Certainly any top 10 list about the most memorable events over the past decade in the visual arts must include mention of the economic bubble — felt in auction houses (where bids were wildly up, then way down) as well as institutions (where philanthropy has ebbed dramatically since the onset of the recession). However, a few other sea changes crept in amid the financial furor, including the emergence of technology as a major form of outreach and engagement. Here are 10 reasons why the visual arts continued to thrill existing audiences, and reach new ones, in the first chapter of the 21st century.

1. JERRY SALTZ ON FACEBOOK

Maybe the quirkiest signal that art has officially entered the 21st century has arisen from art critic Jerry Saltz’s avid and unconventional use of Facebook as a boisterous conversational platform. Adept at devising debate-spurring status updates that routinely spiral into insightful and hilarious free-for-alls (including a recent offer to pay $10,000 to anyone who can prove that painting is dead), Saltz has emerged as an unexpected master of the social networking platform. Instead of tuning in (yet again) to find out what your friends ate for lunch, try clicking on the New York-based critic’s page for a conversation around contemporary art with attitude and (at least some semblance of) substance.

2. INSTITUTIONS EMBRACE TECHNOLOGY

While art museums remain sites primarily of quiet contemplation, the ’00s ushered in a period when visitors are not only expected but encouraged to use cell phones and portable computing devices to supplement their visits. Dial a local number to hear a given work’s “audio label,” recorded by an artist or curator (in Tampa Bay, both the Museum of Fine Arts, St. Petersburg, and the University of South Florida Contemporary Art Museum use the technology), or download a podcast to listen to as you roam from gallery to gallery. Why stop there? Follow your favorite museum on Twitter, friend it on Facebook or check out its collection online (in the case of the Louvre or the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for example).

3. AUCTIONS GONE WILD

Eye-popping post-auction headlines created the most transparent sign of an economic bubble in the art world. At their high points in 2006 and 2007, the record-breaking sales led New York Times reporter Carol Vogel to compare the spending spree to a game using play money.

This article appears in Dec 30, 2009 – Jan 5, 2010.