Engaging Art

The Next Great Transformation of America's Cultural Life

Steven J. Tepper

2007, 408 pages. Published by Routledge, 800-634-7064, www.routledge.com

Engaging Art explores what it means to participate in the arts in contemporary society—from museum attendance to downloading music. Drawing on the perspectives of experts from diverse fields (including Princeton scholars Robert Wuthnow and Paul DiMaggio, Barry Schwartz, and MIT scholars Henry Jenkins and Mark Schuster), this volume analyzes key trends evolving technology, audience demographics, religion, and the rise of “do-it-yourself” participatory culture. Commissioned by The Wallace Foundation and independently carried out by the Curb Center at Vanderbilt University, Engaging Art offers a new framework for understanding the momentous changes impacting America's cultural life over the past fifty years.