After 15 years as the global director of Art Basel, art industry veteran Marc Spiegler has a new mission: to educate the next wave of art professionals. Partnering with Art Market Minds, the group behind the annual Art Business Conference, Spiegler will launch a new online learning platform, the Academy, with a 10-hour course in February. Catchily titled “Understanding Today’s Art World, with Marc Spiegler,” promises participants a whistle-blowing journey through the complexities of today’s art market. Priced at £750, the program will be delivered in four 2.5-hour live online sessions—perfect for the serious and time-conscious.
This isn’t Spiegler’s first foray into academia. A veteran lecturer at Milan’s Bocconi University, he brings journalistic curiosity and market insider knowledge to his teaching. “Teaching is my old love, and I’ve been closely following the evolution of the art world for decades, first as a journalist and then as a marketer,” Spiegler told the Observer. “I am delighted to launch this new educational platform with Louise Hamlin and her team. We aim to provide a unique opportunity for anyone who wants to enter the industry, giving them immediate access to the knowledge needed to navigate the world of contemporary art.”
The course promises to reveal the major forces shaping the art market today, from digitization to the transfer of immovable manufactured wealth and the relentless pull of social media. “Students will walk away with a clear idea of how all the different players fit together now and how those roles might change going forward,” Spiegler said, speaking in a no-nonsense, practical way.
Spiegler’s lecture will be followed by the Cultural Catalyst Program, a 10-week marathon of workshops designed to help students turn ideas into polished platforms. “For the students, it’s going to be really intense,” Spiegler said. “They will receive training from me and Art Nova’s finance team, but ultimately they will face a team of seasoned investors.” Although the pressure will be there, he added that his Bocconi students always love this type of project.
But does the art world really need another market-oriented learning platform? When we asked the question, Hamlin, head of Art Market Minds, was ready with an answer. “This is what we’re building to be a fast, efficient jump into today’s art world,” he said, pitching the program as a crash course for the ambitious. “We think it’s very helpful for what it is—10 hours of live instruction from a seasoned professor who has held a major role for 15 years and has worked around the world.”
The hope, he added, is that the course will equip brilliant minds around the world with a solid foundation in the inner workings of the art market, enabling them to bring new ideas to the table in any industry role.
Art business programs are booming
The growth of art market technology and financing has fueled the growth of BA, MA, MSc and business school programs, as well as short courses, all designed for the management, finance and marketing aspects of the industry. Once dominated by art history programs, visual arts programs and the occasional health care course, today’s art centers and university modules now include more complex courses including art management, cultural heritage management and the complexities of the market itself.
Often called “arts management” or “arts management” programs, many focus on the workings of arts organizations, from nonprofit institutions—think theaters, museums, and opera houses—to for-profit businesses like galleries and auction houses. According to a 2017 study by the Association of Arts Administration Educators, the US alone boasts 88 arts administration graduate programs, with 77 more worldwide, including 30 in the UK, South America and Africa. The University of the Free State in Bloemfontein, South Africa, for example, now offers arts management classes, proving that this trend is global.
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Auction house heavyweights Sotheby’s and Christie’s are also in the education game. Sotheby’s Institute, founded in 1969 as a training ground for auctioneers, and Christie’s Education, launched in 1978, have evolved into major players offering short courses and master’s degrees in collaboration with universities in London, New York and, more recently, Hong Kong. . While Christie’s is closing its MA program in 2019, Sotheby’s Institute continues to churn out students keen to enter the international art market. Their courses remain steeped in trade-specific skills, though both have tried options focused on art history to bolster their academic credibility.
These programs are not cheap. Postgraduate courses run between £30,000-£40,000 in the UK and go up to at least $60,000 for short courses in the US, meanwhile, they come with price tags in the thousands, depending on their length. Although students can build impressive international networks and secure entry into the field, high capital expenditure does not always guarantee a quick return on investment. Early career salaries in the art world are notoriously modest, and moving up the ranks can be a bit of a grind.
As the art market continues its rapid expansion, creating platforms to standardize information and business processes seems essential. But questions remain: Can such a niche industry, fraught with barriers to entry, absorb the flood of students coming out of these programs? And perhaps more importantly, will local art scenes be able to harness this growing talent pool, or will ambitious students inevitably congregate in established global venues, leaving regional markets neglected?
The rise of art business courses began as a practical solution to the industry’s need for professionals equipped with the skills to address its unique challenges. However, what started as a necessary response is now teetering on the brink of becoming a self-serving business. As programs expand at breakneck speed, critics argue that many prioritize applicant numbers over the ultimate success of graduates in the field, turning education into yet another for-profit industry.
Adding fuel to the debate is a growing body of literature that treats art as a financial asset class. Often concerned with prices, economic data, and attempts to fit wire art into common commodity models, this approach draws sharp criticism for sidelining the cultural and historical dimensions inherent in the value of art. The art market operates under different rules than other fields, driven by layers of symbolic, social, and cultural significance. Stripping away these nuances in favor of a purely financial perspective not only simplifies the market but risks producing professionals ill-equipped to deal meaningfully with the complexities of trading.
