Meet G. James Daichendt

Today we’d like to introduce you to G. James Daichendt.

Hi G. James, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a Dean and Professor of Art History that writes art criticism and histories for a variety of local and international publications. As a student, I studied art education, museum studies, and art theory at Harvard University and Boston University, where I earned two master’s degrees. It was in Boston where I first began working in museums and eventually, I earned a doctorate from Columbia University while working as a Director of Education for a NYC museum. After several years in the city, I joined the faculty at Queens College, City University of New York.

I moved to southern California when I was offered a faculty position at Azusa Pacific University to teach and run their gallery program. After establishing two master’s programs, I accepted an administrative post at Point Loma Nazarene University to oversee programs that span the liberal arts.

To date, I’ve been fortunate to write six books, author dozens of catalog essays, curate several exhibitions across the country, and contribute hundreds of articles to both academic and popular publications.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
As someone who has moved quite a bit for education and professional reasons, I had to re-establish myself in each location. Whether it’s at the institutional level or developing your reputation within a larger city/county/state, it always involves putting work in and doing what is necessary to ensure you have a strong network.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I love writing books because it allows me to explore ideas in-depth over a long period of time. Whether they are histories of a profession like my first book “Artist-Teacher: A Philosophy for Creating and Teaching” (2010) or more recent projects that are biographies about important artists like “Kenny Scharf: In Absence of Myth” (2016) and “Shepard Fairey Inc. Artist/Professional/Vandal” (2014). The variety of subjects keeps me interested in exploring the art world.

I was super proud to author a book about the artist Robbie Conal just a year ago leading to the election entitled: “Robbie Conal: Streetwise: 35 Years of Politically Charged Guerrilla Art” (2020). It features every satirical posters in his rich career and his life story is joined with my art criticism.

Lately, I am finishing a book on methods of art criticism that will be helpful for educators and an edited book about the streetwear brand Tribal that will complement a major exhibition at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido that I am co-curating with Bobby Ruiz.

How do you define success?
Success is journey for me that involves raising a family, being a loving spouse, representing my university in a positive light, helping my colleagues inside and outside the university reach new heights, loving our neighbors, maintaining a healthy lifestyle, and being a good person. I know that I will fall short but I am striving and working on being better in each area — and that improvement is success to me.

This kind of focus is what helps me write books, curate exhibitions, and finish major projects at the university.

Contact Info:

Full Interview http://voyagela.com/interview/meet-g-james-daichendt-of-carlsbad-ca/

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