CAA News Today
Picks of Exhibitions and Events by CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts
posted by Christopher Howard — May 25, 2010
CAA’s Committee on Women in the Arts (CWA) has inaugurated a new section of the CAA website, called CWA Picks. Each month, the committee will produce a curated list of exhibitions, conferences and symposia, panels, lectures, and other events related to the art and scholarship of women.
Read the just-published listings for June 2010, which include Show of Hands: Northwest Women Artists 1880–2010 at the Whatcom Museum in Bellingham, Washington, and Pictures by Women: A History of Modern Photography at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The two exhibitions in the CWA Picks for May are still on view.
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.
Exhibit Your Art at ARTexchange in Chicago
posted by Emmanuel Lemakis — November 17, 2009
CAA’s Services to Artists Committee invites artist members to participate in ARTexchange, an open forum for sharing work at the 2010 Annual Conference in Chicago. To be held Friday evening, February 12, at the Hyatt Regency Chicago, ARTexchange is free and open to the public; a cash bar will be available.
The space on, above, and beneath a six-foot table is available for each artist’s exhibition of prints, paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, and small installations; performance, sound, and spoken word are also welcome. Previous ARTexchange participants have found that this parameter sparked creative displays, and the committee looks forward to surprises and inspiring solutions at the upcoming conference. 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—bring fully charged batteries.
To participate in Chicago, please write to the ARTexchange coordinators, with the subject heading “CAA ARTexchange.” Include your CAA member number and a brief description of what you plan to present. Please provide details regarding performance, sound, spoken word, or technology-based work, including laptop presentations. You will receive an email confirmation. 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. Deadline: December 18, 2009.
Image: Dennis Olsen (right), an artist and president of the Santa Reparata International School of Art in Florence, Italy, shows his work at ARTexchange during the 2009 Annual Conference in Los Angeles (photograph by Kenna Love)
New Report Compares Virtual-Gallery Software
posted by Christopher Howard — October 20, 2009
Technology in the Arts has published a free report, entitled Virtual Gallery Software Review, that reviews and compares three software applications—Virtual Galleries, Image Armada, and SceneCaster/3D Scenes—designed to help artists, curators, and art organizations create three-dimensional virtual exhibitions. This type of technology can provide not only a useful alternative experience for audiences that cannot physically attend a live exhibition, but it can also potentially help students and professionals learn about exhibition planning and installation.
The task of building virtual galleries or exhibitions can often be daunting and costly. Despite software that facilitates the development of virtual environments for conferences, commercial expos, and education, solutions for creating virtual art exhibitions have been scarce. For these reasons, two important criteria for the study were ease of use and user-friendly design. The primacy of these criteria also prompted the researchers to exclude Second Life because of its steep learning curve for environment creation.
Researchers looked for five features desirable in an application used by artists and arts professionals: ease of creating an exhibition; quality of images; flexibility of creating an exhibition; ease of navigation in the three-dimensional space; and ease of publishing or distributing the gallery. The report contains individual descriptions of the three applications, as well as comparisons of their features, such as Mac and PC compatibility, hardware requirements, internet-based viewing, and image and lighting manipulation.
Technology in the Arts, an organization that explores the intersection of arts management and technology, offers services such as consulting, professional-development training, webinars, an online resource directory, monthly podcasts, and a discussion-based blog. It is part of the Center for Arts Management and Technology, an applied research center at Carnegie Mellon University exploring ways in which arts managers can employ online technologies to meet their organizational goals and engage audiences more effectively.
CAA 2009–10 Operating Budget Reductions
posted by Linda Downs — May 11, 2009
Updated May 14, 2009.
Like most universities, art museums, and learned societies, CAA has been significantly affected by the global economic downturn. The Board of Directors made difficult decisions at its May 2009 meeting that nevertheless will allow CAA to maintain the high quality of member services and programming. Strategic reductions and other measures have been instituted throughout the association to balance the budget and keep core programs, publications, and services in operation. With this careful financial planning, CAA remains dedicated to supporting members and the visual-arts community at large through our advocacy, career services, publications, and conference.
Annual Conference
The 2010 Annual Conference in Chicago will commence on Wednesday evening, February 10, with Convocation and the Gala Reception. All 120 planned sessions will be presented over the following three days, Thursday, February 11 to Saturday, February 13, with the addition of extended evening hours. No sessions will take place on Wednesday.
Publications
Newsletter: Beginning July 2009, CAA News will only be distributed online in a new reader-friendly design. This allows us to save printing and mailing costs and help to preserve coverage of core programs and publications. CAA’s website, www.collegeart.org, will become the primary hub of up-to-date information on the organization.
Journals: CAA’s longtime support of the journals is absolutely central to the mission, and the association is fully committed to maintaining them now and in the future. The Art Bulletin and Art Journal will continue to be published. Illustrations, however, will be limited to black and white for 2009–10, except where editorial and budget decisions may allow the insertion of color. caa.reviews will be unchanged, with new book reviews, exhibition reviews, and conference and symposia reports published regularly. While the CAA Board of Directors has determined the budget restrictions necessary for this part of the association, the editors-in-chief will work closely with staff and editorial boards to make sure that any further reductions are implemented with a strict attention to quality consistent with the identity and mission of the journals.
Grants and Fellowships
Two programs in CAA’s grant-making arm will be suspended for 2009–10: the Professional Development Fellowship Program for graduate students and the Millard Meiss Publication Fund. However, the Annual Conference Travel Grants and the Wyeth Foundation for American Art Publication Grant will both continue, and the CAA Annual Exhibitions, also funded by a grant, will take place at the Chicago and New York conferences.
Regional MFA Exhibition and Warhol Show at USC Galleries
posted by Christopher Howard — February 12, 2009
The Roski School of Fine Arts at the University of Southern California (USC) is hosting the 2009 CAA Regional MFA Exhibition, which will showcase the unique, diverse community of young artists in the Southern California region. Held in the Helen Lindhurst Fine Arts Gallery and the Gayle and Ed Roski MFA Gallery, the exhibition will be on view February 24–28, 2009. The reception for the artists and CAA conference attendees takes place in Watt Hall 104 from 6:00 to 8:00 PM on Friday, February 27.
After the MFA opening reception, stick around USC for a celebration and special viewing of Looking into Andy Warhol’s Photographic Practice at the USC Fisher Museum of Art.
Unusual Art Spaces in Los Angeles
posted by Christopher Howard — December 22, 2008
Los Angeles boasts a number of unusual art spaces and museums that are definitely worth checking out during the 2009 Annual Conference, taking place February 25–28, 2009. CAA News has profiled six: Farmlab/Under Spring, the Museum of Jurassic Technology, LAXART, Ooga Booga, the Wende Museum, and the Institute for Figuring. After reading the article, check out each space’s website for details on exhibitions, special events, and directions.
Contemporary Art Galleries in Downtown Los Angeles
posted by Christopher Howard — December 18, 2008
Since the mid-1950s, Los Angeles has been a hotbed of new art and groundbreaking galleries, museums, and other art spaces and institutions. Throughout the greater Los Angeles area are many pockets of art-world panache, from Malibu to Culver City to Chinatown. With CAA’s 2009 Annual Conference headquartered at the Los Angeles Convention Center in downtown LA, CAA News features the robust gallery culture there and in its subdistricts.
Show Your Art at the Los Angeles Conference
posted by Emmanuel Lemakis — December 01, 2008
CAA’s Services to Artists Committee invites artist members to participate in ARTexchange, an open forum for sharing work at the Annual Conference. ARTexchange, to be held Friday evening, February 27, at the Los Angeles Convention Center, is free and open to the public; a cash bar is available.
The space on, above, and beneath a six-foot table is available for each artist’s exhibition of prints, paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, and small installations; performance, sound, and spoken word are also welcome. Previous ARTexchange participants have found that this parameter sparked creative displays, and the committee looks forward to surprises and inspiring solutions at the upcoming conference. 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—bring fully charged batteries.
To participate in Los Angeles, please write to the ARTexchange coordinators, with the subject heading “CAA ARTexchange.” Include your CAA member number and a brief description of what you plan to present. Please provide details regarding performance, sound, spoken word, or technology-based work, including laptop presentations. You will receive an email confirmation. 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. Deadline: December 15, 2008.
Photograph by Teresa Rafidi.
Continental Rifts: Contemporary Time-Based Works of Africa
posted by Christopher Howard — November 24, 2008
Curated by Mary Nooter Roberts, Continental Rifts: Contemporary Time-Based Works of Africa is the 2009 CAA Annual Exhibition, to be held at the Fowler Museum at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Opening on February 22, Continental Rifts will be presented in the Getty Gallery, the Fowler Museum’s largest space for temporary exhibitions. On view during the CAA Annual Conference, the show continues to June 14, 2009.
For more on the Continental Rifts, please read the article from the November 2008 CAA News.