The paper traces artists' social movements in the 1960s and 1970s and examines two results: (1) the stimulation of administrative coordination within and among established arts institutions, and (2) the creation of innovative arts institutions run by the artists themselves. Events leading up to these movements included the New Deal arts programs, which set a precedent for federal support, and the postwar economic expansion, which led to growing competitiveness and commodification of art, as a few artists received the most support. By the 1960s, artists mobilized to confront major arts institutions, demanding increased participation in decision making as well as increased representation of minorities and women artists. They also asked the institutions to become involved in major social issues. When no response was made, some artists in the mid-1970s organized and established artists' cooperatives and associations which attempted to meet their own needs by providing channels which allowed artists to reach the public directly and to deal with social issues. As a result, the art world today is divided into two parallel groups consisting of the alternative art world of cooperative galleries, artists' advocacy groups, and artists' publications, and the dominant patron/art/gallery/museum complex. (CK)