End-of-the-year message

Dear colleagues:



As the end of the year approaches, I would like to urge you to renew your
SHERA membership.  This year we switch from twice-a-year to a once-a-year
membership renewal, which begins in January and ends in December.



Let me summarize briefly SHERA’s achievements and outline our plans for the
future.


Since its reemergence three years ago, SHERA broadened its support for
scholars studying East European, Eurasian, and Russian Art and
Architecture. Under the leadership of Margaret Samu, SHERA’s President in
2013 and 2014, we established a website and a strong membership base
composed of 14 institutional and more than a 100 individual members. In
2013, SHERA became an affiliate society of College Art Association (CAA)
and the Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies
(ASEEES), organizing panels and roundtable discussions at each year’s
conference and convention.

After Margaret’s term ended, SHERA’s members kept the momentum going by
continuing our active participation in both conferences.  At this year’s
ASEEES convention in Philadelphia SHERA members organized and participated
in 27 panels and roundtable sessions.  At  CAA’s conference in February,
SHERA will sponsor two sessions: “Collecting, Curating, Canonizing,
Critiquing: The Institutionalization of Eastern European Art,” chaired by
Ksenia Nouril; and a double session chaired by Alison Hilton, titled
“Exploring Native Traditions in the Arts of Eastern Europe and Russia.”


In the summer of this year, two British citizens traveled to Russia as
visiting scholars on humanitarian visas received with SHERA’s help. We
continue to run this program, which allows scholars and researchers to work
collaboratively with institutions in Russia.  Our future projects include
the organization of the Graduate Student and Emerging Scholar Essay Prize
Committee, a proposal put forward by Erika Wolf and Andrea Rusnock, and
Ksenia Nouril’s initiative to organize Wikipedia edit-a-thon on East
European, Eurasian and Russian art.

Last but not least, on April 1, 2015, SHERA became incorporated as a
tax-exempt public charity in the State of New York, under the status of a
501 (c) (3) organization. As such, we are eligible for tax-deductible
donations under IRS section 170.  Therefore, we urge you not only to renew
your membership, but also do make a donation to enable SHERA programs that
are still in the developing stage, such as essay prizes for graduate
students and emerging scholars.


The easiest way to renew the membership is online, by going to
http://www.shera-art.org/membership/join-shera.php and strolling down to
the institutional membership section. The system is managed by PayPal, but
accepts credit cards as well.  If you prefer to pay the dues by check,
please address it to SHERA and send it to 324 West 83rd Street, New York,
NY 10024.  We are working on setting up a system for on-line donations.  At
the moment, they can be accepted by check only.


Your support is crucial to our growth.



Happy holidays and all the best for the upcoming year,


SHERA Officers


=======================================================
SHERA
Society of Historians of East European, Eurasian, and Russian Art and
Architecture
www.shera-art.org
Natasha Kurchanova, President
Eva Forgacs, Vice-President/President-Elect
Yelena Kalinsky, Secretary-Treasurer
Ksenya Gurshtein, Web News Editor
Tamara Jhashi, Listserv Administrator
[email protected] <[email protected]>

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