Course explores how Downtown Manhattan, then Brooklyn, became synonymous with art and art-related music and performance by investigating twenty artist-run spaces that pioneered multi-disciplinary art from the 1950s to today. Course supplements the standard art histories by highlighting contributions by women, BIPOC artists and reflects New York’s social history. Independent field work in related spaces along with rarely seen films, video and documentation are incorporated each week. Students will be introduced to archival research methods and oral histories, two important factors in constructing a more expansive perspective. Students must attend each session, complete the weekly reflective responses, and visual posts that extend the concepts explored each week. In addition, one short essay and a final, team-based research project that incorporates primary sources is assigned.