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Ellen Taylor Baird

Ellen Taylor Baird

Department of Art History (M/C 201)
311A Henry Hall
University of Illinois at Chicago
935 West Harrison Street
Chicago, IL 60607-7039

(312) 996-3342 | fax (312) 413-2460

email icon etbaird@uic.edu

Education

  • Ph.D., University of New Mexico, 1979
  • M.A., Tulane University, 1970
  • B.A., Emory University, 1968
  • Management Development Program, Harvard University, summer, 1988
  • Area of Specialization: Latin American Art History (Pre-Columbian through Colonial)

Professional Employment

University of Illinois at Chicago

  • Professor (Art History), 1992
  • Acting Director, Latin American Studies Program, 1999–2000
  • Dean, College of Architecture and the Arts, 1992–97

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

  • Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Director, Summer Sessions, 1987–91
  • Acting Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, 1986–87
  • Interim Chair, Department of Modern Languages and Literatures, 1986
  • Assistant Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, 1983–85
  • Associate Professor (Art History), 1986–92
  • Assistant Professor (Art History), 1975–86

University of New Mexico

  • Lecturer, 1974–75

Tulane University

  • Visiting Instructor, summer, 1973

University of Southern Colorado

  • Instructor, 1970–72

Grants Awarded

Research (since 1984)

  • Research Award, “Guánica Central, an architectural and socio-cultural study of a Puerto Rican sugar mill town.” Campus Research Board, University of Illinois at Chicago. 2001
  • Summer Library Research Fellowship, Caribbean Resource Center, University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras. 2000
  • Research Grant-in-Aid; University of Nebraska-Lincoln Research Council. 1992
  • Dumbarton Oaks Summer Research Seminar Fellowship: “Cultural Adjustments after the Decline of Teotihuacan, 700–900 A.D.;” Center for Pre-Columbian Studies, Dumbarton Oaks; Washington, D.C. 1984
  • Summer Research Grant-in-Aid; University of Nebraska-Lincoln Research Council Administrative. 1984
  • Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education, Program for North American Mobility in Higher Education, U.S. Department of Education; Design, Culture, and Community: A Model Program for Cross-Cultural Education in Architecture; principal investigator; Katerina Ruedi, co-p.i., $100,922 (3-year grant). 1997–2000
  • Illinois Higher Education Cooperative Act, Minority Achievement Grant, principal investigator, $50,000 (third year renewal). 1997
  • U.S./Mexico Fund for Culture, Concurrent Studio on Affordable Housing with Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (Azcapotzalco), School of Architecture, principal investigator, $12,780. 1996–97
  • Illinois Higher Education Cooperative Act, Minority Achievement Grant, principal investigator, $50,000 (second year renewal). 1995–96
  • Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, City Design Center conference grant, “Reinhabiting the Void: Designing Public Space for Everyday Life,” principal investigator; Roberta Feldman, Project Director, $7,500. 1995–96
  • U.S./Mexico Fund for Culture, Concurrent Studio on Affordable Housing with Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana (Azcapotzalco), School of Architecture, principal investigator, $22,220. 1996–96
  • Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, Planning Grant to establish the College’s City Design Center, principal investigator; Roberta Feldman, Project Director, $10,000. 1995
  • Illinois Higher Education Cooperative Act, Minority Achievement Grant, principal investigator, $60,000. 1994–95

Publications

Book

The Drawings of Sahagún’s Primeros Memoriales: Structure and Style. University of Oklahoma Press, 1993.

Articles

“Sahagún and the Representation of History.” (in press, American Academy of Franciscan History for book on Sahagún).

“The Reordering of Space in Sixteenth-Century Mexico: Some Implications of the Grid.” Painted Books and Indigenous Knowledge in Mesoamerica: Manuscript Studies in Honor of Mary Elizabeth Smith, Elizabeth H. Boone, ed., Middle American Research Institute monograph series, vol. 69, Tulane University (in press).

“Adaptation and Accommodation: The Transformation of the Pictorial Text in Sahagún’s 16th Century Mexican Manuscripts.” Phoebus 7:36–51. (Native Artists and Patrons in Colonial Latin America, Emily Umberger and Tom Cummins, eds.; Arizona State University, Tempe, 1995).

“Estrellas y guerra en Cacaxtla.” In Antología de Cacaxtla: vol. II, pp. 140–190, Ángel García Cook and Beatriz Leonor Merino Carrión, compilers; Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia, Mexico, 1995. Spanish translation of “Stars and Wars at Cacaxtla,” 1989.

“Stars and War at Cacaxtla.” In Mesoamerica after the Decline of Teotihuacan, 700–900 A.D: pp. 105–122, Richard Diehl and Janet C. Berlo, eds.; Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C., 1989.

“The Artists of Sahagún’s Primeros Memoriales: A Question of Identity.” In The Life and Work of Bernardino de Sahagún: Pioneer Ethnographer of Sixteenth-Century Aztec Mexico: pp. 211–227, Jorge Klor de Alva, Eloise Quiñones Keber, H. B. Nicholson, eds.; Institute for Mesoamerican Studies, Albany, New York (University of Texas Press), 1988.

“Sahagún’s Primeros Memoriales and Codex Florentino: European Elements in the Illustrations.” In Smoke and Mist: Mesoamerican Studies in Memory of Thelma Sullivan: pp. 15–40, Kathryn Josserand and Karen Dakin, eds.; British Archaeological Reports, Oxford, 1988.

“Sahagún’s Codex Florentino: The Enigmatic A.” Ethnohistory. (1987) 34:288–306.

“The Use of Naturalistic and Symbolic Color at Tula.” In Painted Architecture and Polychrome Monumental Sculpture in Mesoamerica: pp. 115–144, Elizabeth Hill Boone, ed.; Dumbarton Oaks, Washington, D.C., 1985.

“Text and Image in Sahagún’s Primeros Memoriales.” In Text and Image in Pre-Columbian Art: Essays on the Interrelationship of the Verbal and Visual Arts: pp. 155–179, J.C. Berlo, ed.; British Archaeological Reports, 1983.

Scholarly papers presented (since 1980)

“Guánica Central : A Caribbean Company Town.” Northeastern Illinois University International Conference on the Literatures and Cultures of the Caribbean: Where Choice Is Born: Caribbean Voices & Visions; Newberry Library, Chicago, IL; April 2002.

“Sahagún and the Representation of History.” Symposium in Honor of the Quincentennial Anniversary of the Birth of Fray Bernardino de Sahagún; Newberry Library, Chicago, IL; October 1999.

“The Reordering of Space in Sixteenth-Century Mexico: Some Implications of the Grid.” Tulane University Symposium in Honor of Mary Elizabeth Smith; New Orleans, LA; April 1998.

“The Illusion of Space and the Perception of History in Sahagún’s Codex Florentino.” International Congress of Americanists; New Orleans, LA; July 1991.

“Adaptation and Accommodation: The Transformation of the Pictorial Text in Sahagún’s 16th Century Mexican Manuscripts.” 16th Century Studies Meeting; Tempe, AZ; October 1987.

“The Death of the Sun: The Symbolic Orientation of Pyramid B, Tula, Hidalgo.” Society of Architectural Historians; San Francisco, CA; April l987.

“Blood and Bow Ties at Cacaxtla.” College Art Association; Boston, MA; February 1987.

“Dressed to Kill: The Cacaxtla Warriors.” Society for American Archaeology; New Orleans, LA; April 1986.

“Stars and War at Cacaxtla.” Society for American Archaeology; Denver, CO; May 1985.

“The Processional Figures at Tula, Hidalgo.” American Society for Ethnohistory; Albuquerque, NM; November l983.

“The Use of Naturalistic and Symbolic Color at Tula.” Symposium on Painted Architecture and Polychrome Monumental Sculpture in Mesoamerica. Dumbarton Oaks; Washington, D.C.; October 1981.

“Pyramid B, Tula: A Re-evaluation of the Iconography.” American Society for Ethnohistory; Colorado Springs, CO; October 1981.

“The Toltecs as ‘Inheritors’ of the Teotihuacan Tradition.” Society for American Archaeology; San Diego, CA; May 1980

Professional Organizations

Association for Latin American Art

  • President 1988–90
  • Vice President 1987–88
  • Newsletter Editor 1987–90

Caribbean Studies Association

College Art Association

  • President, 2000–02
  • Vice President, Committees, 1999–2000
  • Secretary, 1989–99
  • Board of Directors, 1996–2003
  • Executive Committee, 1998–2003
  • Finance and Budget Committee, 1998–2003
  • Strategic Planning Core Committee, 1998–2000
  • Working Group on Committees, Chair, 1998–2000
  • Handbook Subcommittee, Chair, 1999–2000
  • Education Committee, Co-Chair and Chair, 1996–99
  • EDUCAUSE Award Committee, Chair, 1999
  • Development Committee, 1996–98
  • Distinguished Teaching of Art History Award Committee, 1996–2000
  • Chair, 1999–2000

Mid-America College Art Association

  • Board of Directors, 1976

Midwest Art History Society

  • Twenty-fifth Annual Meeting Conference Chair, 1998
  • Co-Editor, Newsletter, January, 1986

Midwest Mesoamericanists

  • Co-organizer of annual meeting, 1999

Prairie Visions: The Nebraska Consortium for Discipline-Based Art Education

  • Member, Development Council, 1990–92
  • Symposium participant, January-February, 1989

Society for American Archaeology

American Society for Ethnohistory

Administrative

American Association for Higher Education, 1990–97

International Council of Fine Arts Deans, 1992–97

  • Board of Directors, 1996–97
  • Nominating Committee, 1995

Board Memberships

  • Bright New City (urban design forum), Chicago, 1992–97
  • Michael Cullen Lecture, Chair, 1996
  • Peter Blake Lecture, Chair, 1995
  • Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design, 1993–95
  • Hull House Museum, Chicago, 1992–97
  • Metropolitan Housing Development Corporation, Chicago, 1994–97
  • Newhouse Architecture Competition Committee, Chicago Architecture Foundation, Program Committee, 1995–97
  • Sheldon Film Theater, Lincoln, NE, 1984–88
  • Co-Chair, Publicity Committee, 1984–86
  • Liaison with Nebraska Art Association, 1986–1988
  • Nominating Committee, 1985

Professional service

Accreditation and academic program reviews

  • Wayne State University, Department of Art and Art History, September, 1999
  • University of Cincinnati, Graduate Program in Art History, June, 1997
  • Rochester Institute of Technology, Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, Commission on Higher Education, April, 1997

Co-chair and co-organizer of scholarly sessions

  • Co-chair of 2 sessions on technology and pedagogy: “The Magic Classroom I: The Promise” and “The Magic Classroom II: Making it Happen.” College Art Association Annual Meeting; New York; February, 1997
  • “Early Colonial Arts and Christian Morality in the Americas: Reading between the Lines.” International Congress of Americanists; New Orleans, LA; July, 1991
  • “Politics and Ritual in Ancient Mesoamerica.” American Society for Ethnohistory; Albuquerque, New Mexico; November, 1983

Competition juror

  • Good Design, Jury Chair, Chicago Athenaeum, 1994
  • Newhouse Architecture Competition, Chicago, 1994
  • New Chicago Architecture Competition, Chicago Athenaeum,
  • Design Diaspora: Black Architects and International Architecture,
  • Chicago Athenaeum, 1993
  • Student Film Awards (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences), 1993
  • Regional Screening Committee, Chicago, 1985
  • Preliminary Regional Screening Committee, Lincoln, NE, 1984,86,87

Conferences organized

  • Midwest Art History Society, Twenty-fifth Annual Conference Chair, 1998
  • Midwest Mesoamericanists, Co-organizer of annual meeting, 1999
  • Symposium for Quincentenary of fray Bernardino de Sahagún’s birth, Newberry Library, Chicago; Co-organizer Educational Study Tour, 1999
  • Architectural Study Tour of Havana and Santiago de Cuba, Cuba, Co-organizer, January, 1999

Grant referee

  • American Council of Learned Societies
  • Fellowship Program, prescreener (panels 3 and 4), 1990
  • Grant-in-Aid Program, panelist, 1992, 1994

Moderator

“Spreebogen International Competition, new urban design ideas for the city of Berlin,” Chicago Athenaeum (panel discussion by five Chicago architecture offices who submitted competition entries), 1993

Museum Consultant

  • Boys’ Town Museum (Omaha)
  • Joslyn Museum (Omaha)

Publication referee

  • Ancient Mesoamerica (scholarly journal)
  • Latin American Antiquity (scholarly journal)
  • Dumbarton Oaks publications
  • Getty Grant Program publications
  • Thames and Hudson Publishers
  • University of Colorado Press
  • University of New Mexico Press

Public Lectures (since 1980)

“Mesoamerica: Still Mysterious.” Workshop for Latin American Studies faculty, Lake Forest College, February 1999.

“The Power of the Past and Dreams of the Future: Nineteenth Century Mexico.” Newberry Library and Harold Washington Library, Chicago, May 1996.

“Academic Innovations: UIC’s Great Cities Initiative.” Women in Planning and Development, Chicago, February 27, 1995.

“Painted Walls of Ancient Mexico: Teotihuacan, Bonampak, Cacaxtla.” The Art Institute of Chicago, March 15, 1994

“Painted Walls of Ancient Mexico: Teotihuacan, Bonampak, Cacaxtla.” Arquitectos (organization of Latino architects, Chicago), March 31, 1994.

“The Drawings of Sahagún’s Sixteenth-Century Manuscripts: A Colonial View of Preconquest Mexico.” Chicago Latin American Colloquium (University of Chicago, Center for Latin American Studies), February 3, 1994.

“The Black and the Red: The Book in Ancient Mexico.” The Art Institute of Chicago, July 1993 (lecture/workshop).

“Space and the Perception of History in Colonial Mexico.” The Art Institute of Chicago, May 1993.

“Space, Time, and the Perception of History: Sixteenth Century Mexico.” Art Museum of South Texas, Corpus Christi, Texas, November 1992.

“Art History and Auto Mechanics.” Community College Conference, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, April 1987.

“Classic Maya Treasures.” University of Nebraska-Lincoln, August 1986.

“Reading’ Art: Influences and Connections.” Nebraska Art Association, Lincoln, February 1981.

Numerous talks to university students, prospective students, scholarship students, alumni, professional and civic organizations, etc

Committee and administrative positions

  • University of Illinois at Chicago, Campus-Wide Committees
  • Responsibility Centered Management and Budgeting, 1997
  • Search Committee, Campus Police Chief, 1997
  • UIC Public Art Committee, Chair, 1995–97
  • Search Committee, Dean of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Chair, 1994–95
  • Search Committee, Associate Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, 1993–94
  • Summer Session Committee, Chair, 1992–93
  • Department of Art History Committees
  • Executive/Personnel Committee, 2000–02
  • Scholarship and Awards Committee, 2001–2002
  • (Spring) Graduate Committee, 2001
  • Curriculum Committee, Chair, 1999–2001
  • Graduate Committee, 1998–2000
  • Scholarship and Awards Committee, 1998–2000
  • University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Campus-Wide Committees
  • Faculty Women’s Caucus, Co-Chair (and co-founder), 1991–92
  • Faculty Senate Committee on Committees, 1991–92
  • International Affairs Newsletter, Editorial Advisory Board, 1991–92
  • College of Arts and Sciences, College-Wide Committees
  • Great Plains Symposium Committee, fall, 1983
  • Executive Committee, 1980–83
  • University Studies Committee, 1979–88
  • Faculty Fellowships Committee, 1979–81, Chair, l980
  • Latin American Studies Committee, 1975–81
  • Department of Art Committees
  • Executive Committee, 1977–79, 91–92
  • Art History Search Committees, 1978, 85–87, Chair, l986–87
  • Graduate Committee, 1985–88
  • Woods Travel committee, 1985–86
  • Art Department Chair Search Committee, 1982–84, Chair, l983–84
  • Curriculum Committee, 1982–84
  • Academic Program Review Sub-Committee, Co-Chair, 1981
  • Coordinator of Art History Survey Courses, 1975–83
  • Grading Appeals Committee , 1975–88

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