CAA News Today
Apply for a Meiss or Wyeth Publishing Grant
posted by CAA — June 13, 2011
CAA is offering two publishing-grant opportunities this fall—through the Millard Meiss Publication Fund and the Wyeth Foundation for American Art Publication Grant—that support new books in art history and related subjects. The publisher must submit the application to either grant or to both funds, though only one award can be given per title. Awards are made at the discretion of each jury and vary according to merit, need, and number of applications. Both programs have a deadline of October 1, 2011. CAA will announce the recipients of the Meiss and Wyeth grants in late November or early December 2011.
Millard Meiss Publication Fund
CAA awards grants from the Millard Meiss Publication Fund to support book-length scholarly manuscripts in the history of art and related subjects that have been accepted by a publisher on their merits but cannot be published in the most desirable form without a subsidy. For complete guidelines, application forms, and a grant description, please visit www.collegeart.org/meiss or write to nyoffice@collegeart.org. Deadline: October 1, 2011.
Wyeth Foundation for American Art Publication Grant
Thanks to generous funding from the Wyeth Foundation for American Art, CAA awards a publication grant to support book-length scholarly manuscripts in the history of American art and related subjects. For purposes of this program, “American art” is defined as art created in the United States, Canada, and Mexico prior to 1970. Books eligible for the Wyeth Grant have been accepted by a publisher on their merits but cannot be published in the most desirable form without a subsidy. For complete guidelines, application forms, and a grant description, please visit www.collegeart.org/wyeth or write to nyoffice@collegeart.org. Deadline: October 1, 2011.
Spring Grant Recipients of the Millard Meiss Publication Fund
posted by Christopher Howard — June 01, 2011
This spring, CAA awarded grants to the publishers of five books in art history and visual culture through the Millard Meiss Publication Fund. Thanks to the generous bequest of the late Prof. Millard Meiss, the grants are given to support the publication of scholarly books in art history and related fields.
The five grantees for spring 2011 are:
- Elizabeth Childs, Vanishing Paradise: Art and Exoticism in Colonial Tahiti, 1800–1901, University of California Press
- Shih-shan Susan Huang, Picturing the True Form: Daoist Visual Culture in Medieval China, Harvard University Asia Center
- Patricia Leighten, A Politics of Form: Art, Anarchism, and Audience in Avant-Guerre Paris, University of Chicago Press
- Pamela Patton, Art of Estrangement: Redefining the Jews in Reconquest Spain, Pennsylvania State University Press
- Richard Taws, The Politics of the Provisional: Visual Culture in Revolutionary France, Pennsylvania State University Press
Books eligible for Meiss grants must already be under contract with a publisher and on a subject in the visual arts or art history. Authors must be current CAA members. Please review the application guidelines for more information. The deadline for the fall 2011 grant cycle is October 1, 2011.
Report from the Task Force on Editorial Safeguards
posted by Christopher Howard — May 17, 2011
CAA and other learned societies are increasingly aware of the complex demands and responsibilities entailed by scholarly publishing today. In an era of globalization and digitization, organizations must revisit long-standing assumptions and carefully reconsider the process of developing and reviewing publications. Among the critical issues are copyright, competing political and cultural sensitivities, and even differing international legal standards for what may and may not appear in print or online. In the fall of 2009, Paul Jaskot, then CAA president and in conjunction with the Board of Directors, formed a task force to study the organization’s editorial procedures and safeguards.
The seven-person Task Force on Editorial Safeguards included representation from CAA’s three editorial boards and the Publications Department staff. Meeting monthly by telephone from March to October 2010, and with continued consultation through January 2011, the group carefully documented and studied editorial procedures for each journal. It also gathered information about practices at similar academic periodicals—including those published commercially and by other scholarly associations. Ultimately, the task force was pleased to find that CAA’s editorial safeguards were already among the most through and progressive, though it recognized that they could be strengthened further. Based on its research, the task force made a series of recommendations, which the CAA board adopted at its February 2011 meeting.
The task force’s recommendations focused on three primary areas: identifying conflict of interest, establishing transition protocols, and enhancing training for editors. The group also instituted a clear protocol for responding to editorial concerns. Revised author packets will further clarify the responsibilities for those writing for CAA’s journals. Fact checking, for example, remains the province of the contributor, although peer reviewers and other editors will raise questions when warranted. The guidelines also established the retention of documents by editors, in consultation with the Publications Committee.
At its May 2011 meeting, the board added a further safeguard to those approved at its previous meeting. CAA now requires all new editors, editorial-board members, and committees members, including the board itself, to certify their adherence to the newly revised Statement on Conflict of Interest and Confidentiality.
The Task Force on Editorial Safeguards, led by then CAA vice president for publications, Anne Collins Goodyear of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery, comprised the following: Laura Auricchio, Parsons the New School for Design; Ikem Okoye, University of Delaware; Judith Rodenbeck, Sarah Lawrence College; and Rachel Weiss, School of the Art Institute of Chicago. CAA’s codirectors of publications, Betty Leigh Hutcheson and Joe Hannan, served as ex-officio members. The editors-in-chief and reviews editors of CAA’s three journals provided invaluable assistance to the task force, as did members of the Publications Committee. Alan Gilbert, CAA editor, also provided critical input.
Liz Magic Laser and Paul Chan on Art Journal Website
posted by Christopher Howard — May 05, 2011
Art Journal has just published timely new features by two artists on its recently launched website.
Liz Magic Laser’s InterAct is an interview-performance hybrid. For Act I, the artist and her crew took part in a conversation with Christopher Y. Lew, a curator at MoMA PS1, at the East River Park Amphitheater in New York. The group then transcribed the discussion and staged it in the same outdoor space several weeks later, as Act II. Art Journal’s website features the full script along with photographs of the event and other works by Laser. This Friday and Saturday in New York (May 6–7), the Times Square Alliance is presenting Laser’s Flight (2010), a compilation of reenacted scenes on staircases from two dozen classic films, including Battleship Potemkin and American Psycho.
For his quizzically titled “X jxm vlr rpb pelria ilpb vlr,” Paul Chan discusses five conceptual maps from his 2007 project Waiting for Godot in New Orleans, staged on the post-Katrina streets of that city. The Art Journal piece coincides with the publication this week of Chan’s e-book, Waiting for Godot in New Orleans: A Field Guide (Badlands Unlimited and Creative Time Books). The artist’s images and text open a window onto his process in creating this major work.
Image: Performers for Liz Magic Laser’s Flight in Times Square (photograph by Ka-Man Tse for the Times Square Alliance)
Contribute to the 2011 Publications Fund
posted by Nia Page — May 03, 2011
The Art Bulletin, Art Journal, and caa.reviews have provided important platforms for the open discussion of scholarly, theoretical, and practical issues in the visual arts. With the Centennial year in mind, CAA hopes that you will support the three journals with a generous gift to the 2011 Publications Fund.
Published respectively since 1913 and 1929, The Art Bulletin and Art Journal have grown from their original roots in pedagogy to become authoritative voices in the history and practice of art. Even now, after ninety-eight years in publication, The Art Bulletin continues to evolve and cultivate new interest: the journal witnessed, for example, a 35 percent increase in manuscript submissions during the past year. Upcoming features include interviews with senior scholars and short-form explorations that address the motivations of art historians working today.
Art Journal recently launched a dynamic website, which not only provides free access to select articles from each print issue but also publishes exclusive web-only features. In addition to presenting time-based art online, the journal commissions artists to create special projects—such as Dailies, Kerry James Marshall’s year-long project for the magazine’s inside covers—to underscore a commitment to producing visual art as well as scholarship on it.
Founded in 1998 as one of the first born-digital art journals, caa.reviews recently reached its long-held goal of publishing over 150 reviews a year. With timely, insightful criticism on books, exhibitions, articles, conferences, and an expanding array of other works, caa.reviews also presents the titles of dissertations, both completed and in progress, from PhD students in graduate programs across the United States and Canada. The list for calendar year 2010 is forthcoming later this spring.
At the threshold of its next century of activity, CAA remains committed to the superb quality and ongoing development of these highly regarded journals, which are enjoyed by thousands of readers annually and which remain essential resources for students, educators, and practitioners in all areas of the visual arts. Your contribution not only helps to maintain an invaluable platform for the presentation of new research and interpretation, but it also supports the groundbreaking work of emerging and future scholars.
Contributors of $250 and higher are prominently acknowledged in four issues of the printed publication that they support, or on the donor page of caa.reviews; they are also recognized in the Acknowledgments and through CAA News. CAA hopes that you will take your place on any or all of these growing lists of esteemed donors.
Interviews with Contributors to The Eye, the Hand, the Mind
posted by Christopher Howard — April 27, 2011
In conjunction with the publication of The Eye, the Hand, the Mind, CAA has been conducting short email interviews with the many contributors to give an overview of the book’s diverse components. The artist Ellen K. Levy and the art historian Matthew Israel have participated thus far, with additional interviews to be published later in the spring and summer of CAA’s Centennial year.
Ellen K. Levy’s chapter, “Art in an Academic Setting: Contemporary CAA Exhibitions,” focuses on the organization’s role in supporting artists and exhibitions in recent decades. She explores the annual Regional MFA Exhibitions, which began in 1989 in San Francisco, and researched the shows that coincided with the Annual Conference, including Techno-Seduction, held in New York in 1997, and New Space, New Audience, CAA’s first and only online exhibition from 2001.
Matthew Israel’s chapter on “CAA, Pedagogy and Curriculum: A Historical Effort, an Unparalleled Wealth of Ideas,” considers how the organization’s journals, research initiatives, and conference programming reflect its varying commitments to teaching.
Jonathan Lackman of the Art History Newsletter published the first review of The Eye, the Hand, the Mind on February 24, 2011.
caa.reviews Seeks Field Editors for Books and Exhibitions
posted by Betty Leigh Hutcheson — April 14, 2011
An online journal, caa.reviews is devoted to the peer review of new books, museum exhibitions, and projects relevant to the fields of art history, visual studies, and the arts.
caa.reviews Council of Field Editors
caa.reviews invites nominations and self-nominations for five individuals to join its Council of Field Editors, which commissions reviews of books, exhibitions, and related media within an area of expertise or geographic region, for a three-year term: July 1, 2011–June 30, 2014. Candidates may be art historians, critics, curators, or other professionals in the visual arts; institutional affiliation is not required.
The journal seeks field editors for books in three areas: Chinese and Korean art, early modern and southern European art, and nineteenth-century art. Field editors for exhibitions are needed in two regions: New York and the Northeastern United States covering art prior to 1800, and the Southwestern US covering art of all periods.
Working with the caa.reviews editor-in-chief, the caa.reviews Editorial Board, and CAA’s staff editor, each field editor selects content to be reviewed, commissions reviewers, and reviews manuscripts for publication. Field editors for books are expected to keep abreast of newly published and important books and related media in his or her field of expertise, and those for exhibitions should be aware of current and upcoming exhibitions (and other related projects) in their geographic regions. The Council of Field Editors meets annually at the CAA Annual Conference. Field editors must pay travel and lodging expenses to attend the conference.
Candidates must be current CAA members and should not be serving on the editorial board of a competitive journal or on another CAA editorial board or committee. Nominators should ascertain their nominee’s willingness to serve before submitting a name; self-nominations are also welcome. Please send a letter describing your interest in and qualifications for appointment, a CV, and your contact information to: Chair, caa.reviews Editorial Board, College Art Association, 275 Seventh Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001; or email the documents to Alex Gershuny, CAA editorial associate. Deadline: May 18, 2011.
Millard Meiss Jury Seeks Specialist in Non-Western Art
posted by CAA — April 11, 2011
CAA seeks nominations and self-nominations for scholars with a specialization in non-Western subject matter to serve on the jury for the Millard Meiss Publication Fund for a four-year term, July 1, 2011–June 30, 2015. Candidates must be actively publishing scholars with demonstrated seniority and achievement; institutional affiliation is not required.
The Meiss jury awards grants that subsidize the publication of book-length scholarly manuscripts in the history of art and related subjects. Members review manuscripts and grant applications twice a year and meet in New York in the spring and fall to select the awardees. CAA reimburses jury members for travel and lodging expenses in accordance with its travel policy.
Candidates must be current CAA members and should not be serving on another CAA editorial board or committee. Jury members may not themselves apply for a grant in this program during their term of service. Nominators should ascertain their nominee’s willingness to serve before submitting a name; self-nominations are also welcome. Please send a letter describing your interest in and qualifications for appointment, a CV, and contact information to: Millard Meiss Publication Fund Jury, College Art Association, 275 Seventh Avenue, 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001; or send all materials as email attachments to Alex Gershuny, CAA editorial associate. Deadline: April 22, 2011.
CAA Receives Grants from the Wyeth and Tremaine Foundations
posted by Christopher Howard — April 04, 2011
In March 2011, CAA received two significant grants to continue offering the Wyeth Foundation for American Art Publication Grant for three more years and to fund the National Professional-Development Workshops for Artists through 2012.
The Wyeth Foundation for American Art approved funding that will allow CAA to award $40,000 in grants to publishers each year from 2011 to 2013. Wyeth grants support the publication of books on the history of American art, visual studies, and related subjects that have been accepted by a publisher on their merits but cannot be published in the most desirable form without a subsidy. The program has helped publish twenty-two books since 2005.
The Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation awarded $70,000 to CAA for sustaining the National Professional-Development Workshops for Artists. This program focuses on supporting visual artists in underserved areas across the United States and providing essential training to emerging, midcareer, and established professionals. CAA has held sixteen Tremaine-sponsored workshops since 2007.
Previously Unpublished Interview with David Wojnarowicz on the New Art Journal Website
posted by Christopher Howard — March 30, 2011
Art Journal is pleased to present “David Wojnarowicz: Against His Vanishing” on its new website. In the previously unpublished interview, conducted by Steven Dubin on New Year’s Day in 1990, the late artist speaks presciently and passionately to the ambivalent relationship of art institutions to free speech.
In December 2010, Wojnarowicz’s work reemerged as a focus of international attention when the Smithsonian Institution, reacting to pressure from conservative groups such as the Catholic League, removed his video A Fire in My Belly from the exhibition Hide/Seek at the National Portrait Gallery. Stills from the censored video and related works accompany the interview.
“David Wojnarowicz: Against His Vanishing” appears on the new website of Art Journal, CAA’s quarterly publication of modern and contemporary art. The site features both free selections from the print journal and content created for the web. In coming months, the site will feature time-based art discussed in articles, online artists’ projects, and more conversational modes of scholarship and discourse.