Since the 1930's Mid-America College Art Association has provided a forum for the artists/teachers of America to discuss and debate the issues of our profession, to share ideas and information of mutual benefit and to affirm the friendships and collegiality that bind us together. We are made up of art faculty, art historians, independent scholars, artists, museum professionals, and affiliate organizations; our conferences also invite graduate students to participate.
MACAA at CAA
2019 CAA Conference, New York, NY
"Respond and Adapt: A Fuse of Art and the Other", Wed., Feb. 13, 2 pm
In our current creative landscape, artists and educators must constantly respond and adapt in order to remain vital and relevant. What arises from this challenge often involve expanding, revisiting, and experimenting ideas through individual practices and pedagogy. How do artist and educator continue to maintain interdisciplinary, acting as a dynamic pioneer to societal trends and producing new conversation around issues in the society? How do educators engage and inspire students to push boundaries? This session seeks interdisciplinary projects that involve science and technology; integrating diversity; promoting collaborative venture; emphasize on the conceptual fusion of separated media, or to incorporate media/disciplines outside the established parameters of the arts. Studio practices that create a unique viewpoint of contemporary art trajectories are welcome. Assignments that broaden art experience for students in a more interdisciplinary and experiential are encouraged.
Session Chairs: Julie Abijanac, Columbus College of Art & Design; Chung-Fan Chang, Stockton University
Presenters:
Collaborative Practices to Activate Social Engagement: An Art History Case Study
Jeannine Kraft, Columbus College of Art and Design
Tactile Translations: Teaching in Three-Dimensionality and Object Making in a Flattening Virtual World
Andrea Myers, Kent State University at Stark
Alternative Education
Danielle Norton, Columbus College of Art & Design
Art+Music {Notations}
Valerie Powell, Sam Houston State University
"Wicked Problems in Visual Arts Education," CAA Education Committee Session, Thursday, Feb. 14, 4-5:30pm, Concourse G
Dr. Michelle Corvette, Belmont University: "Lessons Unlearned the Hard Way"
Here is the problem- Artists are highly educated with 59% of artists obtaining bachelors’ degrees or higher, compared to 31% of the U.S. worker overall (The American Community Survey 2010-2014, PUMS, U.S. Census Bureau). Furthermore, artists are 3.6 times more likely to be self-employed than other workers (34% vs. 9%). Yet, as educators we continue to focus on the “how” and the “why” of making creative works without the necessary support to help these young artistic professionals sustain and grow their own practices. Artists share challenging economic conditions with a clear lack of training and funding systems. The non-art skills such as “professional practices”, entrepreneurship, marketing, and how to effectively apply their creative skills in a range of contexts are not being valued in our educational systems. How do we confront the fact that some of these artists with art degrees do not make even the majority of their living from their artwork? According to a 2015 survey of 140,000 graduates of arts and design schools conducted by the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP), for example, only half of arts graduates made over 60% of their income from their artistic practice alone. Only half…that means the other half was not able to make a living in their field with a completed degree. Similarly, a 2003 Pew Research Center call study found that just 7% of artists earn all of their income from their art. How do we as educators in the arts turn to our students and encourage them to pursue their artistic career without re-evaluating the resources we could be potentially overlooking, not developing, or not providing to them for their own well-rounded education? Furthermore, how do we move beyond incremental and small-scale efforts that serve small numbers of artists to involve the complete arts sector for a more equitable and sustainable arts education for the long haul?
Calls for Presentations: MACAA at SECAC
2019 SECAC Conference
Oct. 16-19, Chattanooga, Tn.
"Global Art Projects"
Session Chairs: Heather Hertel, Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania & Ann Kim, Indiana University East
Art connects people. Learning cross-culturally elevates the understanding of human beings. Traveling to share and create grows awareness. This session invites artists and travelers to share their art projects that they have conducted across the globe. Have you traveled for research? Have you created art in a new place or environment that was foreign to you? What have you gained from working overseas? How has learning from a new culture affected your art? How have you infused this experience with your home environment? How was your travel funded? What can you share with artists who dream about venturing to a new location to conduct an art project? Have you coordinated a student art travel trip? What can we learn by transporting our studio to a new environment? What are cultural barriers to consider when venturing abroad? This session aims to share and discuss travel experiences that incorporated new studio settings, residencies, art exhibitions, and public art projects in a foreign country.
"Catalyst for Change: Community Partnerships"
Session Chair: Barbara Giorgio-Booher, Ball State University
People need to be more engaged in the community that they are living in, whether it’s a community based on shared space, special interest, affiliation or identity. Creativity is a vital part of this process. As educators, we are always striving towards mentoring our students to engage through traditional or digital means. Collaborations have a shared vision and can achieve positive outcomes. Understanding the project can be complicated. Is this a short term versus long-term partnership? The course or project may invite engagement as one piece of a larger initiative or lead to other opportunities. It’s important to realize the course
may be bound by a semester, but your partnership is not. When the community engagement is successful, it includes all persons involved. The community members are consulted, involved and empowered. As mentors, we are creating opportunities for students that provide an experience with valuable learning, meaningful research, and strengthens their civic responsibility. This session is to serve as a catalyst for anyone wanting to engage with a community.
Breaking Boundaries: Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity in the Arts
Session Chair: Dr. Michelle Corvette, Belmont University
This session asks us to consider the construction and influences of intersectional gender studies, in tandem with cross-cultural and transnational inquiry, in contemporary art and society to discover the factors and artists that are shaping the current status of inclusion as we explore paths to achieving equality in art studios, art classrooms, and art communities. Emphasizing the perspectives from artists such as Wu Tsang (2018 MacArthur Fellowship), Charlotte Prodger (2018 Turner Prize), Beatriz Preciado, Heather Cassils, Zackary Drucker, Rhys Ernst, this panel is seeking proposals that focus on reimagined racialized and gendered representations beyond the visible frame to encompass multiple and shifting perspectives through which interdisciplinary artworks are serving as change agents to explore marginalized narratives and hidden histories that are at the forefront of studio art education and practice.
