volunteer interviewers include art-history professors, studio-art professors, artists, and more. To schedule an interview, please call Daniel Larkin at 646-246-5497 between 10:00 AM and 10:00 PM (any day of the week). Please note that interviews will be made on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Students and Emerging Professionals Committee looks forward to dynamic discussions and hopes you can join us. If you have questions about these events, or about the committee itself, feel free to contact Daniel Larkin at the phone number listed above.