Introduction to the Art World

This course provides students with an opportunity to become familiar with the vocabulary, institutions, processes, forces, and issues that define the landscape of the contemporary art world. An examination of the institutions and actors that comprise the Art World and significant recent trends. This course utilizes a model for the art world that posits an arts ecosystem consisting of four interrelated spheres: 1) Individuals; 2) Government; 3) the Nonprofit Sector; 4) the Private Sector. We will explore how the stakeholders in the art world (critics, curators, historians, administrators, government officials, performers, and artists) connect and interact with each other while engaging with significant institutions (cultural organizations, government, foundations) and the public to affect the cultural history of our time. This is the gateway course in the Arts Administration Program, and is usually taken in the first semester. [Non-Arts Administration students contact the Arts Administration Program at artsad@bu.edu. METAR 520 is a pre-requisite for METAR 615]