7.5 × 9 inches, 484 pages, softcover
ISBN 978-1-941753-81-1

Design by IN-FO.CO
Published by Inventory Press & Institute for Contemporary Art at Virginia Commonwealth University

Available for Pre-order
Shipping February 2026

This book presents the work of artists, curators, collectives, and scholars who address contemporary art as a site of learning in the twenty-first century. Building on earlier histories of education as civic service for the common good, it will address a recent history of the last 25 years, as well as the question of the future of art education — as a practice that unfolds both in and beyond school. This is in the context of cutbacks in humanities and arts programs and an emphasis on STEM as an emphasis in teaching, as well as the classroom as a site for social and political debates. The book takes a global perspective and, while it isn’t intended to be a comprehensive survey, constructs an impressionistic constellation of case studies to see how innovations in education have had a dynamic relationship with artistic practice, alternative arts organizations, universities, and museums.

Some questions that the book addresses include: how can alternative organizations and traditional institutions learn from one another? How have exhibition platforms created space for artists to generate learning environments? How have these practices changed assumptions about art institutions and artistic practice? Finally, how can we think about the economic, ecological, and institutional sustainability of all of these practices?