American Federation of Arts
Established | 1909 |
---|---|
Location | 305 East 47th Street 10th Floor New York, NY |
Director | Pauline Forlenza |
Website | www.afaweb.org |
The American Federation of Arts (AFA) is a
History
Early history and publications
The AFA was founded on May 12, 1909.
At a meeting on May 11, 1909, convened by the
When Root proposed the creation of the AFA in 1909, the nation’s artistic wealth was largely concentrated in eastern cities and inaccessible to most citizens. The AFA and its traveling exhibitions were envisioned as a means of “bringing the museum to the people.” During its inaugural year, the AFA organized three traveling exhibitions, the first of which was Thirty-Eight Oil Paintings by Prominent American Artists, and launched Art and Progress magazine (later renamed Magazine of Art), an innovative vehicle for art scholarship that continued to be published until 1953. Mechlin, art critic at The Washington Star, was the magazine’s founding editor and continued in the role through 1931.[5] The Thirty-Eight Paintings exhibition was viewed by more than 5,600 people at the library before traveling to New Orleans, St. Paul, and New Ulm, Minnesota.[6]
The AFA also published the first edition of
Lobbying efforts
In 1910, the AFA promoted the creation of a
In 1920, the AFA was instrumental in organizing a lobbying campaign for the “development of a national gallery of art on a basis worthy of our great nation,” a goal eventually realized with the founding of the National Gallery of Art in 1941. Other government-tied AFA initiatives include arranging the first American representation in the Venice Biennale in 1924 and thereafter until the 1970s.[citation needed]
Public programs
The AFA’s history includes a series of programs designed to facilitate greater access and appreciation of the visual arts, among them, the first nationally broadcast radio programs about art (1930s–1940s); the Picture of the Month Program (1954), offering original paintings at low rental fees to small art and educational organizations; the Museum Donor Program (1960s), distributing allowances to regional museums to purchase contemporary American art; The Art of Seeing (1965), a landmark series of educational films on visual perception; The Curriculum in Visual Education (1966), a collection of films and instructional materials designed to heighten the aesthetic awareness of children; the Rent-an-Artist Program (renamed the Visitor Artist Program) (1970s), placing artists in residency at museums around the country; A History of the American Avant-Garde Cinema (1976), the first curatorially selected international traveling film program; and ART ACCESS I and II (1989–98), a fee-subsidy program sponsored by the
In 1909, the AFA created the Package Library, which offered newspaper and magazine clippings on a variety of art subjects for loan to AFA members. Although intended primarily for use in communities with limited library facilities, the files were often in demand by members in larger cities as well. By 1942, the library included more than 1,000 envelopes covering topics from contemporary American painting to industrial art.[citation needed]
In 1934, in collaboration with the
In 1994, the AFA inaugurated the Directors Forum, a two-and-a-half-day annual conference for museum directors that featured panel discussions with some of the most distinguished professionals in the art world. Beginning in 2005, the Directors Forum is now an annual program of the independent Art Museum Partnership. Building upon the success of that program, the AFA began, in 2001, a similar conference for art museum curators. The Curators Forum later evolved into the independent
Most recently, the AFA launched ArtViews, a series of panel discussions that address critical issues in the museum field. Its first edition held in 2011 was titled "Shifting Challenges in the Protection of Archaeological Heritage" and was organized in conjunction with the Institute of Fine Arts and the Association of Art Museum Directors. More recent subjects have included: "Art Museum Funding at the Crossroads" (2012), "Art Museum Blockbusters: Myths, Facts, and their Future (2013), "Digital Space/Physical Space, Mapping the 21st Century Museum" (2015), "The Future of Art Museum Leadership" (2016), and "Museums Now: Relevance and Representation" (2017).
Film and video
Through the development of touring film and video exhibitions, publications, and an eventual collection of 139 documentaries on the arts and avant-garde films and videos, the AFA developed a groundbreaking film and video program that focused on the work of independent contemporary media artists in this country and abroad.[8] Released beginning in 1949, the organization’s publications on the subject include the pamphlet Guide to Films on Art (1949); Films on Art (1952), a comprehensive guide that listed and reviewed more than 450 films on art subjects; New American Filmmakers (1971), a catalogue of independent films produced in cooperation with the Whitney Museum; A History of the American Avant-Garde Cinema (1976);[9] Films on Art: A Source Book (1977),[10] the second edition of the 1952 volume Films on Art; and Before Hollywood: Turn-of-the-Century Film from American Archives (1987).[11]
In 1959, the AFA co-sponsored the first art film festival in the U.S.—Films on Art Festival, in Woodstock, New York, with the Woodstock Artists Association, the College Art Association, Hunter College, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art.[12] In 1969, the AFA established Circulating Films on Art, thus becoming the first organization of its kind to circulate such films for rent. In 1971, the AFA began circulating 200 films from the Whitney’s New American Filmmakers series, expanding the collaboration in 1979 with the circulation of films from the Whitney Biennial and again in 1983 with the addition of video to the Biennial.[13] In 1976, the AFA organized the first curatorially selected international traveling film exhibition, A History of the American Avant-Garde Cinema. In addition to its traveling video selections from the Whitney, in 1983, the AFA began organizing independent traveling video exhibitions, the first of which included American Documentary Video: Subject to Change;[14] New Video: Japan; and Revisiting Romance: New Feminist Video.
In 1993, the AFA transferred its collection of prize-winning American and European films and videotapes to the Museum of Modern Art’s Circulating Film and Video program,[15] and in 1996, upon the dissolution of its Media Arts Department, transferred its inventory of film and video exhibitions to the Film and Video Department of the Museum of Modern Art.
Offices and mergers
After initial meetings in Francis Millet’s studio in Washington, D.C., in 1909 the AFA moved its headquarters into the Octagon Building at 1741 New York Avenue, N.W., renting space from the American Institute of Architects. The National League of Handicraft Societies merged with the AFA in 1912, and constituent societies were made AFA members. In 1913, the AFA opened its first New York office in the Fine Arts Building at 215 West 57th Street. The office later moved to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and then to 40 East 49th Street. Beginning in 1952, the AFA relocated its headquarters, moving from Washington, D.C. to New York, renting offices at 1083 Fifth Avenue. In 1987, the AFA’s merger with the Art Museum Association of America (AMAA) brought together the two oldest nonprofit art museum organizations in America, creating a larger national organization that could offer a comprehensive set of services without duplication. Retaining the name American Federation of Arts, the new organization maintained offices in both New York and San Francisco, and former AMAA Director Myrna Smoot became director.[16]
The San Francisco office was dedicated to the AFA’s Museum Services Department. Also based in the West Coast was the AFA’s administration of the
Notable members
- Una B. Herrick, American educator, the first Dean of Women at Montana State College.[18]
Exhibitions
AFA exhibitions encompass a wide range of mediums, artists, historical periods, and cultural traditions—from Roman portraiture and Native American artifacts to American impressionism and contemporary art and sculpture. The AFA also collaborates with distinguished institutions around the world to tour important aspects of their collections. To further engage and inform museum visitors and art enthusiasts, the AFA produces innovative educational components and richly illustrated catalogues introducing original scholarship.
Exhibition highlights, 1950s–present
- Sport in Art (began touring 1955)
- Cuban Painting Today (1956)
- Art and the Found Object (1958)
- Ten Negro Artists from the United States (1966)
- Pop and Op (1966)
- Rejective Art (1967-8; curated by Lucy Lippard, including works by Brice Marden, Agnes Martin, Robert Morris, Robert Smithson, Donald Judd, and Sol LeWitt, among others)
- Soft and Apparently Soft Sculpture (1968; including works by Louise Bourgeois, Hans Haacke, Eva Hesse, Yayoi Kusama, Claes Oldenburg, and Richard Serra, among others)
- Please Be Seated: The Evolution of the Chair, 2000 B.C.–2000 A.D. (1968)
- The Realist Revival (1972; including works by Jack Beal, Robert Bechtle, Richard Estes, Janet Fish, and Philip Pearlstein, among others)
- Masterworks from the Museum of Primitive Art (1974)
- Alberto Giacometti: Sculptor and Draftsman (1977)
- Objects of Bright Pride: Northwest Coast Indian Art from The American Museum of Natural History(1978 and again in 1988)
- The Painter and the Printer: Robert Motherwell’s Graphics (1980)
- The Other Side: European Avant-Garde Cinema, 1960–1980: A Film Exhibition (1983)
- Te Maori: Maori artfrom New Zealand Collections (1984)
- Mark Rothko: Works on Paper (1984)
- The Drawings of Stuart Davis: The Amazing Continuity (1992)
- Neo-Dada: Redefining Art, 1958–62 (1994)[19]
- In the Spirit of Resistance: African-American Modernists and the Mexican Muralist School/En espíritu de la resistancia: Los modernistas africanoamericanos y la Escuela Muralista Mexicana (1996)
- Arthur Wesley Dow and American Arts and Crafts (1999)
- Wolfgang Laib: A Retrospective (2000)
- American Modern, 1925–1940: Design for a New Age (2000; including works by Norman Bel Geddes, Donald Deskey, Raymond Loewy, Lurelle Guild, Eliel Saarinen, and Frank Lloyd Wright, among others)
- Eternal Egypt: Masterworks from the British Museum (2001)
- Uncommon Legacies: Native American Art from the Peabody Essex Museum (2002)
- Degasand the Dance (2002)
- The Sensuous and the Sacred: Chola Bronzesfrom South India (2002)
- Debating American Modernism: Duchamp, and the New York Avant-Garde (2003)[20]
- An International Legacy: Selections from the Carnegie Museum of Art (2003; including works by Carl Andre, Elizabeth Murray, Gerhard Richter, Cindy Sherman, Gilbert & George, Rachel Whiteread, Nam June Paik, Bill Viola, and Tony Oursler, among others)
- Lorna Simpson (2006)
- Color as Field: American Painting, 1950–1975 (2007; including works by Helen Frankenthaler, Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, Jules Olitski, Larry Poons, and Frank Stella, among others)[21]
- Roman Art from the Louvre (2007)
- Symbols of Power: Empire Style, 1800–1815 (2007)
- Matisse as Printmaker (2009)[24]
- Out of the Box: The Rise of Sneaker Culture (2015)
- Women Artists in Paris, 1850-1900 aka Her Paris: Women Artists in the Age of Impressionism (2017)
- Victorian Radicals: From the Pre-Raphaelites to the Arts & Crafts Movement (2018)
Cultural Leadership Award
Each year, the American Federation of Arts presents a Cultural Leadership Award to individuals who have demonstrated extraordinary commitment to supporting art and museums, both nationally and internationally. The Cultural Leadership Award is formally presented to the honorees at the AFA’s annual gala, which is attended by an elite group of leaders from society, business, and the cultural world. Proceeds from the gala help underwrite the AFA’s traveling exhibitions.
Past Cultural Leadership Award recipients:[25]
- 2018 – Eli and Edythe Broad, collectors and philanthropists
- 2017 – Charles and Valerie Diker, collectors and philanthropists; William Wegman, artist
- 2016 – Wangechi Mutu, artist; Alice Walton, philanthropist
- 2015 – Rosa and Carlos de la Cruz, collectors and philanthropists; Wade Guyton, artist; Arnold Lehman, Director Emeritus of the Brooklyn Museum
- 2014 – Spencer Finch, artist; Milton Esterow, former editor and publisher of ArtNews magazine
- 2013 – Eugene V. Thaw, philanthropist; Kehinde Wiley, artist
- 2012 – Sarah Sze, artist
- 2011 – Marina Abramović, performance artist; Earl A. Powell III, Director, National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
- 2008 – Elizabeth Rohatyn, founder of FRAME (French Regional & American Museum Exchange)
- 2007 – His Excellency Sheikh Sultan Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, Chairman, Frank O. Gehry, architect
- 2006 – Donna and Cargill MacMillan Jr., philanthropists
- 2004 – The Art Institute of Chicago
- 2003 – Susan Weber Soros, Founder and Director, Bard Graduate Center for Studies of Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture; Bill Viola, artist
- 2002 – Anne d'Harnoncourt, Director, Philadelphia Museum of Art; Maya Lin, architect
- 2001 – Ellsworth Kelly, artist; Stephanie French, AFA Trustee and Vice President, Corporate Contributions, Altria; John Walsh, outgoing Director, J. Paul Getty Museum
- 2000 – Jan Cowles, AFA Trustee; Serena Rattazzi, outgoing AFA Director
- 1999 – AFA's 90th Birthday Party - Jan Mayer, President, AFA Board of Trustees
- 1998 – Iris Cantor, philanthropist
- 1996 – Lee Hills, AFA Trustee and Chairman Emeritus, Knight Ridder
- 1995 – Betty Blake, AFA Trustee; Roy Neuberger, AFA Trustee and Founder, Neuberger Berman
- 1994 – Richard Oldenburg, former AFA Trustee and outgoing Director, Museum of Modern Art
- 1993 – Evan H. Turner, outgoing Director, The Cleveland Museum of Art
- 1992 – J. Carter Brown, outgoing Director, National Gallery of Art
- 1989 – "Perfectly Pop" 80th Anniversary – Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
Museum membership
The AFA has maintained a membership program since its inception in 1909. AFA's approximate 60 members range from small regional museums, such as the
References
- ^ "American Federation of Arts Website".
- ^ The United States Bureau of Education (1909). "American Federation of Arts". Reports of the Department of the Interior. 1 (5748). Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office: 54–56. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- ^ Millet, Frank D., Secretary (1909). Proceedings of the Convention at which the American Federation of Arts was Formed - Held at Washington D.C. May 11th, 12th and 13th, 1909. Washington, D.C.: Press of Byron S. Adams. p. 91.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "LEILA MECHLIN DIES AT 75; EX-ART CRITIC; She Founded Magazine, Served Washington Evening Star From 1900 to 1945". The New York Times. May 8, 1978. p. 78. Archived from the original on June 16, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
- ^ "AFA History". American Federation of Arts. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
- ^ "Museum of Modern Art Press Release" (PDF). Museum of Modern Art Archive. September 23, 1934. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- ^ "The Museum of Modern Art Acquires Collection" (PDF). The Museum of Modern Art Archive. April 20, 1994. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- .
- ISBN 978-0-8230-1780-5.
- JSTOR 3814990.
- ^ "AFA Finding Aid". Archives of American Art. Smithsonian. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- ISBN 0-691-07894-7.
- ^ Sterritt, David (March 22, 1989). "Learning to Love Those ... uh, Documentaries". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- ^ "Museum of Modern Art Acquires Collection of Film and Videos on the Arts from American Federation of Arts" (PDF). Museum of Modern Art Archive. April 20, 1994. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- ^ McGill, Douglas C. (May 28, 1987). "Merger of Two Groups Serving Art Museums". The New York Times. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- ^ "History of the Getty Leadership Institute". About GLI at CGU. The Getty Leadership Institute and CGU. Archived from the original on January 13, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- ^ Binheim, Max; Elvin, Charles A (1928). Women of the West; a series of biographical sketches of living eminent women in the eleven western states of the United States of America. Retrieved August 8, 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- S2CID 190052534.
- ^ "Debating American Modernism: Stieglitz, Duchamp, and the New York Avant-Garde". AFA Educational Resources. American Federation of Arts. Archived from the original on March 12, 2005. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- ^ Smith, Roberta (March 7, 2008). "Weightless Color, Floating Free". The New York Times. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- ^ Mack, Tom (March 21, 2009). "Columbia Museum of Art Hosts Blockbuster Painting Exhibition". Aiken Standard. Archived from the original on July 17, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- ^ "Lisa Small". brooklynmuseum.org. Brooklyn Museum. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
- ^ Smith, Tim (October 25, 2009). "Enduring Imprint: A New Bma Exhibit Reveals the Evolution of Matisse's Printmaking". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
- ^ "AFA Cultural Leadership Award". Archived from the original on June 29, 2007. Retrieved January 13, 2012.
External links
- American Federation of Arts records, 1895–1993, (bulk 1909–1969), Finding aid in the collection of the Smithsonian Archives of American Art
- American Federation of Arts – The Official Website
- American Federation of Arts – AFA 100: A Century in the Arts
- AFA Exhibition Resources for Educators
- Directors Forum, The Official Website
- Association of Art Museum Curators, The Official Website
- Getty Leadership Institute, The Official Website
- Debating American Modernism, Exhibition Introduction
- The Torchbearers: Women & Their Amateur Arts Associations in America, 1890-1930[1]
- ISBN 978-0-253-31192-4.