CAA News Today
caa.reviews Publishes Dissertations Completed and In Progress for 2011
posted by Betty Leigh Hutcheson — June 07, 2012
caa.reviews has just published the authors and titles of doctoral dissertations in art history and visual studies—both completed and in progress—from American and Canadian institutions for calendar year 2011. You may browse by chronological or geographic subject, such as Renaissance/Baroque Art, Japanese/Korean Art, or Contemporary Art, or by specific medium or genre, such as Performance Studies or Drawings/Prints/Photography/Works on Paper. Identified in each category are the student’s name, dissertation title, school, and adviser.
Each institution granting the PhD in art history and/or visual studies submits dissertation titles once a year to CAA for publication. The caa.reviews list also includes dissertations completed and in progress between 2002 and 2010, making basic information about their topics available through web searches.
Letter of Support for the Council of American Overseas Research Centers
posted by CAA — May 31, 2012
May 31, 2012
Dr. Mary Ellen Lane
Executive Director
Council of American Overseas Research Centers (CAORC)
PO Box 37012, MRC 178
Washington, DC 20013-7012
Dear Dr. Lane,
We are writing in support of the Council of American Overseas Research Centers’ (CAORC) proposal to the Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) to continue the work and operations of overseas research centers and of CAORC itself.
Our organization’s particular experience was with The American Academic Research Institute in Iraq (TAARII), without whose help we would not have been able to bring Salam Atta Sabri, the Director of Iraq’s Museum of Modern Art to the College Art Association’s Annual Conference in Los Angeles this past February. Mr. Atta Sabri was the recipient of a highly competitive and distinguished grant to participate in an international meeting of art historians, curators, and artists during the conference. From the outset, Beth Kangas, director of TAARII, and Nada Shabout, professor of art history at the University of North Texas, offered support in any way possible, including help obtaining a visa, help arranging travel, and advancing funds for the entire trip, because Dr. Sabri was not permitted to receive American dollars in Iraq. CAA could not have accomplished this work without TAARII’s active support. (Additionally, TAARII then arranged a speaking tour for Mr. Sabri to several universities in the United States, enriching his visit here substantially.)
As the scholarly world becomes increasingly global, organizations such as TAARII, and all the groups supported by CAORC, become ever more important. We fully endorse the CAORC proposal to continue the work and operations of overseas research centers and CAORC itself.
Sincerely,
Anne Collins Goodyear
President
Linda Downs
Executive Director
Key Points from the CAA Membership Survey
posted by Nia Page — March 26, 2012
The results of CAA’s 2012 membership survey, sent to all active individual members, are now in. Over 1,600 members responded to the survey, which was open from January 25 to February 10, 2012, and the results are very enlightening. Several highlights include these findings:
- Most CAA members (63 percent) joined when they were in graduate school
- Almost half (48 percent) are faculty members at two- and four-year colleges or universities
- The number-one reason why people initially joined CAA was to assist their job search
- Job postings in the Online Career Center are the primary reason why people retain membership, followed by networking opportunities afforded by CAA
- Most CAA members support a greater internet presence for the journals. About 72 percent would like an expanded online version of Art Journal, and 70 percent want to see The Art Bulletin on the web
- Advocacy for the visual arts was voted the most important CAA function, with 67 percent of respondents rating it as “extremely important.” The Annual Conference and the Online Career Center tied for second place, with 58 percent each.
- Only 17 percent of the CAA members who responded participate in CAA’s social networking on Twitter and Facebook
- After CAA’s own publications, the most-read art periodicals by members are Art in America, ARTnews, and Artforum
- The top-three advocacy issues for CAA members are government funding for the arts and humanities, freedom of expression and censorship, and intellectual-property rights (including the cost for image reproduction, fair use, and terms of copyright)
- The majority of write-in comments addressed the costs of membership and the conference, but other recurring themes include the need to broaden CAA’s focus to embrace a wider range of disciplines and areas of interest, the need for further advocacy efforts, and the need for greater support for adjunct faculty
CAA greatly appreciates the feedback of its members.
As a service organization, CAA recognizes that knowing and responding to the professional needs of its constituents is vital to ensuring the effectiveness of the organization. In 2011, CAA contracted the services of an expert consultant, Raym Crow of the Chain Bridge Group, to help determine the future of its publications and membership program. The information gathered in the survey, and the resultant feedback from Crow, will be used by CAA leaders to help determine its priorities and potential directions.
Take the 2012 Annual Conference Survey
posted by Christopher Howard — March 19, 2012
Earlier this month, CAA sent an email blast to 2012 Annual Conference attendees, asking for feedback on all aspects of last February’s event. Please complete the survey, which has several fields for open-ended answers, by Friday, March 23, 2012.
The survey asks you to identify yourself (artist, art historian, student, etc.) and your type of institutional affiliation and then to rate your experiences with various conference events and services—from online registration and the conference hotels to session content and Career Services activities. If you attended the Book and Trade Fair or used your conference badge for free museum admission, let CAA know. The survey also asks your thoughts about the conference website and how CAA can better deliver conference information.
Take NAMTA’s Triennial Artists & Art Materials Survey
posted by Christopher Howard — February 28, 2012
The International Art Materials Association (NAMTA), an organization of more than 550 professional art-materials businesses, conducts a study of artists and art materials every three years and is asking all artists, art students, and art instructors to contribute by completing an online survey by Monday, April 2, 2012. The survey is open to American and Canadian artists, over the age of 18, working in any medium. CAA especially encourages art students at both the graduate and undergraduate levels to participate.
Prizes
For individuals: Two lucky survey participants are eligible to win $200 each in gift certificates to an art-supply store.
For schools: A gift box of art supplies will be awarded to the top five colleges that have the most students complete the survey. The gift box includes: Strathmore drawing pads, Golden and Liquitex acrylic paint sets, Winsor and Newton oil paint sets and brushes, a $100 gift certificate to Art Supply Warehouse, the Artist’s Magazine, and a book, Rethinking Acrylic.
Participants must register to receive the executive summary and to enter the drawing by clicking on the link on the thank-you page after submitting their completed survey. The drawing and executive summary sign-up is separate from the survey to keep the survey anonymous. All survey responses are anonymous and will only be reported as part of summary figures like totals or averages. Visit the website of Hart Business Research, which is administering the survey, to learn more about how to enter the drawing and competition.
NAMTA is donating $1 for each completed survey (for the first five hundred completed) to scholarships through the NAMTA Foundation for the Visual Arts.
About the Survey
The survey is the first phase of a larger study, titled Artists & Art Materials 2012, which will also include a questionnaire for retailers of art supplies. In the study’s second phase, Hart Business Research will analyze this survey data as well as data from the National Endowment for the Arts, various artist nonprofits, the United States Census, and individual artists’ websites to build a comprehensive picture of artists’ evolving activities. The report will be announced in summer 2012, accompanied by an executive summary that will be made available to all survey participants.
Call for 2011 Dissertation Titles
posted by Alyssa Pavley — October 10, 2011
Dissertation titles in art history and visual studies from US and Canadian institutions, both completed and in progress, are published annually in caa.reviews, making them available through web searches. PhD-granting institutions may send a list of their doctoral students’ dissertation titles for 2011 to dissertations@collegeart.org. The complete Dissertation Submission Guidelines regarding the format of listings are now available. CAA does not accept listings from individuals. Improperly formatted lists will be returned to sender. For more information, please write to the above email address or visit the guidelines page. Deadline: January 16, 2012.
Request for Materials for the CAA Archive
posted by Lauren Stark — June 23, 2011
In honor of its yearlong Centennial celebration, CAA has initiated a project to collect, catalogue, and make accessible many written, photographic, and electronic documents relating to its past. This effort will complement the history chronicled in The Eye, the Hand, the Mind: 100 Years of the College Art Association, edited by Susan Ball. This summer and fall, CAA plans to post dozens of text-searchable PDFs of CAA News from 1976 to 2001 and full conference programs since the late 1930s, among other publications, on its website.
Particularly in its early years but even in recent times, CAA did not preserve every document that it produced. Materials not collected or saved include: conference programs prior to 1937; catalogues from CAA’s traveling-exhibition program, active from 1929 to 1937; documentation of member surveys; Placement Bureau listings before 1968; and membership brochures, forms, and related materials predating 1990. CAA hopes that members may have copies of these, along with personal photographs and other visual or textual ephemera from meetings and events in decades past.
If you possess materials that might help fill gaps in CAA’s historical archive and are willing to donate or have CAA scan them, send a brief description of the items to Lauren Stark, CAA manager of programs and archivist. Please do not mail anything to the CAA office until she discusses your materials with you.
Image: Louise Nevelson addresses the audience at a “rowdy” and “tumultuous” conference session called “Women Artists Speak Out,” while Martha Edelheit (left) and Patricia Mainardi (center) look on. Read about the panel in the Spring 1973 Art Journal (photograph by Nina Howell Starr)
caa.reviews Publishes Dissertations Completed and In Progress
posted by Betty Leigh Hutcheson — June 08, 2011
caa.reviews has just published the authors and titles of doctoral dissertations in art history and visual studies—both completed and in progress—from US and Canadian institutions for calendar year 2010. Titles can be browsed by subject, such as Art of the Middle East/North Africa, Latin American/Caribbean Art, or Contemporary Art. Each institution granting the PhD in art history and/or visual studies submits dissertation titles once a year to CAA for publication. The listing in caa.reviews also includes dissertations completed and in progress between 2002 and 2009, making them available through web searches.
CAA’s Positions for Arts Advocacy Day
posted by Christopher Howard — March 29, 2011
At Arts Advocacy Day 2011, CAA representatives from five states—Connecticut, Georgia, Pennsylvania, New York and Texas—will meet congressional staff to advocate for the visual arts in higher education. Organized by Americans for the Arts, of which CAA is a member institution, the annual event will take place April 4–5, 2011, in Washington, DC. CAA delegates will address the following issues of critical importance and invite you to register and get involved.
As the leading association in the world that represents professional visual-arts practitioners, CAA endorses government support of creativity and innovation that has made this country great.
CAA seeks support for artists and art historians who work in colleges, universities, and art museums, as well as for independent artists and scholars. The federal government must support professionals in the visual arts like it does for practitioners and scholars in other arts, such as dance and music. The professional practice, study, and teaching of the visual arts deserve further support because of the power these disciplines have to educate, inspire, and stimulate independent thinking.
CAA also believes that public and private partnerships should expand not only between schools and communities but also among the academic community in colleges, universities, and art schools.
CAA fully endorses the creation of an art corps comprising professionally educated artists and art historians who will work with students in urban schools on community-based projects, raising an awareness of the importance of creativity and professional artists. CAA also encourages government-sponsored projects such as Americorps and Vista to emphasize the visual arts. Young artists are eager to work on environmental programs that involve community-organized design projects such as, for example, mine-reclamation endeavors in which community recreation centers are established near cleaning pools for toxic mine runoff to help redevelopment the land.
CAA would like to emphasize that, in order to champion publicly the importance of arts education, America must support the preparation of artists and art historians who teach on a primary, secondary, and college/university level. The visual arts are integral to core curricula in each grade and at every stage of education.
CAA fully supports increased funding for the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Institute for Library and Museum Services. Specifically, professional artists must supported on individual bases. CAA strongly recommends that the NEA reinstate Individual Artist Fellowships, so that visual artists can pursue and develop their work. Similar grants in other areas of the arts and humanities far exceed federal and private foundation grants to professional visual artists, who are often forced to abandon their own work to support themselves and their families. Professional artists desperately need government support.
CAA supports legislation to change tax laws for artists. The organization has worked hard—and will continue to work hard—to support the Artist-Museum Partnership Act, first introduced by Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) in 2005. The proposed act would amend the Internal Revenue Code to allow artists to deduct the fair market value of their work, rather than just the costs of materials, when they make charitable contributions. Not only has the current tax laws been harmful to artists, the creative legacy of a whole generation of American visual artists has been lost.
In addition, CAA supports legislation that would allow scholars to publish so-called orphan works, which are copyrighted works—such as books, pictures, music, recordings, or films—whose copyright owners cannot be identified or located. The House of Representatives and Senate has previously introduced orphan-works bills, and CAA hopes Congress will pass one in the coming session. The lack of clear laws and procedures regarding the issue has prevented many art historians from publishing orphan works, causing a great detriment to scholarly publishing and research.
CAA supports cultural diplomacy by enhancing international opportunities, through agencies such as the United States Information Agency, for professional visual artists and art historians to exhibit, teach, research, and lecture. CAA’s international membership testifies to the promotion of cultural understanding that occurs through international cultural exchange. Every year CAA seeks funding to support the travel of international art historians and artists to our Annual Conference. Current Homeland Security laws and a lack of government funding make it difficult for foreign art historians and artists to present their work and research at conferences, symposia, and exhibitions. CAA endorses streamlining the visa process and providing government support for international exchanges of graduate students and professional artists and art historians.
CAA supports providing healthcare to independent artists and scholars—a major concern for those professionals who are not associated with a college, university, or art museum and who attempt to work on their own to support themselves. Each state creates its own health-insurance legislation, and thus differences in laws regulating insurance companies prohibit professional organizations such as CAA from offering national healthcare coverage.
Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences Established in Response to Congress
posted by CAA — March 23, 2011
Last month the American Academy of Arts and Sciences announced the creation of the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences, a national group dedicated to bolstering teaching and research in the humanities and social sciences—fields that are critical to culture, education, and America’s economic competitiveness.
Leading the commission are two cochairs: Richard H. Brodhead, president of Duke University, and John W. Rowe, chairman and chief executive officer of Exelon Corporation. The group also includes prominent Americans from the humanities, the social sciences, the physical and life sciences, business, law, philanthropy, the arts, and the media, including Chuck Close, George Lucas, Emmylou Harris, Billie Tsien, and John Lithgow. Other representatives come from the Institute for Advanced Study, Lockheed Martin, the Association of American Universities, the J. Paul Getty Trust, the American Council of Learned Societies, TIAA-CREF, and Adobe Systems, among others. Many commission members serve as presidents of universities and colleges nationwide.
The commission formed in response to a bipartisan request from the United States government. Senators Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee) and Mark Warner (D-Virginia) and Representatives Tom Petri (R-Wisconsin) and David Price (D-North Carolina) gave the following charge:
What are the top ten actions that Congress, state governments, universities, foundations, educators, individual benefactors, and others should take now to maintain national excellence in humanities and social scientific scholarship and education, and to achieve long-term national goals for our intellectual and economic well-being; for a stronger, more vibrant civil society; and for the success of cultural diplomacy in the twenty-first century?
The commission’s findings will serve as a companion to a forthcoming report of the National Academies on the future of the research university and on ways to strengthen the American scientific enterprise. The group will draw on past research efforts, data from the Humanities Indicators, and the experience and expertise of a multidisciplinary group of national leaders to recommend specific, actionable steps to maintain the nation’s excellence in the humanities and the social sciences. The commission expects to complete its work over the next eighteen to twenty-four months.
For more information on the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences, please read the National Humanities Center press release.