November 2003 CAA News
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NEWS NEWSLETTER OF THE COLLEGE ART ASSOCIATION Volume 28, Number 6 NOVEMBER 2003 James Cahill CURATORIAL ASSISTANCE IN A CAHILL IS 2004 DISTINGUISHED TIGHT ECONOMY SCHOLAR n the face of budget cuts and evaporating funding, he CAA Distinguished public and private art institutions throughout the Scholar’s Session was inaugu- United States are scaling back ambitious plans, with rated in 2001 to engage senior Imany struggling to get by. University museums and gal- Tscholars in the Annual Conference and leries are confronted with similar situations. Few major celebrate their contributions to art his- U.S. museums are currently mounting blockbuster exhi- tory. But its aim is greater: At a time bitions. Expensive traveling shows and international of great methodological shifts in the loans are being curtailed or canceled, and institutions are field, this sessions fosters dialogue increasingly relying on their own permanent collections within and among the different genera- instead. While many small and midsize museums own tions of art historians. Past honorees many excellent works of art, some do not have the include James Ackerman, Leo breadth found in major cities. Steinberg, and the late Phyllis Pray How can a museum or gallery maintain a rigorous Bober. This year in Seattle, CAA will exhibition schedule in these difficult economic times? salute James Cahill, a renowned Several nonprofit institutions organize touring exhibi- scholar of Asian art. The Distinguished tions and arrange loans of works of art. Many in the Scholar’s Session will take place on museum world already know these organizations— Thursday, February 19, 2004, 2:30– American Federation of Arts, Smithsonian Institution 5:00 P.M. Temporary Exhibition Service, Independent Curators Cahill was born in Fort Bragg, CA, International, The Exhibition Alliance, and Museum in 1926. He received his B.A. degree Loan Network, among others. Employing a staff of cura- in Oriental languages from the tors, registrars, art historians, artists, designers, and University of California, Berkeley, in administrators, each has a different focus and purpose, 1950, and his M.A. (1952) and Ph.D. but all bring high-quality works of art to audiences—and (1958) in art history from the View of Standing Figure of Tjayasetimu, the results are innovative and surprising. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 664–610 B.C., from Eternal Egypt: The best known of these curatorial organizations is Masterworks of Ancient Art from The having worked principally with Max British Museum, as installed at the American Federation of Arts (AFA), founded in 1909. A Loehr. He studied with Shujiro Brooklyn Museum of Art in 2001–2. The membership organization catering to institutions large exhibition is now at the Walters Art CONTINUED ON PAGE 24 Museum in Baltimore. © Trustees of the and small, AFA has at any given time about thirty-five British Museum, courtesy AFA exhibitions in different stages of development. Six are on the road now, including The Drawings of François Boucher, The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzes from South India, and Eternal IN THIS ISSUE Egypt: Masterworks of Ancient Art from The British Museum. At AFA, exhibition concepts are developed in-house. Helaine Posner, curator of exhibi- CAA Committee on Women in tions, explains, “We contact museums with strong collections in a certain area or period 3 the Arts Award Winners and work with them to organize an exhibition.” AFA publishes (and sometimes designs) catalogues to accompany their shows, as well as educational materials and brochures for Committee on Intellectual the galleries. 4 Property Q&A Smithsonian Institution Temporary Exhibition Service (SITES) packages shows for Annual Conference Update CONTINUED ON PAGE 23 11 People in the News INSIDE: AFFILIATED SOCIETY DIRECTORY. See insert 17 FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CAA RECOGNIZES GOLDEN JUBILEE THE DIALOGUE BETWEEN AUDIENCE MEMBERS AND OBJECTS he first eight names on the follow- his past Issues Committee; the Association of ing list belong to the CAA mem- August, in College and University Museums and bers who joined the organization less than a Galleries; and, of course, CAA, which Tfifty years ago, in 1953. With this annual Tweek, the art world has a Museum Committee. fall roster, we welcome them to Golden tragically lost two Varnedoe, Romano, and other scholar- Jubilee status. One of the thirty-seven oth- exceptional curators, curators, inspired by the previous genera- ers, Rudolf Arnheim, who celebrated his 99th birthday on July 15, received a PHOTO: ANDREI RALKO J. Kirk Varnedoe, tion and inspiring the next, have helped to Susan Ball, CAA 57, and James F. erase the dividing line that sometimes Special Award for Lifetime Achievement Executive Director Romano, 56. Long exists between academic and museum from CAA earlier this year. Thanks go to associated with the professionals. As a graduate student, I all for their many contributions over five, Museum of Modern Art in New York, gained invaluable experience organizing six, and (in one case) seven decades. Varnedoe was appointed in 2001 to a exhibitions at the Yale University Art position at the Institute for Advanced Gallery, and I later served as faculty advi- Fifty-year members: Dorathea K. Beard, Study in Princeton, NJ. Romano, who sor to students who organized exhibitions Rodman R. Henry, Myron Laskin, Jr., oversaw the reinstallation of the Brooklyn at the University of Delaware. Chu-Tsing Li, Margaret McCormick, Museum of Art’s exceptional Egyptian We are all concerned about the future Seymour Slive, Jack Wasserman, Richard collection, had worked at the museum of the curatorial and museum professions. S. Zeisler; 51 Years: Theodore E. Klitzke; since 1976. Jeanette La Vere, education and outreach 52 Years: John D. Hoag, J. Richard Though their specializations and styles coordinator at the University of Southern Judson, Frank T. Kacmarcik, Olga Raggio, were very different, the two shared a pro- California’s Fisher Gallery, and Lynn Carl N. Schmalz, Jr.; 53 Years: Jane found appreciation for the curator’s abili- Robertson, executive director of the Dillenberger, Alan M. Fern, Sadayoshi ty to shape the dialogue between audience McKissick Museum at the University of Omoto, Charles Parkhurst; 54 Years: and objects. How curators and educators South Carolina in Columbia, cochaired a Dario A. Covi, Sol Alfred Davidson, work together on this task varies, but the session at the American Association of Norman B. Gulamerian, Robert H. notion of the curator solely as advocate Museums’ 2003 Annual Meeting, entitled Rosenblum; 55 Years: Rudolf Arnheim, for the objects and the educator solely as “University Museums: Back on the William S. Dale, Clarke H. Garnsey, Peter advocate for the audience no longer Endangered Species List?” A panel talked H. Selz; 56 Years: Dericksen M. serves, if in fact it ever really did. This is about the impact of budget reductions on Brinkerhoff, David R. Coffin, Ellen P. one of several reasons why such collabo- the very existence of university-based art Conant, Beatrice Farwell, Ilene H. ration is the topic of animated, even institutions. CAA members who have a Forsyth, J. Edward Kidder, Jr., Mary heated, discussion. particular interest in the future of the cura- Meixner, Ruth Philbrick; 57 Years: A session at the 2003 meeting of the torial profession, and the links between Luraine Collins Tansey, Mario Valente; 58 fledgling Association of Art Museum academic art historians and curators, will Years: James S. Ackerman, Ethel R. Curators (AAMC)—at which Romano be interested in the cover story of this Cutler, Rosalie B. Green, Phyllis Williams spoke—dealt with the topic of how exist- issue of CAA News, which describes a Lehmann; 59 Years: Howard S. Merritt, ing collections can be used more effec- number of organizations that offer curator- Marianne L. Teuber; 60 Years: George B. tively in education. AAMC is quickly ial services. Tatum; 61 Years: Charles D. Cuttler; 72 becoming a much-needed forum and col- During periods of economic weakness, Years: S. L. Faison, Jr. lective voice for the curatorial profession, jobs for curators at art institutions large as art museums continue to evolve. A pro- and small are as much at risk as teaching file of this organization, which is apply- jobs in art history. But the fate of college Volume 28, Number 6 ing to become a CAA affiliated society, and university museums and galleries is CAA News is published six times per year by the College Art Association, 275 Seventh Avenue, 18th Floor, New will appear in the January issue of CAA especially worrisome. Campus-based art York, NY 10001; www.collegeart.org. News. museums need, and deserve, our support. Editor Christopher Howard Other organizations that are concerned They are where a key portion of art- Graphic Designer Tom Brydelsky with curatorial issues include the historical training takes place, both for Material for inclusion should be sent via email to Christopher Howard at [email protected]. American Association of Museums, students who become curators and for Photographs and slides may be submitted to the above which has a Curators’ Committee com- those who pursue careers in academia. street and email addresses for consideration. They cannot be returned. All advertising and submission guidelines may prising individuals from the broad range —Susan Ball, CAA Executive Director be found at www.collegeart.org/caa/news/index.html. of museums; the Association of Art Printed on recycled paper Museum Directors, which has an Art © 2003 College Art Association 2 CAA NEWS NOVEMBER 2003 Saar studied at the University of 1970s, and her mural-scale wall-painting COMMITTEE ON California, Los Angeles, and Pasadena installations, begun in the 1980s, lead the City College as an undergraduate, with a viewer through associations and meta- WOMEN IN THE concentration in design and printmaking. phors, gestures and unearthly mutations, ARTS AWARD While attending Pasadena, she “was study- achieved by an array of collage, painting, ing for a teaching credential to teach and printmaking techniques.