Art Worlds: Museum, Studio, Gallery, Archive
Course Description
How does a work of art get from the artist's studio to the museum wall? Who makes these choices, and why? This class will introduce students to the spaces and institutions where art is made, sold, exhibited, viewed, and researched. We will visit museums and community art spaces, galleries and auction houses, conservation labs and artist studios, and speak with the people who work there. These visits will illuminate the many paths one can take to make a life in art. We will also ask ourselves how these places—and the choices that are made behind closed doors—shape what we think we know, see, and like.
Meet the Instructor: Marci Kwon
"I am an art historian who specializes in American art, with a focus on Asian American/diasporic artists and makers. I have extensive museum experience, including five years working in Modern & Contemporary Art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I currently co-direct Stanford's Asian American Art Initiative, and collaborate with the Cantor Arts Center and the Anderson Collection on collecting and exhibitions. When I was an undergraduate, I remember loving museums but feeling confused and intimidated by them. I based this seminar on one I took my sophomore year, which pulled back the curtain on a world that I thought was not for me."
Of related interest
The Giving Tree
