April 1980 CAA Newsletter

Volume 5, Number 1 April 1980 eM awards 1980 annual meeting report: New Orleans Awards for excellence in art hi!)torical Like the city in which it was held, the 1980 an scholarship and criticism and in the teaching nual meeting in New Orleans assumed a scale of fine arts and art history were presented at and a grace that seemed to belong to a bygone the Convocation ceremonies of the 68th An era. Part of the reason was sheer numbers. nual Meeting of the College Art Association, or lack of them. Mid-Western and Western held at the Hyatt Regency, New Orleans, on meetings arc always smaller than those we Friday evening, February 1, 1980. hold in the East. After being surrounded by The Association's newest award (estab 4,500 bodies in Washington last year and lished in 1977), for Distinguished Teaching of 6,000 in New York City the ycar before, a Art History, was presented to Phoebe B. mere 3,500 of one's fellow species seems prac· Stanton of Johns Hopkins University. The tically intime. The hotel architecture helped, Distinguished Teaching of Art Award went to too. The oval arms surrounding the Hyatt Mauricio Lasansky of the University of Iowa. atrium led off into separate, discrete spaces. The Frank Jewett Mather Award for distinc Practically all activities - placement, ex tion in art and architectural criticism was hibits, sessions-were easily accessible on one presented to Peter Schjeldahl. The Arthur flOaT, yet without the usual sense of crowding. Kingsley Porter Prize for the best article by a The meeting seemed smaller than it was. but scholar in early career appearing during 1978 a real effect of that semblance was to make us in The Art Bulletin was awarded jointly to all feel less a part of an anonymous mass, Franklin K.B. Toker, Carnegie-Mellon mOTe individual and human. University, for "Florence Cathedral; The The sense of individuality one felt inside Alessandra Comini accepting congratulations Design Stage" and to Ulrich Hiesinger, Phil the hotel was transposed, outside its walls, to a for her Convocation Address. Photo: Minerva Navarrete adelphia, for "The Paintings of Vincenzo Continued on p. 2, col. 1 Camuccini,1771-1844." The citations read as follows: annual meeting changes Distinguished Teaching of Art History Award Nearly four years ago the CAA Board of least four years in advance. Four years ago we Today, Phoebe B. Stanton, we honor you Directors decided to modify and faT the first informally polled placement interviewers, as a distinguished teacher of art history. Your time codify certain practices with respect to and at that time we learned that a February concern for visual literacy , your creativity in the annual meeting program and adopted date would be more cQnvenient for placement the classroom, and your unfailing dedication Version #1 of the Annual Meeting Program purposes because most departmental budgets to training the untutored eye provide an in Guidelines (April 24, 1976). Some of the prac have not been finally approved by the end of vigorating example of the committed teach tices worked, others didn't; the CAA has January. Another argument in favor of the er. Nine years ago TheJohnsHopkins Univer grown larger and more diverse; and in some mid/late February date was that the tradi sity recognized your contributions, asking you cases factors totally beyond our control, such tional January date is near the beginning of to be the first recipient of the William Kenan, as galloping inflation, mandated certain the semester for many institutions, making it Jr. Professorship, a university cha'ir awarded changes. There have been enough changes in difficult for people to take time off from for excellence in teaching, regardless of field. the interim to warrant a printing of the re classes. For these reasons, we proceeded to Now it is our turn to confer recognition and to vised Guidelines (page 9). On the theory that schedule the 1981 annual meeting (San Fran" marvel at your tireless energy and your pas not everyone will read them in their entirety, cisco) for February 25-28. The 1982 (New sion for the work of art. Your introductory herewith a summary of and rationale for the York City) and 1983 (Philadelphia) annual survey courses at Johns Hopkins, drawing major changes: meetings are also already scheduled for late students from every field in the sciences and February. humanities, are legendary. Though you have Dates of Meeting. This isn't even in the Perhaps we should not be surprised, but taught these courses on Western art, modern Guidelines, but we would like to comment on the announcement of the change in dates art, and modern architecture for nearly a the reaction to the announcement in the last resulted in a flurry of protest AND a quarter of a century, they never become issue of the newsletter and at the Annual flurry of praise. Since "flurry" in this instance routine. Because you insist on the work of art Members Business Meeting that future an is defined as five to ten people on either side of as a real life experience, not as a slide on the nual meetings will be scheduled in mid/late the issue, we have sent a questionnaire to all screen, your students regularly find them February instead of the traditional mid/late 1980 placement interviewers to obtain a more selves at your side, in public and private January. As everybody probably knows, the up-to-date and more representative reflection I buildings, and in museums. In looking at uniform academic intersession upon which of their views. The date of the 1984 annual architecture they come to know first hand that tradition was based no longer prevails. meeting, and presumably all subsequent your special insights into nineteenth-century As some people probably know, CAA annual meetings, will be determined on the basis of Continued on p. 4, col. 1 meetings must be scheduled with hotels at Continued on p. 10, col. 1 11980 annual meeting report 11980 annual meeting report president's statement sense of community. New Orleans is small; its vention is Catalyst for Avalanche of Art Activ of outdoor sculpture, and an extremely hand Placement high spots and low spots are centralized and ities" read one newspaper headline (Times some giveaway publication, Artsites, that was As usual, figures at this stage are impression I am fortunate in taking over the presidency well known. As a result, wherever one went P7:cayune, January 27), and "Sprucing Up for an invaluable guide to these events. istic (actual counts come in the June issue). of our increasingly active organization from one encountered colleagues and friends. For the College Art Association" another (La Just as the flurry of art activity looked to the Our guess is that approximately 900 job-seek such able hands. In the past few years the three nights and a considerable part of Satur gniappe, January 26). The local art commu present rather than the past, so did the Con ers used the placement service (1240 in Wash Association has spoken out clearly on issues day afternoon the French Quarter seemed nity viewed the CAA conference as an oppor vocation Address by Alessandra Comini. En ington last year; 1643 in New York the year important to the profes~ion, including such like Club CAA. Conversations-perhaps even tunity to call national attention to New titled Art History, Revisionism, and Some before). The number of jobs was about the areas as research, teaching, and conservation job interviews- begun at the Hyatt were con Orleans as a major center for the arts. Months Holy Cows, it took a pungent view of past and same as previously-in the vicinity of 500 for and has undertaken a continuous reexamina tinued in chance encounters at Gumbo of planning and generous support from the recent art historical orientations and called the combined January listing and the supple tion of our professional standards. Incredibly ;House, Cafe du Monde, or Preservation Hall. Downtown Development Corporation re for feminism without chauvinism as a legiti mentary lists distributed at the annual meet enough at this moment of fiscal uncertainty, The content may not have altered, but the sulted in a host of outdoor exhibits, special mate and necessary critical tool for ushering ing. The whole placement operation went the Association is financially solvent. I sup context had much to recommend it. gallery shows, perfonnances, workshops· for in a new era in understanding the complexity, particularly smoothly; again, we suspect that pose that every incoming president must find The CAA presence was palpable not only in artists, a symposium onJapanese art, free jazz diversity, and universality of art. reduced numbers and architecturally in something to view with alann, and I must ad our easy access to local attractions and to each concerts, art displays in store windows, a duced traffic patterns deserve most of the mit that there is one aspect of our recent ac other but also in our effect on ~h(' city. "Con- video installation at the Hyatt, free bus tours Program credit. tivity that worries me a bit. In recent years Art history sessions, chaired by Caecilia The Monday evening Placement Orienta there has been an increasing tendency within Davis-Weyer of Tulane University, focussed tion Session-initiated in 1978, dropped last the society to split up into ever more special on the traditional core areas of Western art year because we thought it was all old stuff, ized groups based on many kinds of criteria. history, but with some extremely interesting and revived in response to popular demand This is inevitable and doubtless healthy in an innovations: two sessions that looked at the this year-was a great success.

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