Elissa Auther is an associate professor of contemporary art in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. Her book, String, Felt, Thread: The Hierarchy of Art and Craft in American Art (University of Minnesota Press, 2009), examines the innovative use of fiber in American art and the impact of its elevation on the conceptual boundaries distinguishing "art" from "craft" in the post-war era. Auther has also written about and published on, among other topics, the criticism of Clement Greenberg, the history of decorative, artist produced wallpapers, and the film installations of Isaac Julien. She is the co-editor of the April 2007 special issue on feminist activist art for the National Women's Studies Association Journal. Her scholarly work has been supported by major research grants from the J. Paul Getty Foundation, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and Research Center, among others.
In 2009 she was awarded the University of Colorado's President's Diversity Award for a multi-year series of lectures and workshops for undergraduate students that highlighted the work of underrepresented minorities in the areas of contemporary experimental music, visual art, performance, and curatorial practices. This project was co-organized with her colleague in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts, Valerie Brodar. In addition, she co-directs "Feminism & Co.: Art, Sex, Politics," a public program at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver designed to explore feminist issues in popular culture, social policy, and art through creative forms of pedagogy. Her new book, West of Center: Art and the Counterculture Experiment in America (forthcoming from University of Minnesota Press, 2011), is co-edited with Adam Lerner and focuses on the diverse visual expression of the American counterculture. Accompanying it is a major exhibition of the same title opening at the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver in fall of 2011.
Helpful Resources & Links for Students in My Courses
General/Career Advice
C. Maranci. A Survival Guide for Art History Students (Prentice Hall, 2005).
N.E. Schlatter. Museum Careers: A Practical Guide for Students and Novices (Left Coast Press, 2009).
R. Peters. Getting What You Came For: The Smart Student's Guide to Earning an M.A. or Ph.D. (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1992).
Career Alternatives for Art Historians
Art History in Just a Minute (also available through iTunes)
Art History Club. Join by registering on the Facebook page.
Lower Division
Art History Resources on the Web
Mother of All Art History Links Resource Page
Upper Division
Voice of the Shuttle
Theory.org
Postmodern Thought
n.paradoxa
Feminist Theory on the Web
PBS Art21
John Cage Homepage
Museum of Contemporary Art, Denver
The NAMES Aids Quilt
The Varo Registry
The Guerilla Girls
Donald Judd's Marfa Compound
Documenta
Art in Context
Contemporary African Artists
Links to Film Theory Sites |
Education
Ph.D. University of Maryland,
College Park, 2000
Graduate Certificate in Women's Studies,
University of Maryland, College Park, 1996
B.A. History of Art, San Francisco State University, 1991
Selected Fellowships & Awards
2009
Georgia O'Keeffe Museum and Research Fellowship, Santa Fe, New Mexico
University of Colorado President's Diversity Award
2004 - 2005
J. Paul Getty Postdoctoral Research
Fellowship in the History of Art
2002
Smithsonian Institution Research Fellowship,
The Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
1998 - 1999
Smithsonian Institution Predoctoral Fellowship, Smithsonian American Art Museum,
Washington, D.C.
1998
Luce Foundation Dissertation Research Grant
1994
Maverick Scholar Grant,
Attingham Program in the Decorative Arts, London
1991
Phi Beta Kappa
1990
Younger Scholars' Grant,
National Endowment for the Humanities
Courses I Teach
Lower Division
• Art Matters: Reading, Writing & Research
in Art History
• Survey of Modern Art II
Upper Division
• Women, Art and Culture II Art After 1945
• Contemporary Art Theory in Contemporary Art and Visual Culture
• Women in Independent Film, Video and Digital Media
• Senior Seminar in the Practice of Art History
• Material Matters: The History of Fiber and Art from a Global Perspective
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