Smarthistory is a free resource for the study of

art history Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

created by art historians Beth Harris and Steven Zucker. Smarthistory is an independent not-for-profit organization and the official partner to

Khan Academy Khan Academy is an American non-profit educational organization created in 2008 by Sal Khan. Its goal is creating a set of online tools that help educate students. The organization produces short lessons in the form of videos. Its website also in ...

for art history. Smarthistory started in 2005 as an audio guide series for use at the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...

, The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and as a resource for students taking introductory art history courses at the college level. In addition to its focus on college-level courses in art history, Smarthistory supports the art history Advanced Placement course and examination developed by The College Board. Smarthistory provides essays, video, photographs, and links to additional resources for each of the 250 works of art and architecture that comprised the 2017 AP art history curriculum. Smarthistory has published more than 880 videos and 2,000 essays on art and cultural history from the Paleolithic era to the 21st century that include the art of Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania. Smarthistory's essays have been contributed by more than 200 art historians, curators, and archaeologists writing in their areas of focus and are peer-reviewed. Videos are unscripted conversations between experts recorded on location in front of the original work of art or architecture. According to the Smarthistory about page: Smarthistory won the

Webby Award The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories includ ...

for Education in 2009. The Samuel H. Kress Foundation gave them a $25,000 grant for development in 2008 and a $38,000 partnership development grant with the Portland Art Museum in 2009. In an article in the Brooklyn ''New York Daily News'', staff writer Elizabeth Lazarowitz quotes Steven Zucker, "Art can be really intimidating for people", said Zucker. "If we can make art feel exciting and interesting and very much relevant to a historical moment...art can have real meaning." Unlike reading about art in a book, "the idea of the audio was to keep a student's eyes on the image", he explained. "It helped students to learn the material a lot better." In a collaborative article by Beth Harris and Steven Zucker, the founders explain the value of the resource for teachers, students, and informal learners: "Smarthistory is helping teachers who are not specialists in art history find strategies to make the subject accessible and meaningful to students who might otherwise not have cultural resources available to them. And for college students, the site is fast becoming an attractive alternative to the commercial textbook whose short life cycle and $100+ price tag has increasingly become a barrier." In a ''Chronicle for Higher Education'' article, Beth Harris is quoted on the ambitions and goals of Smarthistory: "We really just wanted to re-embed the objects in our world", says Harris, who is the founder and executive editor of Smarthistory as well as the director of digital learning at a New York City museum. "We thought that that would make them more relevant and more engaging for students.""'Smarthistory' rethinks the art history textbook online"
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References

External links

*{{Official website, https://smarthistory.org
Michelle Millar Fisher, Louis C. Madeira IV Assistant Curator of European Decorative Arts and Design, Philadelphia Museum of Art "Smarthistory," ''caa.reviews,'' May 23, 2018, published by the College Art AssociationARCHES (at risk cultural heritage education series)Patrick Masson, "Smarthistory: No grand strategies needed, just openness," ''Opensource'' 5/02/2016
*[http://chronicle.com/blogs/wiredcampus/%E2%80%98smarthistory%E2%80%99-rethinks-the-art-history-textbook-online/28395 "'Smarthistory' rethinks the art history textbook online", ''The Chronicle of Higher Education'', 11/23/2010]
''PC Magazine'': Top 100 Websites of 2009, 7/27/2009"Daily Dose Pick: Smarthistory" Flavorpill, 7/09/2009"Smarthistory and Portland Art Museum", May 2009
2005 establishments in New York City Internet properties established in 2005 Art history Educational organizations based in the United States History websites of the United States Non-profit organizations based in New York (state)