Resources

Organizations

AICA International
AICA USA is the United States section of the International Association of Art Critics (AICA), founded in 1948/1949 in Paris and originally affiliated with UNESCO as an NGO ("non-governmental organization"). At present there are 72 member nations representing more than 4,000 art critics.

AICA International was formed in order to revive the critical discourse that had suffered under Fascism and the war, and which was under pressure in nations around the world. AICA USA, headquartered in New York, is the largest national section, with a membership of over 400 distinguished critics, curators, scholars, and art historians around the country. AICA/USA is intent on international communication, elevating the values of art criticism as a discipline and acting on behalf of the physical and moral defense of works of art. Each year, in a widely covered event, AICA USA presents museums, galleries and alternative spaces with Best Show awards. AICA is the only organization to award excellence in museum and gallery exhibitions. It does so to indicate the standards by which its members judge what they see.

AICA presents a series of lectures and programs, including the AICA Distinguished Critics Lecture at the New York Studio School, panels at the College Art Association, and tours to artists' studios in emerging art neighborhoods.

American Association of Museums
Founded in 1906, AAM is dedicated to promoting excellence within the museum community. Through advocacy, professional education, information exchange, accreditation, and guidance on current professional standards of performance, it assists museum staff, boards, and volunteers across the country to better serve the public.

Association of Art Museum Directors
AAMD aids its members in establishing and maintaining high standards for themselves and the museums they represent, thereby increasing the contribution of art museums to society. It serves as a forum for the exchange of information and the exploration of ideas, and as a voice with which museum directors express their joint concerns and those of their institutions.

Americans for the Arts
Americans for the Arts is the nation's leading arts information clearinghouse, with a 40-year record of objective arts industry research. As the preeminent arts advocacy organization, it is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts.

Art Dealers Association of America
Founded in 1962, the ADAA is a non-profit membership organization of the nation's leading dealers in the fine arts. Its purposes are to promote the highest standards of connoisseurship, scholarship and ethical practice
within the profession and to increase public awareness of the role and responsibilities of reputable art dealers. ADAA members deal primarily in paintings, drawings, sculpture, graphics and photographs from the Renaissance to the present day.

Arts International
Founded in 1981, Arts International supports and promotes global connections and interchange in the visual and performing arts and develops programs and projects intended to educate and inform audiences and the public about the richness and diversity of cultural production worldwide.

College Art Association
Founded in 1911, CAA is largest association for visual arts professionals, College Art Association promotes the highest levels of creativity and scholarship in the practice, teaching, and interpretation of the visual arts.

High 5 Tickets to the Arts
High 5 is a non-profit organization dedicated to making the arts affordable for teens. Through High 5, any teen can buy $5 tickets to hundreds of New York's best dance, music, theater, film, museum and spoken word events all year round. The idea seems too simple to be true: $5 tickets to arts events in and around New York City for teens ages 13 to 18 (or any student enrolled in a middle or high school program).

National Art Education Association
Founded in 1947, NAEA is a non-profit educational organization that promotes art education through professional development, service, advancement of knowledge, and leadership.

National Association Artists' Organizations
NAAO is a membership organization of more than 700 artists' organizations, arts institutions, artists, and arts professionals. It was established to provide its constituents with a vehicle for communication and a clear and distinct national voice. Its programs are designed to strengthen the field from within, promote its many and varied accomplishments to the public without duplicating quality services available elsewhere, and provide a national voice for artists' organizations in forums that debate issues of cultural policy.

National Coalition Against Censorship
Founded in 1974, NCAC is an alliance of over forty national non-profit organizations, including literary, artistic, religious, educational, professional, labor, and civil liberties groups. United by a conviction that freedom of thought, inquiry, and expression must be defended, it works to educate its own members and the public at large about the dangers of censorship and how to oppose it. NCAC strives to create a climate of opinion hospitable to First Amendment freedoms in the broader community.

National Humanities Alliance
NHA is a nonpartisan coalition working to unify public interest in support of federal (U.S.) programs in the humanities. It represents more than eighty member organizations nationwide, including: scholarly and professional associations; organizations of museums, libraries, historical societies, higher education institutions, and state humanities councils; university and independent centers for scholarship; and other organizations interested in national humanities policies.

New Art Dealers Alliance
NADA is a collective of professionals in the arts. Their mission is to create an open flow of information, support and collaboration in the arts so as to create a stronger sense of community. NADA believes that the adversarial approach to exhibiting and selling art has run its course. NADA believes that change can be achieved through fostering constructive thought and dialogue between various points in the art industry from large galleries to small, non-profit and commercial spaces alike.

Private Art Dealers Association
PADA was chartered in 1990 as a non-profit organization. It represents a select group of dealers, each of whom specializes in a particular area of the fine arts and works from a nonpublic space. Membership is by invitation
and is offered only to qualified dealers who have been in business for at least five years. PADA offers a fine art appraisal service that provides tax valuations for estate purposes and donations to charitable institutions at competitive rates. It also supports scholarship through public lectures, exhibitions, and symposia.

Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts
Founded in 1969, VLA is the first legal aid organization for artists and arts organizations. It assists the arts community in understanding, grappling with, and solving the legal issues that face it. VLA plays a vital and necessary role by serving artists of all disciplines through education, pro bono legal representation, and advocacy. It helps disadvantaged and developing artists with little privilege or opportunity get careers off the ground and thrive. The services it offers allow artists to pursue their artistic goals rather than become mired in legal disputes. VLA's Art Law Line, Education Program, publications, and library are available to anyone
who wishes to learn more about the legal rights of artists.