An Affiliate of the National Art Education Association

CSTAE Newsletter

March 1998

Ken Marantz, Editor

Editorial To be or not to be? Tradition suggests, even demands, that a fresh editorial face makes an effort to expose its wrinkles and warts. And my face is well-textured with both after 45 years of toiling in art educationís fields. In my early years, the 1950s and 1960s, being an editor was considered an honorable and desirable way of serving both the community and, more selfishly, oneís own ambitions. And I, at a most tender age, took on my first publication. But today I serve because there seems to be a sense that taking on an editorship is like pulling the short straw. Thereís no honor in it, nor any career rewards. When I edited STUDIES more campus brownie points were allotted for publishing a single article than for producing two yearsí worth of journals! There may be a bit of altruism on my part today, but also, selfishly, since retirement I miss the opportunity for pontificating and find this newsletter offers me a kind of bully pulpit from which to proclaim my prejudices. The Caucus exists within the over-arching political institution of the NAEA, an organization becoming as Balkanized as the rest of the USA. We are but one of a dozen or so specialized interest groups in for the ride on a rudderless ship that drifts wherever the faddish currents take it, ineptly managed by a few members seeking personal gain. What role do we zealots play in this mass of mediocrity? If once we had a purpose, do we still? If we have been shining the light into the gloom ahead, why have so few followed? Here are a few areas that seem to me to be fallow still, enough to investigate using our professed value orientation: How have technologies affected the shapes and roles of the arts and their audiences? Are there any parallels to the invention of mobile type in the visual arts? How has the way we talk about art produced jargon and acronyms, created changes in focus-îold wine in new skinsî? Have we dealt reasonably with the notion of authenticity, the nature of the ìoriginal,î the authority of the cultural representative? Do we have a point of view that should be sharpened and vocalized relating to the tidal wave of ìmulticulti-ismî? Have the relationships among wealth and art and class been adequately examined? Is there a parallel between wealth in the political arena and money in the artworld? Have we paid enough attention to the ìdisciplineî of economics or have we been numbed by the massive propaganda campaign of the California-based Big Four Disciplines? Should we be paying attention to the effect on the artworld of the significant changes occurring to art museums as they vie with other entertainment institutions? If our CAUCUS canít bring passionate discourse back to a flaccid field, then it may be time to close up shop. Are there ideas out there worth getting angry about? Or are you contented with simply surviving on reheated yesterdayís oatmeal? Make this Newsletter more than my personal megaphone. Send me stuff that I can publish that singes the paper itís printed on.

Select Articles:

Editor's Message: "To Be or Not To Be?"

Past Editor's Message: Wishful Thinking

Coordinator, Ed Check

Coordinator-Elect, Karen Keifer-Boyd

NAEA CONFERENCE IN CHICAGO 4/1-5 1998
Dialogue with The Journal of Social Theory in Art Education Authors and Artists

Present Latest Art/Research at Works in Progress Session in Chicago

From the CSTAE Webmaker: Karen Keifer-Boyd

Journal of Social Theory Calls For Papers

Wanted Papermakers

Announcements from Arthur the Archivist

Site maintained by Karen Keifer-Boyd
E-mail: KarenKB@ttu.edu
Last Updated 3/5/98