Explores the interface between the art object, its site of display, and the viewing public. This book tackles issues confronting the museum community and seeks to further the debate between theory and practice around the various concerns.

"Art and its Publics" explores the interface between the art object, its site of display, and the viewing public. Engines of democracy at their inception during the French Revolution, public museums have since fostered the democratization of art. As museum-going has increased dramatically in recent years, the question of 'whose museum?' and how museums construct and engage their publics has taken on added urgency. The essays in "Art and its Publics" present a cross-section of current issues, with contributions from both sides of the Atlantic and from museum professionals as well as academics. Essayists tackle issues confronting the museum community and seek to further the debate between theory and practice around the most pressing of contemporary concerns.

1. Introduction.
2. A Brief History of the Art Museum Public: Andrew McClellan (Tufts University).
3. Having One's Tate and Eating It: Transformations of the Museum in a Hypermodern Era: Nick Prior (University of Edinburgh).
4. Museums: Theory, Practice and Illusion: Danielle Rice (Philadelphia Museum of Art).
5. Norman Rockwell at the Guggenheim: Alan Wallach (College of William and Mary).
6. The Return to Curiosity: Shifting Paradigms in Contemporary Museum Display: Stephen Bann (Bristol University).
7. Museum Sight: Anne Higonnet (Wellesley College).
8. Sacred to Profane and Back Again: Ivan Gaskell (Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University).
9. From Theory to Practice: Exhibiting African Art in the Twenty-first Century: Christa Clarke (Neuberger Museum of Art, SUNY).
10. Reframing Public Art: Audience Use, Interpretation, and Appreciation: Harriet F. Senie (CUNY).