"Kites"-Ando Hiroshige, 1797-1858	GMU's Nonfiction Writing Programs
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ArtandCulture.com is an unique online resource -- a cross-disciplinary front door to the world of the contemporary arts. This website features thousands of artist biographies, essays about art movements and themes, and overviews of the full range of artistic disciplines (from painting to dance to music to literature to film... the list goes on). Using the special abilities of the Web, ArtandCulture.com links all this information together in an illuminating fashion, suggesting connections between artists, across disciplines, that you may never have considered before. The main vehicle for this connection-making is the "cloud" at the top of every page. This special Flash feature puts the artist's name at the center of a myriad of creative associations -- some well established, others less well known and surprising. Each page of ArtandCulture.com is an invitation to explore. It combines learning and play, research and serendipity, the familiar with the unexpected.

On the biography page for the visual artist Kiki Smith, for example, the "cloud" might suggest links to the video artist Nam June Paik, or the photographer Diane Arbus. Every page on this site presents useful and provocative connections between artists whose work suggests a relationship, either because of direct personal influences or shared thematic concerns. From the Diane Arbus page, the cloud might lead you to the beat photographs of Robert Frank, or to the horror-tinged music of Danny Elfman. Along with the "cloud," each page has a comprehensive list of Related Artists, as well as lists of relevant artistic Movements and thematic Keywords. Links throughout the site to definitive online resources help to provide depth and context.

ArtandCulture.com is part of the Art and Culture Network, a not-for-profit project of The ArtCouncil, Inc. Originally launched in 1999 by PlanetLive, Inc., a company led by Ed Rivera and Marc Lafia, ArtandCulture.com became one of the most popular arts sites on the Internet and won a shelf-full of awards for its innovative design and information architecture. Now ArtandCulture.com is entering a new phase, as a non-profit resource to support the online initiatives of leading cultural institutions. We will be introducing these initiatives over the coming year. They will include an expansion of the site, the inclusion of examples of artists' work, and a lively forum for discussion about the arts.