College Art Association of America
Founded in 1911, the College Art Association:
Promotes excellence in scholarship and teaching in the history and criticism of the visual arts and in creativity and technical skill in the teaching and practices of art
Facilitates the exchange of ideas and information among those interested in art and history of art
Advocates comprehensive and inclusive education in the visual arts
Speaks for the membership on issues affecting the visual arts and humanities
Provides publication of scholarship, criticism, and artists’ writings
Fosters career development and professional advancement.
Identifies and develops sources of funding for the practice of art and for scholarship in the arts and humanities
Honors accomplishments of artists, art historians, and critics
Articulates and affirms the highest ethical standards in the conduct of the profession
CAA includes among its members those who by vocation or avocation are concerned about and/or committed to the practice of art, teaching, and research of and about the visual arts and humanities. Over 12,000 artists, art historians, scholars, curators, critics, collectors, educators, publishers, and other professionals in the visual arts belong as individual members. Another 2,000 departments of art and art history in colleges and universities, art schools, museums, libraries, and professional and commercial organizations hold institutional memberships.
CAA is governed by a twenty-two-person Board of Directors, most elected by the membership, who represent the diverse constituencies in the visual arts and geographic regions of the United States and beyond. Membership is open to all individuals with an interest in art, art history, or a related discipline, whether by vocation or avocation. CAA encourages the inclusion among its constituencies of qualified individuals representing a diversity of race, religion, gender, national origin, sexual preference, physical disability, and age in employment, education, exhibition, programmatic opportunities, and the awarding of grants and prizes in the public and private art sectors. The CAA administrative office is located in New York.
CAA provides many high-quality programs for its members and for the broader visual arts community.
CAA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The CAA Annual Conference is the largest international gathering of professionals in the visual arts.
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS
A collection of programs tailored towards CAA’s international members.
ADVOCACY
CAA advocates on behalf of all professionals in the visual arts. In this capacity, the organization releases statements, issues guidelines, and publishes news to advance the cause and impact of the visual arts.
FAIR USE
This Code of Best Practices provides visual-arts professionals with a set of principles addressing best practices in the fair use of copyrighted materials.
RAAMP
RAAMP serves to promote scholarship, advocacy, and discussion related to the role of academic art museums and their contribution to the educational mission of their parent institutions. To this end, it functions as a publicly accessible online repository; it collects, stores, and shares resources.
AWARDS FOR DISTINCTION
With these annual awards, CAA seeks to honor individual artists, art historians, authors, curators, and critics whose accomplishments transcend their individual disciplines and contribute to the profession as a whole and to the world at large.
PUBLISHING GRANTS
CAA awards several publishing grants to support the publication of scholarly manuscripts. There are currently three such grants being offered, which are the Millard Meiss Publication Fund, the Wyeth Foundation for American Art Publication Grant, and the Terra Foundation for American Art Publication Grant
TRAVEL GRANTS
CAA offers Travel Grants to graduate students, faculty, and classrooms studying art history and to artists and scholars in the United States and internationally.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT FELLOWSHIPS FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS
CAA’s Professional Development Fellowship Program supports promising artists, designers, craftspersons, historians, curators, and critics who are enrolled in MFA, PhD, and other terminal-degree programs nationwide.
PODCASTS
CAA provides a series of podcasts devoted to professional-development topics for artists. These podcasts intended for use by artists, art historians, curators, nonprofit art professionals, and other constituencies.