Ever since a prehistoric human painted a hunting scene on a cave wall, we have been fascinated with art. Although the definition of what is or is not art will probably never be settled. The arts are generally assumed to include visual arts (painting, drawing, sculpture, etc.), music, theatre, dance, and literature.

Millions of Americans flock to participate in and become spectators of the arts every year. In 2002, 60% of American adults went to the movies, almost half read a book, and over a quarter visited an art museum (according to the U.S. census). One of the most popular forms of American theatre is the Broadway musical. What we think of as a modern musical today (including such popular shows as Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, and Wicked) has its roots in nineteenth-century New York. Today, New York's Broadway theatre district is widely recognized as the premiere theatre district in the English-speaking world. In 2005, according to census, theatergoers spent $729 million on Broadway shows.

The arts predate even written history. It's hard to pinpoint the absolute earliest work of art, but 40,000-year-old cave and rock paintings, sculpture, and carvings are among the earliest. Some archaeologists point to 75,000-year-old shell beads found in South Africa as the first art. Of course, if art actually originated with ancient music or dance, no trace would be left! Early Western art centered mostly around Biblical themes, while Eastern art focused particularly on the natural world. Islamic religious art, prohibited from portraying religious icons focused instead on geometric designs.

During the Renaissance, Western art shifted its focus onto the human form and landscapes with famous artists such as Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Titian. Then, after world events like the two world wars shattered the world's idealism, visual art cycled through various movements: Impressionism (think Monet), Expressionism (Munch's The Scream for example), Fauvism (Matisse and others), Cubism (Picasso), and Surrealism (Dali).

These movements gave way to the idealistic Modernist movement, which includes artists like Warhol and Lichtenstein. Artists in this period rejected all historical rules of art, including the laws of perspective.

Today, we are in the Post-Modern era, which is often marked by irony, parody, and societal criticism. One of the classic controversies in the arts is simply: What is Art? With modern art, the lines between art and not-art can certainly be blurred. Surrealist French artist Marcel Duchamp created many debated works, including one piece that was just a urinal Duchamp had signed and placed on a pedestal; as well as another where he drew a goatee on a print of the Mona Lisa. Are these pieces art, or just jokes?

This controversy is not limited to the world of visual arts. Composer John Cage wrote a piece of music called Four Minutes, Thirty-three seconds which consists of four minutes and thirty-three seconds of silence. Can this be called music? Subject matter often makes art controversial. Famous examples of controversial art include Picasso's "Guernica," which depicted a bombing in Spain; Serranno's "Piss Christ," a photograph of a crucifix in a jar of urine; and Fischel's "Tumbling Woman," a tribute to the victims on 9/11 which was removed after spectators complained it was too disturbing.