Wednesday, February 17, 1999
World gets taste of cultural opportunities in Los Angeles
ART: Conference brings critics, students together to view city’s
collections
By Sandy Yang
Daily Bruin Staff
A rich variety of art and means of experiencing it are nothing
new to Angelenos. World-renowned museums just a drive away, famed
art programs and the L.A. art community have made its reputation
possible.
For four days last week, the rest of the country had a chance to
see what Los Angeles had to offer firsthand at the 87th Annual
College Art Association (CAA).
The conference – the only national forum for the visual arts and
art history – gave opportunities to explore the culture and art
scene in Los Angeles, while giving the huge number of attendants a
place to exchange and present ideas.
"They’ve always been significant because it’s always been a time
for people to discuss ideas in their field," said Mary Kelly, chair
of the Art Department and a member of the CAA Host Committee.
"It kind of ups the ante as far as your teaching is concerned,
and … for younger people, it’s a chance to see what employment is
available in the field."
For Ruth Weisberg, dean of USC School of Fine Arts and co-chair
of the Host Committee, it was an opportunity to showcase Los
Angeles to a great number of visitors – which had not been done
since 1985 when the conference was last hosted here.
"We wanted to accomplish what our goals were in Los Angeles,
which really had to do with revealing the rich multi-diverse
cultural ethics of the city," Weisberg said. "We feel we have a
very unique art scene in Los Angeles and we wanted people to be
aware of that."
"I think we were quite successful in that."
The host committee, responsible for the receptions and trips to
neighboring museums and receptions, set up numerous trips from such
big-name museums as the Getty and the Los Angeles County Museum of
Art to smaller receptions at UCLA’s Armand Hammer and Fowler
Museums and other art institutions in the city.
With no lack of things to do and see, this year’s conference
drew in more than 5,000 artists, art historians, museum curators,
art students and other professionals from the country and the
world.
Inside the convention center, panels were conducted by
professional artists and art historians around the themes, "Ring of
Fire" for studio art and "From Another Place: Difference,
Encounter, Acculturation, Identity, Resistance" for art
history.
Topics ranged from the more general, such as "Italian Baroque
Art," to specific subjects that included "Los Angeles and the
Architecture of Spectatorship" and "Porn Queens, Perverts,
Jailbirds and Bad Mommies."
"The panels bring everybody up to date as to what people are
thinking about, what the new scenes are and how people are
responding and where people are moving both in individual artists
and in their careers," art history chair Anthony Vidler said. "It’s
basically a place where we all meet. "
Vidler was part of a panel discussing the representation of
modern cities, namely Los Angeles and Paris. However, the panel was
almost cut short due to the time constraint.
Because of the multitude of panels, discussion – though invited
– may not always be possible.
Visiting art professor Julie Carson was part of a panel called
Theory and Art. Carson’s topic involved the psychoanalytic
perspective of teaching French-African author Frantz Fanon and his
book, entitled "Black Skin, White Mask." The work was a vehicle to
show how certain topics can cause a reaction, which induces a
problem of teaching a controversial topic.
However, this panel generated reaction from the audience that
was with the spirit of sharing … or countering ideas.
"What happened was it sort of provoked a response, a debate
between somebody getting upset in the audience, and most of the
audience getting upset with the person," Carson said.
While established artists have a forum to discuss and vent, the
conference also gave recognition to noted professionals in their
field. Awards were given out for excellence in all mediums
involving art, including criticism, writing and teaching, in which
Weisberg received the Distinguished Teaching of Art Award.
In contrast to the more established artists, the conference also
recognized graduate and post-graduate art students by exhibiting
their work. In addition to talking to professionals in their chosen
field, students also had the chance to find employment from
universities, museums and community art organizations.
In setting up the conference, Weisberg aimed to attract more art
students than before. Giving the largest number of grants and
scholarships, the year’s conference drew an exceptionally big
participation of graduate students.
"We felt very strongly that the conference should be opened up
to many people who normally wouldn’t go to a conference," Weisberg
said. "I think it gives (students) a better idea of what it would
be like to practice their profession if they go to the professional
society conferences that are relevant to their career goals. That’s
what I tell my students."
For established professionals, the conference gives them a
chance to see colleagues separated from the boundary of distance,
and of course, new ideas that are always emerging in the art
world.
"You do many things," Weisberg said. "You are informed about new
issues in the arts and art history. You see friends. It has a
flavor of a reunion if you go every year. You get a better sense of
what’s happening culturally in whatever city you’re in."
"You get everybody in the country that you don’t have time to
see," Carson added. "It’s nice to have them all come, and it’s
important for Los Angeles to have this diverse group of
people."
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