The art industry is an ecosystem defined by highly specific, rapidly shifting and often opaque dynamics—so getting to grips with it can be a daunting task. This is the basis upon which Marc Spiegler, the former global director of Art Basel, is launching a new online course on the business of contemporary art, in collaboration with Art Market Minds, the organisation behind the Art Business Conference.
“It's a new world out there,” says Spiegler. “The role of fairs, advisers, social media, the artist agent have all expanded and changed dramatically. In addition, issues such as the generational wealth shift and the role of AI are presenting new challenges to which the industry is being forced to adapt.”
Understanding Today’s Art World will be the first course offered by Art Market Minds—The Academy. The ten hour-long programme will be divided into four sessions, beginning on 4 February. Classes are capped at 100 students and the entire course will cost £750.
Spiegler, who for the past decade has been a visiting professor at Milan's Bocconi University, teaching cultural management, will focus his course on the core issues and key players that he believes define today's art business. “Beyond establishing the art world's structure, I'm interested in considering in which directions the status quo of the industry is shifting,” he says.
Individual classes include the state of the online art market, and the intersections between art and other creative industries, such as fashion and luxury. These are all subjects that Spiegler, who leads the board of the experiential art organisation Superblue and advises the Milan-based cultural institution Fondazione Prada, is a vocal proponent of.
Those currently, or very recently, employed in adjacent fields are a target audience for the course, he says. “A lot of art galleries and museums are increasingly hiring from outside of the field, and many of these people come into their roles not knowing who the major players in the art world are. My programme gets you up to speed."
This course is the latest sign of a growing appetite for professional education initiatives focusing on art business. The Courtauld Institute, a leading art history university in London, is launching a two-year art market masters degree course in September, joining existing MA and post-graduate programmes offered by auction houses like Sotheby's and Christie's.
‘Art world shark tank’
In addition to the online course, Spiegler and Art Market Minds are also launching the Cultural Catalyst Programme, which provides individuals or groups with the guidance and tools to develop art-related business proposals. Spiegler likens the programme to an “art world Shark Tank or Dragons’ Den”, referencing two television shows in which aspiring entrepreneurs pitch ideas to a group of investors. The French company ArtNova, which bought Art Market Minds last year, will help applicants prepare a financial plan and deck for their ideas, and participants will have the chance to pitch their ideas at future Art Business Conference events.
According to Spiegler, “there has never been a more urgent time for new ideas and minds” to come into the industry. “The reality is that the art market has, at its core, plateaued, while at the same time, art's influence on culture has never been greater. We must put aside conventional wisdom and take new approaches."
