When I say the words “art history,” what comes to mind?

Soothing landscape paintings? Portraits of royalty?

Muscular babies with either weirdly small heads or far-too-large bodies? I mean, did this artist ever even see a baby in real life? But art is so much more than the Met Gala, Michelangelo, and strange babies.

It’s everything from ancient cave paintings to pride flags. It’s graffiti, it’s fashion, it’s living sculptures, and so much more. And art history is a way to learn about different cultures, different time periods, and the surprising similarities among us all.

Hi, I’m Sarah Urist Green. I’m a curator and art educator, and I’ve spent my career seeking out ways to make learning about art more accessible, less pretentious, and actually  relevant to life today. I’ve worked in museums, written books, and developed the YouTube  series The Art Assignment– all in an effort to continue my own art education and spark new conversations about art.

And this is Crash Course Art History. In twenty-two episodes, we’ll explore the who, where, when, and why of a wide range of artworks, unlocking secrets of the past that help us see the present in a whole new way. We’ll give you the know-how to interpret visual art for yourself, wherever you find it.

And we’ll explore themes in art that seem to recur wherever, and whenever you go: like nature, the divine, and the human body. Art history is still being made today. It’s happening all around us, all the time.

It’s in questions like: who gets to decide what gets preserved for future generations? Or, how are activists using  art to promote justice? And if you’ve been wondering how new technology like AI is gonna change the creative world?

Well, we are too. So join me, and together, we’ll explore a wide range of perspectives about what art is, and how it makes history. Thanks for watching this episode of Crash Course Art History which was filmed at the Indianapolis Museum of Art at Newfields and was made with the help of all these spectacular people.

If you want to help keep Crash Course free for everyone, forever, you can join our community on Patreon.