Conference

Collisions: SECAC 2012 Hits Tobacco Road

Meredith College will present the 68th annual meeting of SECAC in the heart of historic Durham, North Carolina, Wednesday, October 17 through Saturday, October 20, 2012. Downtown Durham has enjoyed an amazing resurgence, particularly for those interested in art, culture, and food. Come see what The New York Times (6-26-11) described: "In the last few years, downtown [Durham] has been transformed - a ghost town no longer - and an exciting, unexpected food hub has emerged." 25+ locally owned restaurants are within a 1/2-mile radius of downtown, and new breweries and music venues further enliven the scene. Come see why Durham was named by The New York Times as one of the "41 Places to Go in 2011." As the local Durhamites say, "Get your cool on in downtown Durham."

Many delights await those who attend SECAC 2012. Among the treasures of Durham is the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University, designed by Rafael Viñoly (opened in October 2005). Take a stroll among the tree-canopied streets of the Duke University campus, founded in 1924. Highlights include Duke University Chapel, The Sarah P. Duke Gardens, Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke Forest, Duke Lemur Center, and Duke University Medical Center.

Travel free aboard the vibrantly decorated Bull City Connector. This bus will carry you along the major sites in Durham stretching between Duke’s campus in the western part of town all the way to Golden Belt in East Durham. Golden Belt was a former textile factory that processed cotton into thread and produced pouches for Bull Durham tobacco. Historically renovated, this property features a building filled with sky-lit artists’ studios and a large gallery: http://www.goldenbeltarts.com/artists_studios.shtml

Riding the Bull City Connector between Duke and Golden Belt you will have opportunities to hop off and on at: 9th Street, near Duke’s East Campus and the historic Erwin Mill. 9th Street is a gem of funky, eclectic locally owned businesses and restaurants. Or the Brightleaf District, another favorite of locals for shopping, dining, and nightlife, housed in repurposed 1904 tobacco warehouses and a renovated laundry and auto showroom. The Downtown District, Central Park, and the American Tobacco District are also on the route and our conference hotel is right in the midst of downtown. The truth is, you may have so much fun that it will be hard to leave.

Our keynote address will take place next door to the conference hotel in the Carolina Theater, a 1926 Beaux Arts style restored hall. Right around the corner is our venue for the SECAC Annual Juried Art Exhibition in the Durham Arts Council. Charles Joyner of North Carolina State University is our Juror. SECAC has all the exhibition spaces available in the Durham Arts Council providing an incredible opportunity to showcase SECAC and its artists, art historians, and art educators. We will host our visit on 3rd Friday, during Durham’s art walk. It will be a great evening to meet Durham’s artists and art lovers.

We have started to think about other places members might like to visit (but you may not want to leave Durham). Certainly the new west building of the North Carolina Museum of Art, housing the expansive permanent collection, may be high on your list: the 127,000-square-foot building uses custom-made skylights to filter natural light into all the galleries. Nestled into a sustainable landscape setting, the building looks onto the rolling hills of the Museum Park and its collection of sculpture. Most decidedly worth a visit, even if it is in Raleigh!

More details will be coming your way soon. We look forward to hosting you in Durham!


2012 Registration Rates: Registration for the 2012 Conference will remain the same as it was for 2011. Individual registration is $180, with a discount for early registration ($150); on-site registration ($210). Student registration is $60, with a discounted early registration ($50) and on-site registration ($70). Registration for retired members is $90, with a discount for early registration ($75) and on-site registration available ($105). Registration will open August 1, 2012.

Conference Hotel: Our Conference hotel, the Durham Marriott Civic Center (201 Foster Street) is located in the heart of historic downtown, just a block away from the bustling Saturday Farmer's Market at Central Park and a short walk away from the award-winning DPAC (Durham Performing Arts Center), the Durham Bulls Athletic Park (our AAA minor league team), and the American Tobacco Campus, a registered historic site that has been repurposed with mixed use development including restaurants, entertainment, and live broadcast delivery by WUNC radio. For reservations, dial the Durham property directly: 1-919-768-6000 or use the toll free Marriott reservation line: 1-800-909-8375. Use the name SECAC to receive the discounted rate. For online reservations at the group rate, go here: Durham Marriott.

Transportation: Downtown Durham, located close to both I-85 and I-40, is an easy drive for many SECAC members. The conference hotel is 13 miles from Raleigh Durham International Airport, which serves close to 10 million passengers annually. Airlines: Air Canada, American Eagle, Continental, United, JetBlue, Delta/Northwest, US Airways, Vision, Southwest and American Airlines. Car rental companies are on-site. From the airport, transportation to the hotel may be scheduled through: Super Shuttle: (800) BLUE VAN (800-258-3826) Fee: $20 (one way); S&H Transportation 919-680-0700 or 919-604-4522; fee: $35 (one way); reservations required. Estimated taxi fare is $35.00 one-way.

The new (2009) Durham Transportation Center serves Greyhound bus lines. The Durham Amtrak Station, located in downtown Durham, serves two passenger trains, the Carolinian and Piedmont. The station, which is located across from the Transportation Center, is in the Walker Warehouse building of the former Liggett and Myers tobacco complex. Both are approximately .3 mile from the conference hotel.

SECAC 2012 Conference Media Policy
Contact: Beth Mulvaney, professor of art history and Department Head at Meredith College, is the conference chair for SECAC 2012. She may be reached at SECAC2012@meredith.edu. Rachel Frew, SECAC administrator, may be reached at secac@secollegeart.org. Updates will be posted on this page. SECAC is also on Facebook.

FUTURE CONFERENCES

For a list of future SECAC conference locations and dates, please see Future Annual Conferences.

PAST CONFERENCES

For a list of past SECAC conference locations, dates, and chairs, please see Annual Conference History.