The Grapevine

CFP: “Is there an African Atlantic?” @ MAHS Conference 2017

The Atlantic Ocean provides Africanist art historians a rich model of investigation and analysis. Connecting Africa to Europe and the Americas, the Atlantic maps the flows, circularities, and dislocations of African arts in and out of diaspora. But it also separates. In the hulls of slave ships, new worlds were both forged and lost, underscoring a separation that lives on as today even distinctly black Atlantic scholarship often includes little space for African ideas and worldviews. Responding to the inclusion of open panels dedicated separately to both African and African-American art, this thematic panel seeks contributions that take up African arts’ indeterminate space in the Atlantic world as both possibility and pitfall. Such case studies may include, but are not limited to, the role of African artworks in negotiating new identities and profound social changes wrought by the Atlantic world; the impact of diasporic arts on the African continent; African artistic responses to slavery and the slave trade; and efforts to re-center African epistemologies in diasporic contexts.

The 2017 Conference of the Midwest Art History Society will be held April 6-8 at the Cleveland Museum of Art. Please submit a 250-word proposal and a 2-page CV to Matthew Rarey (mrarey@oberlin.edu) by Saturday, December 31, 2016.

You can access the full conference info and CFP at https://www.mahsonline.org/conference/

 

DIGITAL: First Blacks in the Americas: The African Presence in The Dominican Republic — African Diaspora, Ph.D.

New Digital Project: First Blacks in the Americas:

via DIGITAL: First Blacks in the Americas: The African Presence in The Dominican Republic — African Diaspora, Ph.D.

CFP: African American Open Session @ MAHS Conference 2017

The 2017 Annual Conference of the Midwest Art History Society will be hosted by the Cleveland Museum of Art (CMA) and Case Western Reserve University from April 6–8. Panels held during the first two days will take place at the museum. The final day of the conference will take place at Oberlin College in the Allen Memorial Art Museum.

Proposals for the African American Art Open Session can be sent to David Hart at  dhart@cia.edu. Proposals of no more than 250 words and a two-page CV should be emailed (preferably as Word documents).

The deadline has been extended to December 31, 2016.

See https://www.mahsonline.org/conference/ for additional details.

EXH: “Spiritual Yards: Home Ground of Jamaica’s Intuitives – Selections from the Wayne and Myrene Cox Collection” @ National Gallery of Jamaica

The National Gallery of Jamaica is pleased to present Spiritual Yards: Home Ground of Jamaica’s Intuitives, which features selections from the Wayne and Myrene Cox Collection. The exhibition opens on Sunday, December 11, with the formalities starting at 1:30 pm, starting with opening remarks by Wayne Cox and followed by a musical performance by the […]

via “Spiritual Yards: Home Ground of Jamaica’s Intuitives – Selections from the Wayne and Myrene Cox Collection” Opens on December 11 — National Gallery of Jamaica Blog

FEL: Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellow-Prints, Drawings, and Photographs @ RISD Museum

The Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design is pleased to announce a fellowship funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for an outstanding junior scholar who wishes to pursue a curatorial career. The Mellon Fellow will be fully integrated into the Museum’s Department of Prints, Drawings, and Photographs. The Fellow will have access to the museum collections and research libraries in the region and will enjoy all the professional privileges of the museum’s staff. The Fellow will be expected to participate in strengthening the Museum’s engagement with the academic curricula at Brown University and RISD.

Core Activities
• Work with the two department curators to foster collaboration with faculty at RISD, Brown University, and area colleges to encourage greater use of the collection in classes and individual study.
• Supervise the department’s active study room and act as the primary liaison between the department and faculty teaching from the collections, including making regular presentations to classes.
• Become familiar with the collection’s 28,000 works on paper and undertake research in area of expertise, leading to an exhibition to be presented in the third year, preferably in collaboration with a faculty member from Brown and/or RISD. Assist with departmental exhibitions as assigned.
• Conduct research to accurately catalogue new acquisitions, answer queries about the collection, and interact with scholars, students, and the public on collection matters.
• Give presentations to docents, the general public, and other museum constituents on the collection and exhibitions.
• Travel with the department’s curators to explore potential acquisitions and to attend scholarly conferences and relevant exhibitions.
• Oversee use of and access to the departmental storage area and ensure the special care, security, and proper handling of collections.
• Train and direct student employees and interns as needed.
• Assist with additional departmental activities as assigned.

The Andrew W. Mellon Curatorial Fellowship is a full-time, limited term (3-year) benefited position. Travel and research funds are available. The appointment will begin as soon as possible. Applicants who complete their applications by January 9, 2017 will be given full consideration.

Ph.D or ABD in Art History or related field required. The Fellow should have a demonstrated interest in and knowledge of the history of prints, drawings, or photographs. Strong commitment to object-based teaching. Ability to handle original works of art with care. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and the ability to be a team player in an active office environment.

Museum and/or teaching experience. Knowledge of a second language is highly desirable.

The successful candidate will be required to meet our pre-employment background screening requirements.

To learn more about the RISD Museum visit http://risdmuseum.org/. To apply visit https://careers.risd.edu/postings/1411

The Sounds of Ethncity, Race and Region

how-to-speak-midwesternIn today’s New York Times, Jennifer Schuessler reviewed a new book, How to Speak Midwestern. Interestingly, the headline in the print edition is:  “Midwesterner, Yes, You Do Have an Accent”. This phrasing is a gentle nudge to rethink what might be perceived as a norm, which, of course, is actually as inflected as anything else. Apparently, this truth is one of author Edward McClelland’s motivations for writing this book.

In the review, Schuessler comes out from behind the curtain of reviewer neutrality. She pronounces, self-deprecatingly: “Full disclosure: Like Mrs. Clinton, I’m a white woman who grew up in the Chicago suburbs. When it comes to pinched nasal vowels and strongly pronounced r’s (a phenomenon linguists call rhoticity), I’m With Her.”

Schuessler also notes: “The heavily industrialized (and segregated) Inland North–as dialectologists call the region stretching from roughly from central New York across the Great Lakes–‘has a wider divergence between white and black speech than anywhere in the country,’ Mr. McClleland writes, with African-Americans largely maintaining speech patterns brought from the South. (Mr. McClelland notes the existence of various Midwestern ‘blacaccents,’ though he doesn’t explore them.)”

Such “blaccents” are not the only subjects deserving of further study by critical race scholars. So is the consideration of the visual. Tellingly, the designers for McClelland’s book eschew figures for its cover, as if to acknowledge the demographic diversity of the region’s populace. Smart move.

Consider the ideology of an earlier publication (1960) with almost the same title:

thomas-how-to-speak-midwestern

This book is a “humor” offering. See Google Books for a brief excerpt:

“To speak good Midwestern you need to: Get gear’d up by studyin’ this book. Before you know it you’ll be speaking Midwestern Pertnear as good as Everybody.”

Thomas’s cover design is serious in its invocation, i.e., the Midwest is American Gothic (1930). It is a move to use the authority of the original painting, without any awareness of its intended satire.

 

 

EVENT: Black Art & Activism NOW @ Decolonize This Place 12/04/2016

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JOB: Director of Curatorial Services @ African American Museum in Philadelphia

African American Museum in Philadelphia
Director of Curatorial Services

The Director of Curatorial Services manages and directs the curatorial and interpretive initiatives and activities of the African American Museum in Philadelphia (AAMP). The Director of Curatorial Services has primary oversight of AAMP’s exhibition, collection, and conservation functions. The Director of Curatorial Services provides the leadership necessary for the presentation of intellectually rigorous and compelling exhibits that fulfill AAMP’s mission while fostering civic engagement. The Director of Curatorial Services also oversees AAMP’s collection; ensuring its on-going preservation, daily management, and accessibility to diverse audiences. The Director of Curatorial Services works with the President and CEO and AAMP’s Board to ensure the development, adoption and implementation of policies and procedures to that adhere to established standards of stewardship. The Director of Curatorial Services works directly with the President and CEO and is part of the Museum’s Senior Management Team

Principal Duties and Responsibilities:

• Exhibitions. Lead the development of exhibition proposals and ensure they meet intellectual, interpretive, audience, and mission goals; identify and hire outside curators, artists, art historians, and historians to develop or consult on exhibition proposals and exhibition development; lead research phase of exhibition development; develop three- to five-year exhibition schedule; oversee exhibition design, production, and installation. Collaborate with AAMP’s Education and Public Programming Departments to ensure that exhibits create compelling and meaningful educational experiences for visitors to the Museum; oversee regular and ongoing audience research and evaluation of exhibitions and partnerships; oversee written, visual, and oral interpretive tools and collateral materials; assist in fundraising efforts for exhibitions..

• Collection and Conservation Management. Supervise the management of AAMP’s collection, including registrarial activities (loans, accessioning, deaccessioning, recordkeeping, inventory); preservation activities; and making the collection accessible through exhibition and online resources; oversee the updating and implementation of collection policies, procedures, and practices that meet prescribed national standards; assist the AAMP Board in to develop a collection strategy to build the collection to ensure it reflects the Museum’s mission; assist in fundraising efforts for collection preservation and access activities and programs.

Also:

• Oversees training and supervises professional staff, including the Exhibit Manager and the Collections Coordinator
• Develops annual goals and objectives for the exhibitions, and collection and conservation management in accordance with the institutional mission and strategic plan
• Serves as staff liaison to AAMP’s Collections and Acquisitions Committees;
• Represents, as assigned, the Museum on external committees, panel, or councils
• Develops and implements an annual budget
• Assumes other duties as appropriate for the operation of the Museum, or as assigned by the President and CEO

Qualifications:

• MS/MA in African American Studies, American History, Art History (African or American Art focus preferred), or a related humanities field
• Ten years experience in museum collection and curatorial work
• Seven years experience as a supervisor
• Record of scholarly research and publications and intellectual leadership
• Experience writing foundation and state and federal grants
• Knowledge of standard collection museum policies and procedures
• Experience managing exhibition development, production, and installation
• Experience leading and managing partnerships with other cultural organizations and community groups
• Ability to plan and manage budgets
• Ability to supervise people and manage complex programs and projects
• Ability to plan and implement new programs
• Ability to solve technical, administrative, and personnel problems creatively
• Ability to think strategically
• Superior verbal and written communication skills
• Commitment to the mission, values, and programs of the African American Museum in Philadelphia

To apply, send cover letter, resume and any supplemental materials to  Patricia Wilson Aden via email at pwilsonaden@aampmuseum.org or via the post at:

Patricia Wilson Aden
President & CEO
African American Museum in Philadelphia
701 Arch Street
Philadelphia, PA  19106

Inquiries via email only.

 

In This Political Season, A Film Portrait of East Coast, White Working Class Racial Identity

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Critic A.O. Scott take a while to get around to it in yesterday’s New York Times, but towards the end of his review he writes: “The movie takes up, indirectly and perhaps inadvertently but powerfully and unmistakably, a subject that has lately reinserted itself into American political discourse. It’s a movie, that is, about the sorrows of white men.” Of the film’s main character, Lee Chandler (played by Casey Affleck),  a Boston apartment building janitor who was born in a Bay State seaside town, Scott surmises: “Cast out of this working man’s paradise, Lee is also exiled from the prerogatives of whiteness.  . . .to deny that Manchester By the Sea has a racial dimension is to underestimate its honesty and overlook its difficult relevance.”

Sounds like critical race visual cultural studies is in yet another the critical conversation.

A.O. Scott, “Currents of Grief Beneath Everyday Life–Film Review,” New York Times, November 19, 2016, Weekend Arts Section I, 1, 12.

 

 

Marvel celebrates fifty years of Black Panther at NYCC — Dark Matters

LINK: “I can’t believe we were publishing this in 1973!”

via Marvel celebrates fifty years of Black Panther at NYCC — Dark Matters