Terry Smith Wins Georgia O'Keeffe Museum Research Center Book Prize
Terry Smith, the Andrew W. Mellon professor of contemporary art history and theory at the University of Pittsburgh, is the inaugural winner of the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum Research Center Book Prize for his book
Making the Modern: Industry, Art, and Design in America (University of Chicago Press, 1993).
The award, which includes a five-thousand-dollar cash prize, will be presented every three years to the author of an outstanding book published within the last twenty-five years on some aspect of American modernism. Smith’s book was selected from a field of sixty titles.
Making the Modern is a study of the impact of mass production and mass consumption on American visual culture from 1910 to 1940. It includes chapters on the Ford plants in Detroit, the Farm Security Administration photographs of the Depression,
Life magazine, and the 1939–40 New York World's Fair.
Jurors on the book prize committee say they chose Smith's book because it “expands awareness of…modernism, an elusive and confusing term that is most broadly defined as a phenomenon in American art and culture ongoing since the 1890s.”
Prior to joining Pitt, Smith was the Power Professor on Contemporary Art and director of the Power Institute at the University of Sydney's Foundation for Art and Visual Culture from 1994 to 2001. He is a current board member at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh, and, in 1996, was elected a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and a
membre titulaire of the
Comité International d'Histoire de l'Art.
September 30, 2009
Henry T. Hopkins (1928–2009)
Henry T. Hopkins, a prominent leader in the arts who at various times led the Hammer Museum at UCLA and the San Francisco Museum of Art—which was renamed the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art during his stewardship—died Sunday of cancer, reports a
UCLA news release. He was eighty-one.
Hopkins was chair of the UCLA department of art from 1991–94, serving concurrently as director of UCLA’s Frederick S. Wight Art Gallery. During that time, he helped negotiate the agreement for the Armand Hammer Museum of Art to become part of UCLA and was its director from 1994–98, when he returned to the UCLA art department until his retirement in 2002.
In 1960, Hopkins opened the Huysman Gallery in Los Angeles, where he was the first to show young artists such as Ed Ruscha, Larry Bell, and Joe Goode. A year later, he became the assistant curator of modern art for the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and established its education department. From 1969–74, he was director of the Fort Worth Art Center Museum before taking the same position at the San Francisco Museum of Art, which became the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art in 1975. He returned to Los Angeles in 1986 to head the Frederick Weisman Art Foundation.
Hopkins painted and drew throughout his career but showed work only rarely in group exhibitions since he felt it to be a conflict of interest with his museum work. He was an expert in twentieth century art and authored three books on contemporary artists: Fifty West Coast Artists (1982), Clyford Still (1976), and California Paintings and Scuplture: The Modern Era (1976).
September 29, 2009
George Segal Archive Donated to Princeton University Library
Brandeis University President To Resign
The
Associated Press reports that the president of Brandeis University, who came under intense criticism for recommending that the school close its Rose Art Museum and sell parts of its $350 million collection, says he is stepping down. Jehuda Reinharz told the school’s trustees this week he will remain on the job until a new president has been selected, or until June 2011. Reinharz also told _The Justice_, the Brandeis student newspaper that first reported the resignation, that his decision had nothing to do with the uproar caused by his recommendation in January to close the museum. He says he’s stepping down because he has met his goals. Since Reinharz took over in 1994, the university has gone on a building spree, established new academic programs, and tripled its endowment.
George Segal Archive Donated to Princeton University Library
Sixty-eight linear feet of business files, correspondence, preliminary sketches, drawing books, photographs, and other materials from the late artist George Segal have been donated to the Princeton University Library.
Segal, a painter and sculptor associated with the Pop Art movement, lived in North Brunswick, New Jersey, for most of his adult life. The collection was given to the library by his wife, Helen Segal, and the George and Helen Segal Foundation.
“We were very concerned that my father’s papers be preserved and available to the public,” said Rena Segal, the couple’s daughter, who is vice president of the foundation. “After some research we felt that Princeton was best suited for this purpose. Add that to the fact of it being close by and that Dad had taught at Princeton for a year, we felt this would be the ideal place. Upon meeting with Don [Skemer] and getting a tour of the facilities and being shown how easily the materials could be accessed by computer, we knew we made the right decision.”
Skemer, curator of manuscripts in the library’s department of rare books and special collections, said the Segal collection is significant because of its comprehensiveness and its inclusion of some lesser-known aspects of the artist’s work.
“These materials document more than sixty years of George Segal’s life, from his early education as an artist until his death in 2000 at age seventy-five,” Skemer said. “There were some very pleasant surprises. While George Segal achieved renown as a sculptor, he was also a skilled photographer. His papers contain more than six thousand black-and-white photographic prints and negatives, chiefly dating from the 1980s and ‘90s. Many of the photographs were taken to serve as points of reference for sculptural tableaux and paintings or charcoals. But he also was interested in fine photography. With his 35mm Leica in hand, he captured interesting people and settings from New York City street scenes to the Jersey Shore.”
September 28, 2009
Brandeis University President To Resign
The
Associated Press reports that the president of Brandeis University, who came under intense criticism for recommending that the school close its Rose Art Museum and sell parts of its $350 million collection, says he is stepping down. Jehuda Reinharz told the school’s trustees this week he will remain on the job until a new president has been selected, or until June 2011. Reinharz also told _The Justice_, the Brandeis student newspaper that first reported the resignation, that his decision had nothing to do with the uproar caused by his recommendation in January to close the museum. He says he’s stepping down because he has met his goals. Since Reinharz took over in 1994, the university has gone on a building spree, established new academic programs, and tripled its endowment.
September 28, 2009
University of Alabama at Birmingham Receives $5 Million for Arts Education Program
The University of Alabama at Birmingham has received a gift of five million dollars from Jane Stephens Comer, to be used in partnership with the Alys Stephens Center, for a cultural arts education program for Birmingham-area children in pre-school through high school.
The announcement was made today by university president Carol Z. Garrison.
“A few years ago Jane shared with us her life dream to create a place that would give children the opportunity to encounter all genres of visual and performing arts in an innovative environment; a unique center for the arts where children and young people would have the opportunity to create performances, attend programs by world-class performing artists, and forge collaborative relationships with university, the Alys Stephens Center, and other organizations in the community in all arts genres,” Garrison said.
“After much research and planning, we are delighted to announce that Jane's passion for the arts, and her understanding of the profound impact the arts have on children, are coming together to create exactly what she dreamed of—a cultural arts education center for children—with this extraordinarily generous gift, for which we are so grateful.”
Some program events are slated to occur next summer, and the full program will launch in September 2010.
September 24, 2009
Jeannene Przyblyski Named Dean at San Francisco Art Institute
The
San Francisco Art Institute has announced the appointment of Jeannene Przyblyski, chair of SFAI’s program in the history and theory of contemporary art, as its new dean of academic affairs. Effective immediately, the appointment follows former dean Okwui Enwezor’s decision to step down from the position in order to devote himself more fully to his curatorial work and writing even as he will continue to play a central role on SFAI’s faculty.
Having received a Ph.D. in art history from UC Berkeley, Przyblyski is an artist, historian, urban strategist, and instructor. After teaching at SFAI for many years, she joined the faculty in 2005; since has been the chair of the program in the history and theory of contemporary art since its inception, in 2006, as part of SFAI’s School of Interdisciplinary Studies.
“Together with former dean Okwui Enwezor,” SFAI president Chris Bratton commented, “Dean Przyblyski has played a key leadership role in developing both the plan of action and the new programs that have made for the early success of SFAI’s School of Interdisciplinary Studies.”
September 21, 2009
Yale University Art Gallery to Resume Renovation and Expansion
Like so many architectural projects, the second phase of the Yale University Art Gallery renovation and expansion that was to have begun in January was instead suspended that month because of the tanking economy. But in a surprising reversal of fortune, the gallery said this week that Jock Reynolds, its director, was able to raise the necessary money for the project to go ahead. It will resume next month, according to the
New York Times.
Three years ago Polshek Partnership Architects, a New York firm, completed the first part of the work, the renovation of its 1953 Louis I. Kahn building. But the gallery found itself thirty million dollars short of the seventy-six million dollars needed to carry out Phase 2—joining three buildings that stand next to one another but represent very different styles. They are the modernist Kahn building, the Italianate Gothic-style Swartwout building, and a Victorian Gothic by Peter Bonnett Wight. The project will significantly increase space for the educational museum’s galleries and classrooms.
Between April and August Whitney was able to raise the remaining money from several private donors, said Jill Westgard, the gallery’s deputy director for museum resources and stewardship. The entire project is to open in 2012. During the construction the Kahn building will remain open, with a full schedule of programs.
September 18, 2009
University of Kentucky College of Fine Arts Dean Steps Down
Robert Shay, dean of the University of Kentucky College of Fine Arts, has announced he will resign that position June 30, 2010. Shay, who was appointed to the position in June 1998, was instrumental in advancing the work of the college, from helping create the nation’s first fine arts extension program for Kentucky to supporting the university’s arts students and faculty as they performed in the national and international arena.
Shay will continue as faculty in the college, sharing his knowledge and expertise as an international talent in ceramics.
“Dean Shay has led our College of Fine Arts for over a decade with dedication. Notable among his accomplishments during this time has been the emergence of the School of Music as a significant artistic force in the region. I am grateful for his service, and wish him well as he returns to the faculty,” said UK Provost Kumble Subbaswamy.
As dean of the UK College of Fine Arts, Shay has led and helped shape the success of UK’s Arts Administration Program, Department of Art, Department of Theater, School of Music, and Singletary Center for the Arts. During his tenure, he established _CONTOURS_ magazine to promote faculty and student research, added ten faculty positions to the college bringing the number of total faculty to seventy-eight, increased the percentage of minority faculty from 13.2 to 16.6, and increased the college’s overall budget from approximately seven million dollars to nine million dollars.
In addition to maintaining accreditation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, Shay helped the UK Department of Art attain an additional accreditation from the National Association of Schools of Art and Design and aided UK Department of Theater as it has begun the accreditation process with the National Association of Schools of Theater. The college has also increased funding for the Singletary Center and will submit a proposal for the addition of a graduate degree in arts administration in the coming year.
September 15, 2009
Harvard, Yale, and Columbia Endowments Decline Over 20 Percent
Harvard University and Yale University, the wealthiest US schools, got about 30 percent poorer in the past year as their endowments lost more money on investments than less-affluent schools, according to
Bloomberg.
Harvard’s fund declined to $26 billion in the year ended June 30, led by a 27.3 percent loss on investments and $1.7 billion in distributions, the Cambridge, Massachusetts, university said in a report. Yale’s endowment fell to about $16 billion, prompting the New Haven, Connecticut, school to cut $150 million annually in spending through fiscal 2014.
The Ivy League rivals had both outperformed the average for US colleges in the past decade by increasing holdings of private equity and hedge funds. Those same investments contributed to outsized losses last year, compared with the median decline of 17 percent by endowments and foundations managing more than one billion dollars in assets, according to Hilarie Green, a managing director at Wilshire Associates, an investment-consulting firm in Santa Monica, California.
Jane Mendillo, chief executive officer of Harvard Management Co., said in yesterday’s annual endowment report that she’s seeking to rebuild assets and protect the university against future financial shocks. She raised cash holdings, cut three billion dollars in commitments to private-equity and real estate funds, and began shifting assets from outside firms to Harvard Management, which oversees the endowment.
Columbia University, reporting narrower investment losses than some of its Ivy League peers, said its endowment in the past year declined 21 percent in value to $5.7 billion, according to the
Wall Street Journal.
For the year ended June 30, the New York school reported the endowment had an investment loss of 16 percent—less than the 18 percent drop reported in the median return for big endowments, according to Wilshire Associates, an investment-management consultant. The decline also marked an improvement over the negative-22 percent Columbia had reported for the first nine months of its fiscal year.
September 15, 2009
Harvard Offers Tenure to Second American Art History Professor
Harvard University’s former associate professor of history and art and architecture Jennifer L. Roberts was appointed full professor in the department effective July 1, marking the second tenure in just one year of an American art historian within the historically Eurocentric department, according to the
Harvard Crimson
“The first symptom of having tenure, for me, was driving around Cambridge and feeling like I belong here, which I never really felt before,” Roberts said. “I’ve put a huge investment in this department, particularly in building a program in American art because there really wasn’t one twenty years ago...and it’s nice to know now that I can continue to build on that in a more permanent way.”
According to history of art and architecture professor Henri Zerner, Roberts is part of a new generation of younger scholars interested in studying American art with the same kind of investigative intensity and contextualization as those experts in better-entrenched areas of art history.
“Harvard was very late to the study of American art, and I think it’s an exciting moment for the field to have Harvard go from having zero tenured faculty in the field to having two,” said history of art and architecture professor Robin Kelsey, a fellow American art expert who received tenure this past January. “My own enjoyment of getting tenure would have been very half-hearted had she not.”
September 14, 2009
Southern Utah University Plans Art Museum
Southern Utah University plans to build an art museum next year with the help of paintings and property being donated by artist Jim Jones, according to the
Salt Lake City Tribune. Jones is at work on a series of fourteen landscapes for the proposed museum that local officials expect will cement the city's status as the region's cultural center.
University president Michael Benson revealed the plans for the new musuem at the most recent board of regents meeting, promising to raise the entire ten-million-dollar cost from philanthropic and other nonstate sources. That means putting out his hat in the worst economic climate in decades, but Benson and local officials are confident the university can pull it off.
“It's a lofty goal but we have cash and pledges in hand of two million dollars,” said Benson in a phone interview last week.
September 07, 2009
Michael Komechak, Benedictine University Curator (1932–2009)
The longtime art curator for Benedictine University in Lisle, Michael Komechak, died Wednesday, August 19, according to the
Chicago Tribune. Komechak, who also taught English and art at Benedictine University, accumulated an eclectic collection of paintings, photographs, sculptures, and other art media—more than 3,700 pieces from around the world.
“Father Michael always kept his eyes open for exciting additions to our art collection,” said Abbot Hugh Anderson, the former chancellor of Benedictine University. “He made friends with artists and stayed current on what was happening in the art world.”
But it was sharing the collection that brought Komechak the greatest joy, colleagues said.
“He loved helping people decorate their offices,” said Anderson, whose office walls are lined with black-and-white landscape prints taken by photographer Ansel Adams. “For Father Michael it was more than just choosing a painting. He told you about its history, its story, and who created such beauty.”
September 07, 2009
University of Illinois’s Spurlock Museum Receives National Accreditation
The Spurlock Museum at the University of Illinois has won national accreditation, recognition that makes it possible to pursue more grants and traveling exhibits.
The museum opened in 2002 as a replacement for the World Heritage Museum, which was housed on the fourth floor of Lincoln Hall. Director Wayne Pitard said the old facility never attained that accreditation because the cramped facilities were not the best conditions for storing valuable artifacts.
"The conditions were especially bad in summer," he said.
To win accreditation from the American Association of Museums, a museum first must conduct a year of self-study, then undergo a site visit by a team of peer reviewers. The association's independent accreditation commission then reviews the self-study. A visiting committee investigates to determine whether a museum should receive accreditation.
Of the nation's estimated 17,500 museums, 775 are currently accredited by the group. According to the association, the process generally takes three years.
September 02, 2009
João Ribas Appointed Curator at MIT List Center
The
Boston Globe’s Mark Shanahan and Meredith Goldstein report that MIT’s List Visual Arts Center has appointed João Ribas as curator of exhibitions. Born in Portugal and currently curator at the Drawing Center in New York, the thirty-year-old Ribas replaces Bill Arning, who was at the List for nine years and has been appointed director of the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston. Jane Farver, director of the List, expressed delight at the appointment, noting that Ribas was especially excited about immersing himself in Boston’s contemporary art scene. Ribas, speaking by phone while on vacation in the Hamptons, said he used to come to Boston regularly to play with his band, the Mooney Suzuki, before he gave up rock ’n’ roll for postwar philosophy and, later, art criticism. He said the List played a fascinating role as both a public museum of contemporary art and a crucible for different ideas within MIT. “This moment is really exciting,’’ he said. “There’s a great confluence between what contemporary artists are pursuing right now and what the List has been doing for the past forty years.’’ Ribas begins on September 21.
September 01, 2009
Christina Rees Named Curator of the Art Galleries at Texas Christian University
The Department of Art and Art History at Texas Christian University has appointed former Dallas gallery owner Christina Rees to serve as curator of the Art Galleries at TCU, effective August 15. The university maintains two gallery venues.
Rees, a native of Irving, Texas, received a bachelor of applied arts and sciences degree from the University of North Texas in 1993, with concentrations in art, anthropology, and sociology with a minor in English. She has worked as a writer, editor, columnist, and critic in the fields of visual art, film, and music and has most recently been owner-director of Road Agent, a contemporary art gallery in Dallas.
“Christina’s exhibitions received national recognition and provided a forum for discussion and consideration of international trends in contemporary art,” according to Dr. Frances Colpitt of the TCU art faculty who headed the search committee for a new curator.
Dr. Scott Sullivan, dean of the TCU College of Fine Arts, states, "We are extremely pleased to have someone with Christina's experience as our new curator. We look forward to her continuing our record of strong exhibitions of contemporary art at TCU."
September 01, 2009
