Arts in the City: Key Currents in the Urban Sociology of Art

• In Event: 545 - Section on Sociology of Culture Roundtable Session.
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 12. Space and Place

Abstract

In this paper I explore several dimensions of the arts’ relationship to cities. I argue that the arts are largely an urban phenomena, and that the enshrinement of the high arts in great museums and performance spaces was a highly deliberate process on the part of civic leaders who have sought, since the nineteenth century, to provide a buffer against barbarianism and mass entertainment. Further, I describe how powerful forces in the city promote the arts for aesthetic purposes—today municipal leaders are heeding the findings of urban researchers that suggest that artistic institutions like galleries, music venues, and theaters draw tourist dollars as well as longer-term residents to cities. Today, the arts are big business.

Author

• Nicholas P. Dempsey, Eckerd College