The International Conference on the Arts in Society is hosted annually with a leading university or cultural institution. Past and forthcoming partners include the University of Sydney (Australia), the University of Edinburgh (UK), the Venice Biennale (Italy), Pantheon-Sorbonne University (France), Emily Carr University of Art + Design (Canada), the University of Granada (Spain), Jagiellonian University (Poland), and Carnegie Mellon University (USA, 2025). Each edition centers on a Special Focus that reflects contemporary artistic inquiry, and the Network welcomes proposals and presentations in both English and Spanish.
Grounded in the Network’s founding commitment to understanding art as both cultural practice and social inquiry, the Arts in Society Journal Collection is a peer-reviewed, hybrid open access series that advances interdisciplinary research on the relationships between art, culture, and social life from comparative and global perspectives. Contributions span visual, performing, literary, media, and design arts, examining artistic practice as a mode of inquiry into issues such as social justice, cultural heritage, public space, and technological change. All submissions undergo double-anonymous, rubric-guided peer review, with editorial feedback focused on strengthening conceptual clarity, methodological transparency, and engagement with diverse audiences. The journals sustain a continuous pathway from conference presentations and Member Knowledge Community contributions to fully developed, peer-reviewed publications, and accept work in both English and Spanish.
The Arts in Society Book Imprint extends these conversations through monographs and edited collections linking theory and practice, showcasing art’s role in cultural transformation and community engagement. The Imprint supports English- and Spanish-language projects, including regionally grounded studies that speak to global debates in the arts.
The Arts in Society Research Network’s Member Knowledge Community on CGScholar is a year-round hub for members—keeping profiles, projects, and conversations in motion. Built for collaboration, it pairs a multimodal authoring environment with light, community-guided review to strengthen purpose and reader context before sharing. Works in progress sit alongside programs, recordings, and calls, connecting conference contributions with our peer-reviewed journals and books, and opening clear pathways for ongoing participation and publication across artistic practice, cultural production, and public space. Alongside the main space, a dedicated Spanish-language Arts in Society community supports members who wish to post, review, and publish entirely in Spanish.
The Network is co-chaired by Daniel Tucker and Pilar Irala-Hortal (Universidad San Jorge, Zaragoza, España). Tucker’s leadership emphasizes civic imagination and socially engaged art, while Irala-Hortal—a scholar, curator, and photographer—focuses on visual culture, collective memory, and the politics of representation.
Research Network Chair (English)
Docente e investigadora, Universidad San Jorge, Zaragoza, España (Spanish)
Partnerships extend the Network’s scholar-led mission—linking universities, cultural institutions, and community organizations committed to advancing creative research and social engagement. Recent partners include:
Institute ACTE
Paris, France
Paris, France
Athens, Greece
Vancouver, Canada
Lisbon, Portgual
Galway, Ireland
Perth, Australia
Zaragoza, España
Krakow, Poland
Seoul, South Korea
Pittsburgh, USA