Abstract
<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>Scholars who study visual art often focus on its most competitive aspects, such as art markets, MFA programs, and museum collections. However, contemporary art is often created and exhibited in environments that emphasize collaboration and equality. Thus, the art world has two “layers,” one that emphasizes hierarchy and power and another that emphasizes cooperation and community Six chapters present argument using data from 125 interviews with artists, curators, dealers, collectors, and teachers to illustrate the argument. The first chapter introduces dual layer theory as an alternative to art world narratives that focus on relentless competition. The second chapter reviews the nature of competition and status building in the art world. The third chapter explores nonprofit forms of organizing and status-flattening practices in the art world. The fourth chapter investigates how people move between the two layers and how they try to overcome barriers with activism and new technologies. The fifth chapter looks at the barriers that art professors often face as they try to promote their students in the art world. The sixth chapter considers critiques to dual layer theory and explores its application to social theory and social settings beyond the art world. A methodology appendix is included.</jats:p>