by Aug. 1.  Finished papers are due to Co-Chairs by Sept. 15 so that respondents will have time to reflect on them.

No one may serve in more than one capacity in the symposium.  You are welcome to submit proposals to more than one session, but MUST inform all Co-Chairs of multiple submissions so that they can be in touch with each other about their selection.

At this event, everyone will have a chance to share information about their current research in small groups during a boxed lunch on Sat., Oct. 9 and also at receptions-one at the Brooklyn Historical Society in the evening on F, Oct. 8 and one at the Brooklyn Museum, where Sat. afternoon sessions will be held.  We’ll also have a wine and cheese party at St. Francis College on Sat. evening.

Best wishes,
Theresa Leininger-Miller and Jennifer Wingate, AHAA Symposium Co-Chairs (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address))

The Modernist Journals Project has begun to put online a run of the NAACPs/ W. E. B. Du Bois’s The Crisis from 1910 through 1922.  The issues for the first six months, when circulation rose from 1,000 to 10,000, are now on the site.

The Crisis: A Record of the Darker Races
New York: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 1910-11/1911-04

http://www.modjourn.org/render.php?view=mjp_object&id=crisiscollection

NEWS RELEASE
August 17, 2009

     
Contact:  Kelly Fritz Garrow, director of communications
419-255-8000 x 7408
419-481-3457 (cell)
      .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

Director Don Bacigalupi to Leave Toledo Museum of Art in October

Toledo, Ohio-The Toledo Museum of Art (TMA) announced today that Don
Bacigalupi, its president, director, and CEO since 2003, has accepted
the directorship at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in
Bentonville, Arkansas.  Bacigalupi and Alice Walton, founder and chair
of the board of trustees of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art,
made the formal announcement at a press conference in Bentonville this
afternoon.  His last day at the Museum will be in mid-October. 

“I have enjoyed immensely my six years in Toledo,” Bacigalupi said.
“This Museum-without question-is one of the most brilliant gems among
cultural institutions anywhere, and it has been an honor to have led TMA
for these very productive years.”

A specialist in Post-WWII contemporary art and popular culture,
Bacigalupi is credited with expanding the Museum’s contemporary art
collection through the acquisitions of such iconic works as Marisol’s
The Party, Duane Hanson’s Executive and Dale Chihuly’s Chandelier
Campiello del Remer #2.  During his tenure, he oversaw the construction
and opening of the renowned Glass Pavilion (2006), designed by the
Japanese firm SANAA, Sejima and Nishizawa and Associates.  This elegant
building was named “Best Museum” design in the world by Travel and
Leisure Magazine in 2007.

“Don Bacigalupi has been an outstanding director of the Toledo Museum of
Art,” said Betsy Brady, chair of the board of directors.  “His focus on
education, accessibility, creative programming, and outreach has engaged
and inspired new audiences.  That, combined with the ability to plan
strategically, extend a world class collection, motivate and inspire
talented staff, and maintain fiscal integrity in difficult economic
times, leaves the Museum in a very strong position to attract top
talent.” 

Prior to his arrival in Toledo, Bacigalupi served as executive director
of the San Diego Museum of Art (1999-2003); director and chief curator
of the Blaffer Gallery, the art museum of the University of Houston
(1995-1999); and the Brown Curator of Contemporary Art at the San
Antonio Museum of Art (1993-1995).

-MORE-

BACIGALUPI/ADD ONE

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, now under construction, will be
a premier art institution dedicated to American art and artists,
learning and community gatherings.  Museum founder Alice Walton, an
heiress to the Wal-Mart fortune, has a vision for the institution not
unlike that of Edward and Florence Scott Libbey more than 100 years ago.
“I liken Miss Walton to the Libbeys in her passion for art and
community, education and accessibility,” Bacigalupi noted.

The complex will encompass more than 100,000 square feet of public
space, including galleries, meeting and classroom spaces, a large
auditorium, areas for outdoor concerts and public events, and sculpture
and walking trails.  The museum takes its name from the nearby natural
springs and the unique glass-and-wood design of architect Moshe Safdie.

“While we are saddened to lose Don’s talented and forward looking
leadership, he has been offered a remarkable opportunity to fulfill a
vision very similar to that of the Libbeys-in another locale a century
later, which has to be incredibly exciting.  We are proud and happy for
Don and his family and wish him all the best,” Brady said.

The executive committee of the Toledo Museum of Art board of directors
will name an acting director and discuss plans for a nationwide search
for Bacigalupi’s replacement within the next two weeks.  “We are
confident of identifying another exciting leader for the next chapter of
Museum history, and accomplishing a smooth transition through broad
community support and a highly capable internal staff,” Brady said.

Don Bacigalupi was only the eighth director in the Museum’s 109-year
history.

Dear academic museum colleagues and supporters,

Many thanks to the nearly 200 ACUMG-L members who signed our petition
in the last week.  I write again to ask you—if you haven’t already—to
take a moment and sign on to our proposition that Great Universities
have Great Museums.  This petition is one of several initiatives
currently underway by the multi-association Task Force on College and
University Collections (AAM, AAMD, ACUMG, CAA, Kress Foundation, UMAC).
  Our goal is to publish this petition as a one-page ad this fall in The
Chronicle of Higher Education in order to place it in front of the
nation’s university presidents and trustees, some of whom are already
signing on with you!

Thank you for taking a moment to sign at:

http://www.acumg.org/petition.php
David Robertson, President, ACUMG and Task-Force Co-Chair

Program Schedule:

Friday, June 19-Modernism & Painting
Chicago Cultural Center, presented in conjunction with the Chicago
Department of Cultural Affairs

Allan Antliff (radicalism)

Debra Bricker Balken (transatlantic)

Marcia Brennan (abstraction)

Robert Cozzolino (studio/figure painting)
Erika Doss (art histories)

John Fagg (realism)

Wendy Greenhouse (cities)

Barbara Jaffee (pedagogy)

Jennifer Marshall (museums)
Kimberly Orcutt (dealers & collectors)
Sarah Vure (advocates & critics)

Jason Weems (American scene)

Keynote Lecture
Hosted by the Art Institute of Chicago
Michael Kammen, Visual Culture in Progressive America: Anomalies and
Achievements

Saturday, June 20-Modernism: Painting and Design
Milwaukee Art Museum

Virginia Terry Boyd (ornament)

Peter John Brownlee (summary of Friday’s proceedings)

Joseph Cunningham (Art and Design 1900)

Sarah Fayen (orientation to The Artistic Furniture of Charles
Rohlfs/authenticity)

Elizabeth Kennedy (orientation to The Eight and American Modernisms)

Amy Ogata (antimodernism)

Gallery Presentations:

Peter John Brownlee (William Glackens)

Joseph Cunningham (Charles Rohlfs: works from 1903-1907)

Sarah Fayen (Charles Rohlfs: works from 1897-1901)

Elizabeth Kennedy (Maurice Prendergast)

Leo G. Mazow (Everett Shinn)

Kimberly Orcutt (Arthur Davies)

Judith H. O’Toole (George Luks)

Sarah Vure (Robert Henri & John Sloan)

Jochen Wierich (Ernest Lawson)

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF MUSEUMS
ACT NOW Museum Advocacy Update

Amendment Excluding Museums Passes Senate, 73-24
Tell Congress About Your Museum’s Economic Impact!

During Senate consideration of the economic recovery legislation today, an amendment was passed prohibiting funds from going to museums, zoos, and aquariums. The amendment, offered by Sen. Tom Coburn (S. Amdt. No. 309), states, “None of the amounts appropriated or otherwise made available by this Act may be used for any casino or other gambling establishment, aquariums, zoo, golf course, swimming pool, stadium, community park, museum, theater, art center and highway beautification project. “

The amendment was adopted on a 73-24 vote.

Differences between the House and Senate versions of the economic stimulus legislation will have to be resolved in a House-Senate conference committee before the bill is submitted to the President.

“Congress needs to be reminded that museums are a vital part of our economy,” said AAM President Ford W. Bell. “It’s time for us to make our case and I am calling on all museums to send their Members of Congress an Economic Impact Statement showing the ways in which their museum contributes to the economy.”

Most Members of Congress do not realize that museums employ more than a quarter-million Americans, spend an estimated $14.5 billion annually, and rank among the top three family vacation destinations. Let them know about the local impact your museum has by contacting your U.S. Senators and Representative today!

Visit http://www.speakupformuseums.org for more information about AAM’s advocacy for museums.

Folks, a group of Brandeis alumni have created an online petition to protest the closing of the Rose Art Museum and the monetization of its fabulous collection.  The group’s goal was to achieve 1000 signatures.  Signatures now number over 1500.

For those of you who attended the Material Culture Caucus’s panel on the Eakins controversy in Philadelphia, you know that there is widespread despair about the future of university art museums and well, about how museums of all sorts may survive economic downturn, the movement of capital, the shifting ethics of their trustees and directors.

Please consider adding your name to the Brandeis alumni petition at

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/3/in-opposition-to-the-closing-of-the-ro%20se-art-museum

And please let your colleagues know as well.

January 26, 2009

Dear Friends,

The global financial crisis and deepening national economic recession require
Brandeis to formulate and execute decisive plans that will position the
university to emerge stronger for the benefit of our students. To this end, our
response to the crisis is to focus and sustain our core academic mission. I am
writing to tell you that the Board of Trustees met today and voted to close the
Rose Art Museum. The decision was difficult and was reached after a painstaking
assessment of the university’s need to mobilize for the future and initiate
a strategy to replenish our financial assets.

The Rose has been a marvelous addition to the Fine Arts program, and we are
grateful to everyone who expressed their love for art and admiration for
Brandeis’s academic mission by helping to create, build, and support the
museum. Choosing between and among important and valued university assets is
terrible, but our priority in the face of hard choices will always be the
university’s core teaching and research mission. Today’s decision will
set in motion a long-term plan to sell the art collection and convert the
professional art facility to a teaching, studio, and gallery space for
undergraduate and graduate students and faculty.

The university’s official public statement can be found below. I will be
writing to the community shortly to update you on other initiatives currently
under discussion by the faculty and the administration.

Sincerely,

Jehuda Reinharz

————————————————————————————————-

BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY NEWS

With vote to close art museum, Brandeis renews ‘unwavering’ commitment
to students, research and academic mission

WALTHAM, Mass., Jan. 26, 2009—Brandeis University’s Board of Trustees
today voted unanimously to close the Rose Art Museum as part of a campus-wide
effort to preserve the university’s educational mission in the face of the
historic economic recession and financial crisis. Board members stressed that
the museum decision will not alter the university’s commitment to the arts
and the
teaching of the arts.

“These are extraordinary times,” said Brandeis President Jehuda
Reinharz. “We cannot control or fix the nation’s economic problems. We
can only do what we have been entrusted to do—act responsibly with the best
interests of our students and their futures foremost in mind.”

Opened in 1961, the Rose Art Museum houses a large amount of modern and
contemporary art. Plans call for the museum to close in late summer 2009, and
transition into a fine-arts teaching center with studio space and an exhibition
gallery.

After necessary legal approvals and working with a top auction house, the
university will publicly sell the art collection. Proceeds from the sale will be
reinvested in the university to combat the far-reaching effects of the economic
crisis, and fortify the university’s position for the future.

Brandeis officials said the decision to close the museum is part of an emerging
new vision for the university aimed at streamlining it for the future while
bolstering its focus on undergraduates, the liberal arts and research.

In recent months, the university has been reviewing expenditures and discussing
new initiatives to meet the serious economic challenges. Belt tightening has
already brought substantial decreases in administrative budgets.

In a special session on Jan. 22, the Brandeis faculty voted unanimously to
support the president and trustees as they combat the effects of the economic
recession and work to make Brandeis stronger academically and fiscally for the
21st century. Faculty members agreed that the university should maintain the
strengths that have helped position Brandeis among the nation’s top liberal
arts and research institutions.

Brandeis officials have estimated that the economic recession will continue to
adversely affect operating expenses, performance of the endowment, financial aid
and scholarships. At Brandeis and schools around the country, fundraising
revenue is declining and families are looking for more financial aid to help
them cope with their own unenviable economic straits.

Reinharz said the Rose Museum decision was very difficult. But he characterized
it as an important step in the ongoing resource management and allocation
process on the school’s campus. “I am satisfied that our commitment is
unwavering; that someday we will look back and say that when the quality of
education and student services was at stake, we made hard choices so that
Brandeis could emerge even stronger.”

“Rethinking Consumption in the History of American Art,” Association of Historians of American Art sponsored session at the CAA meeting in Chicago, February 10-13, 2010

The story of American art is mostly told from the perspective of artists and generally figures art consumption as secondary to artistic production in the generation of cultural meanings.  How then might the larger narratives of the field change if presented from the less familiar vantage of patrons, dealers, critics, and publics?  Which interpretive tools and methods might best enable close readings of markets, buying habits, collections, modes of criticism, and viewing strategies as texts in their own right, with distinctive grammars, idioms, conventions, and constituencies?  This session invites papers on topics from the colonial era to the present, and across media.  Contributions should not only elucidate the nature and significance of specific consumption practices, but also address the larger question of how to accommodate art consumers within the field’s purview. 

Please submit a 500 word abstract and CV to John Ott at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) by May 11, 2009.

Greetings and Happy New Year.  I hope you are all working on visual culture proposals for the 2009 Conference.  Please be sure to let programming chair Tanya Sheehan (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) know about panels which could be eligible for Caucus sponsorship. 

Due to the high volume of SPAM over the break, I have deleted a number of announcements and turned off the “allow comments” function on those which remain.  I hope you all will continue to post annoncements here.  Please note that if caucus members want to respond to a posting, they can compose a new contribution to the blog.

http://images.google.com/hosted/life

A link has also been added to the digital image collections page.

The National Sporting Library in Middleburg, Virginia, USA, is seeking applicants for the John H. Daniels Fellowship for 2009. The Library is a center for research in horse and field sports located just 42 miles west of Washington, D.C. Its book, art, manuscript, periodical and archival collections cover equestrian sports, angling, shooting, and other field sports from the 16th century to the present. The Library also has a permanent collection of primarily British and American sporting art, and plans to open the Museum of Sporting Art at Vine Hill in 2010.  The Fellowship will provide financial assistance and housing to recipients. Researchers are asked to submit an application, proposing a research project to be conducted at the Library. Researchers must demonstrate in their proposals what collections and books they will consult. Application instructions and a brochure can be found on the Library’s website, http://www.nsl.org/fellowship.html, or by contacting Elizabeth Tobey, Director of Communications and Research, at

or 540-687-6542 x 11.The application deadline is February 1, 2009. Successful applicants will be notified by the end of March.


Elizabeth Tobey, Director of Communications & Research
National Sporting Library
P.O. Box 1335 (102 The Plains Rd.)
Middleburg, VA 20118-1335
540-687-6542 x 11

http://www.nsl.org/

The Visual Culture Caucus of the ASA is currently seeking session and paper proposals for the 2009 ASA meeting, which will be held November 5-8 in Washington, DC. Proposals should explore historical, theoretical, and/or methodological issues concerning American visual culture, which includes (but is not limited to) prints, photography, painting, sculpture, film, television, and digital media. They should also address the 2009 meeting theme, “Practices of Citizenship, Sustainability and Belonging” (see
http://www.theasa.net/annual_meeting/). The ASA is particularly interested in work that explores the rituals and practices that have defined us as citizens, delimited and sustained communities, and/or created a sense of belonging in our lives. The meeting theme and location present an important opportunity to examine the visual dimensions of nationalism, immigration, and/or civic engagement; visions of the ideal “American” (re)produced by our national monuments and museums; contestations over citizenship expressed through artistic debates; the role that new media have played in the formation of imagined communities; and many other rich topics. While proposals may take the traditional form of scholarly papers, the ASA welcomes the use alternative formats such as roundtables, workshops, and site visits.

Before the ASA submission deadline of January 26, 2009, the Programming Committee of the Visual Culture Caucus can offer critical feedback on proposals at any stage of their development and facilitate networking among scholars who are looking for session participants, chairs, or commentators; the committee will also select complete and accepted session(s) for caucus sponsorship. We encourage you to submit ideas for meeting participation to our new “Works in Progress” webpage, which is accessible through this caucus blog (see the link above). Only members of the caucus can contribute to this webpage; ASA members can join us for free by clicking on the registration column to the right on this page, which requires your ASA username and password to login. The caucus organizers will be posting their ideas for meeting events to our “Works in Progress” page in the coming weeks; these include sessions and tours at several museums in DC. Individuals interested in participating in the 2009 annual meeting may also contact Tanya Sheehan, Chair of the Caucus Programming Committee, directly at tsheehan [at] rci [dot] rutgers [dot] edu.

SUMMARY OF POSITION:
This position is located in the Archives of American Art, Washington DC. The Archives’ mission is to collect, preserve, and make available for study primary source material documenting the history of the visual arts in the United States.  The purpose of this position is to conduct a systematic campaign to acquire the most important personal papers and organizational records for the study of art in America.

MAJOR DUTIES:
The duties of this position include, but are not limited to, the following:
·          Conducts a systematic campaign to acquire the most important personal papers and organizational records for the study of art in America.
·          Develops and follows an approved collection plan; responsible for the judicious selection, the description and the scholarly appraisal of collections through a close examination of their contents.
·          Uses critical and professional judgment to ensure that the interests of the Archives are appropriately represented and in accordance with the Archives’ established management policies and collections plan.
·          Communicates with a variety of internal and external contacts to negotiate acquisitions; serves as a regional authority, and communicates in writing with contacts to prepare reports and correspondence.
·          Selects, documents and accessions new archival acquisitions.
The Smithsonian Institution is a unique working and learning environment that offers you continuing awareness of the world’s treasures in culture, art, and science.  If your goals include challenging work, being a valued member of an organization, and participation in exciting opportunities of exploration, become a part of our staff.  Enjoy family friendly benefits; a complimentary membership to the Resident Associate Program with discounts on thousands of educational and cultural programs offered annually; discounts at Smithsonian membership programs, shops, and restaurants; and much more!

In the 25 years since the publication of Victor Burgin’s critically important collection Thinking Photography, scholars in both the humanities and social sciences have turned their attention to questions of affect, emotion, and feelings. Whether emphasizing specific affects (melancholy, for example), the circulation of emotions between bodies, or the significance of feelings in public life, this rich scholarship offers new approaches to thinking through the relationship between bodies, images, and publics. “Feeling Photography” will bring together scholars working in a range of interpretive and theoretical approaches to interrogate the relationship between the affect, emotion, and/or feeling and the photograph.

All methodological and theoretical approaches are welcomed. Possible paper topics include, but are certainly not limited to: intimacy, empire, and ‘domestic’ photography; visuality and the haptic; the expression of emotion and photographic representation; affective economies; postcolonial feeling; loss, trauma, and representation; history, photography, and emotion; performativity and the public space of photography; moral spectatorship; structures of feeling; visuality and queer counterpublics; diasporic longing; photography and the commodification of feeling; documentary, feeling, and everyday utopias; racial melancholia; affect and the image; sentiment and representation; technologies of affect; empathy/rapture/longing; meditations on specific states, such as shame/anger/hate/suspicion/fear/envy/anxiety. Successful proposals will tie affect, emotion, and/ore feeling to photography in some specific way.

Confirmed plenary speakers include: Geoffrey Batchen, Lisa Cartwright, Ann Cvetkovich, David Eng, Marianne Hirsch, Shawn Michelle Smith, and Diana Taylor.

Instructions for submission of paper abstracts: please send a 250-word proposal and one page c.v. to

no later than January 15, 2009. Notifications will take place by February 23, 2009.

Completed conference papers should be about 8-10 pages, or 20 minutes. We also envision collecting completed papers based on conference presentations into an anthology for publication with a university press.  A subvention to cover part of the costs of registration will be available to graduate students.

This conference is co-sponsored by the Toronto Photography Seminar and the Centre for the Study of the United States, Munk Centre for International Studies, University of Toronto. Conference organizers are Prof. Matt Brower, University of Toronto; Prof. Elspeth Brown, University of Toronto; and Prof. Thy Phu, University of Western Ontario; with the assistance of David Sworn, graduate student in History at the University of Toronto. For the Toronto Photography Seminar, see http://www.torontophotoseminar.org; for the Centre for the Study of the United States at the University of Toronto, see http://www.utoronto.ca/csus/

The Department of American Art at the DIA is responsible for American painting, sculpture, and decorative arts from the beginning of European contact until 1950, with modest attention to Canadian and Latin American materials. Recently reinstalled in a major suite of galleries, the DIA’s collection of American art is one of the most comprehensive and complete in the world. The Assistant Curator of American Art will work closely with senior members of the Department of American Art to maintain and develop the collection. The search committee will consider candidates specializing in one or more aspects of American painting, sculpture, or decorative arts prior to 1950, but is especially interested in candidates who could play a leading role in the organization of a major traveling exhibition exploring the impact of America on Diego Rivera and Frieda Kahlo, and their impact on America and American artists in the 1930s and 1940s.

The Assistant Curator will work under the direct supervision of the Curator of American Art, who serves as Head of the Department. In addition to his/her work on the Rivera/Kahlo exhibition, the Assistant Curator will be expected to contribute to all aspects of departmental operations, including correspondence, educational programs, maintenance of the collections, research on the collections, acquisitions, the production of grant applications, and donor cultivation. The Assistant Curator will be expected to maintain and develop their scholarly expertise and contacts, and to disseminate the fruits of their original research via appropriate scholarly publications. He/she will perform other duties as assigned.

Candidates must have expertise in one or more areas in the history of American painting, sculpture, or decorative arts prior to 1950. A Ph.D. in the history of American art is preferred. An MA is required. We are especially interested in candidates who have worked in a museum for at least one year, or have had comparable experience working with art objects. Strong interpersonal skills; strong written and verbal communications skills, and strong organizational skills including the ability to multi-task in a fast-paced work environment are essential.

The successful applicant must become a resident of the City of Detroit within three (3) months of hire.

The initial contract will be for three years, with the possibility of renewal.

Salary commensurate with experience.

Please apply by sending a cover letter, curriculum vitae, a brief writing sample (no more than twenty pages), and three professional references to The Detroit Institute of Arts, Organization Development and Human Resources, 5200 Woodward Avenue, Detroit, MI 48202 or e-mail to

THE DETROIT INSTITUTE OF ARTS IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER

On October 1, 2008, ASHP/CML launched our latest website, Picturing United States History: An Online Resource for Teaching with Visual Evidence.

Representing a unique collaboration between historians and art historians, Picturing U.S. History is based on the belief that visual materials are vital to understanding the American past. Visitors to the new website will find Web-based guides, essays, case studies, classroom activities, and online forums to assist high school teachers and college instructors to incorporate visual evidence into their classroom practice. The website supplements other U.S. history resources with visual materials, analysis, and activities that allow students to engage with the process of interpretation in a more robust fashion than through text alone.

Picturing U.S. History features collaborations with art historians Sarah Burns (Indiana University - Bloomington), Cheryl Finley (Cornell
University), Katherine Manthorne (Graduate Center, City University of New York), and Paul Staiti (Mount Holyoke College).

The website will host a series of public online forums guest moderated by noted scholars of American history and culture.  In November a discussion on Colonial America will be led by Professor Peter Mancall of the University of
Southern California.

We invite you to visit Picturing U.S. History at
http://www.picturinghistory.gc.cuny.edu.  To sign-up for the Picturing U.S. History forum on Colonial America, go to:
http://www.picturinghistory.gc.cuny.edu/viewforums.php.

[Note:  this is also linked on our digital resources page]