Deborah Robin: Ed.D., Nova Southeastern U; Regional Dir. of Ops., Keller Graduate School of Mgmt.; Art History Instructor, Art Institute of Phoenix and Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art
Wednesday, October 21st, 2026: 3:00 – 4:00 pm, Koffler Great Room at ASA and Zoom
For centuries, Western artists generally shared certain assumptions about art: it should be made by hand, display technical skill, and represent the visible world. Then came the camera, two world wars, and a century of upheaval and artists began rewriting those assumptions. In this six-part series, we’ll watch the old certainties give way one by one and discover how the modern world transformed the purpose of art. No background in art is needed, just curiosity.
In Part 4 of 6, Dr. Deborah Robin explores the 1920s, when the Bauhaus school set out to unite art, design, and technology and build a better, more beautiful world for everyone. A decade later, the Nazi regime branded that same modern art “degenerate,” staging a notorious exhibition to mock and destroy it. This is the century’s most dramatic collision of art and power—a story of soaring hope and its brutal suppression.