The 20th century has been one in which artists in the U.S. have broken from Old World antecedents, taking the various cultural disciplines in new directions with impressive, innovative results. Artistic expressions have been enhanced and transformed by the creative drive of American people, particularly in the years following World War II. Music, film, theater, dance, architecture and other artistic expressions have been enhanced and transformed by the creative drive of American men and women, particularly in the years following World War II.

A rejuvenation in music, new directions in modern dance, drama drawn from the U.S. heartland, independent filmmaking across the landscape, the globalization of the visual arts - all of these are part of the contemporary scene in the United States. Under the aspect of modernity, the United States came to play a central role in all the arts. (We even invented three new art forms - jazz, modern dance, and the motion picture.) In addition to producing world-class artists of our own, this country attracted emigrés from all over the world whose work was promptly absorbed into the mainstream of American culture.

• American Folklife: A Commonwealth of Cultures US Library of Congress, American Folklife Center
• Cultural Policy & the Arts: National Data Archive (CPANDA)
• Distinctively American Arts DOS IIP
• Exporting Popular Culture DOS IIP
• Jefferson's Legacy: A Brief History of the Library of Congress
• Made in America: the Arts in Modern Civilization University of Virginia
• The Return of Beauty DOS IIP
• The 7 Lively Arts University of Virginia

• American Association of Museums
• American Cultural History: the 19th Century
• American Cultural History: the 20th Century
• American Folklife Center
• American Memory US Library of Congress
• American Social and Cultural History Smithsonian Institution
• Anacostia Museum
• Art Museum Network
• ArtsJournal.com: The Daily Digest of Arts, Culture and Ideas
• Artslynx
• Databases and E-Resources US Library of Congress
• Documenting the American South
• Making of America Cornell University
• Making of America University of Michigan
• National Endowment for the Arts
• National Endowment for the Humanities
• National Museum of American History
• The National Park Service Links to the Past
• New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
• Smithsonian Institution
• Timeline of Art History Metropolitan Museum of Art
• USArts: International Training Program
• Whitney Museum of American Art

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