Art and the City

Level: Undergraduate

Division: The New School for Public Engagement

School: School of Undergraduate Studies

Department: Social Sciences

Course Number: NHIS 3815

Course Format: Lecture

Location: NYC campus

Permission Required: No

Topics:

• Social Sciences
• History
• Art History, Theory & Criticism

Description:
Cities are hubs of artistic activity: People are drawn to cities because of their artistic offerings, and they are where most artists choose to live and work. How and why did this intertwining of art and the city come about? What effects has it had on cities and on the arts? This course investigates the art of urban life (such as the development of bohemia), genres of art that arose in and of the city (photography, the Broadway musical, hip-hop); spaces of the city that become identified as arts enclaves (SoHo, Broadway); and the municipal policy and politics that support or undermine the arts in cities (public art). We read firsthand and historical accounts of artists in, mainly, American cities and analyze music, film, and other artworks for their portrayals of the ties between urban life and artistic vision. Assignments include a journal of encounters with art in the city and a larger research project that reveals the ways arts and cities are tied together.