The January issue includes statements and biographies of the six candidates for the CAA Board of Directors for 2009–13. Please read these texts, as well as view their short video statements online, before casting your vote.

Also featured are details on the upcoming Regional MFA Exhibition at the 97th Annual Conference in Los Angeles, which features the work of student artists from twelve graduate programs in southern California.

The deadline for submissions to, and advertisements for the March 2009 issue is January 10. Please see the newsletter submission guidelines for instructions or write to Christopher Howard, CAA managing editor.

The board is responsible for all financial and policy matters related to the organization. It promotes excellence in scholarship and teaching in the history and criticism of the visual arts, and it encourages creativity and technical skill in the teaching and practice of art. CAA’s board is also charged with representing the membership on issues affecting the visual arts and humanities.

Nominations and self-nominations should include the following information: the nominee’s name, affiliation, address, email address, and telephone number, as well as the name, affiliation, and email address of the nominator, if different from the nominee. Please forward all to: Vanessa Jalet, CAA Executive Assistant, CAA, 275 Seventh Ave., 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001. Deadline: April 3, 2009.

CAA also encourages you to vote in the upcoming board election, beginning January 5, 2009. For full details about the election, visit the board-election webpage.

On October 25, 2008, the Board of Directors, the Strategic Planning Steering Committee, and senior CAA staff held a Strategic Planning Retreat to set goals for 2010–15. Members of the Planning Steering Committee are: Michael Ann Holly, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute; Paul Jaskot, DePaul University and CAA President and CEO; Ken Gonzales-Day, Scripps College and CAA board; Jay Coogan, Rhode Island School of Design and CAA board; Anne Collins Goodyear, National Portrait Gallery and CAA Vice President for External Affairs; Mary-Ann Milford-Lutzker, Mills College and CAA Vice President for Committees; Barbara Nesin, Spelman College and CAA Secretary; and Linda Downs, CAA Executive Director.

James McNamara and Paul Melton, planning consultants from LaPlaca Cohen, a cultural arts marketing firm, have assisted CAA through the planning process, which will be completed with a final document at year-end 2009. Before the retreat, McNamara and Melton conducted interviews with board members, senior staff, and a selection of academic and association leaders outside the CAA membership to determine the key issues and implications that we must address in preparing for our future. Questions addressed the components of a mission, vision, and values statement, the future of CAA’s service to its members, and the visual-arts field.

In September 2008, over eight hundred members responded to an email survey on their most pressing professional concerns. The results also helped inform the planning process.

The planning retreat began with a presentation on digital publishing by Raym Crow, managing partner at the Chain Bridge Group. He presented the essential points of investigation needed to plan for digital publications. CAA staff presented current statistical information on programs and publications and presented comparative information for other national academic member associations. McNamara and Melton then presented the results of the interviews and members’ survey as a basis for the discussion of identifying goals for the future of CAA.

All CAA committees, including the Professional Interests, Practices and Standards Committees, the Publications Committee, the three journals’ editorial boards, and our affiliated societies, were requested to present their interests and concerns for CAA’s future. Their responses will be incorporated into the planning process.

I encourage you to attend an open forum for all members to discuss planning issues during the Annual Members’ Business Meeting at the Annual Conference in Los Angeles on Friday, February 27, 2009, at 5:00 PM in the West Hall Meeting Room, 502A Level 2, Los Angeles Convention Center. We would like to have your thoughts and ideas in order to make CAA responsive to all members’ needs. If you cannot attend the forum, please send your comments to nyoffice@collegeart.org. I look forward to hearing from you.

—Linda Downs, CAA executive director

The current Nominating Committee will select new members at its business meeting held at the 2009 Annual Conference in Los Angeles. All committee members nominate a minimum of five and a maximum of ten candidates for the board. Service on the committee also involves conducting telephone interviews with candidates during the summer and meeting at the CAA office in New York in September 2009 to select the final slate. Finally, all committee members must attend the Nominating Committee’s business meeting at the Annual Conference in Chicago to select the 2010 committee.

Nominations and self-nominations should include a brief statement of interest and a two-page CV. Please send all materials to: Mary-Ann Milford-Lutzker, Vice President for Committees c/o CAA Executive Assistant, CAA, 275 Seventh Ave., 18th Floor, New York, NY 10001. Materials may also be sent by email as Microsoft Word attachments to Vanessa Jalet, CAA executive assistant. Deadline: January 7, 2009.

The Career Services Guide will also be published in the January 2009 issue of CAA News as a colored-paper insert; copies will also be available at Orientation and in the Candidate’s Center at the conference.

All Career Services will take place at the Los Angeles Convention Center, 1201 South Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, California. For more information about job searching, visit the Career Services section of the conference website.