M
MA, pl. MAs
(no periods, no apostrophe)
Magic Realism, Magic Realist
Mannerism
(as art movement)
masterwork
matte
(not mat, not matt)
MB
for megabyte (e.g., file was 3.2 MB large)
McFarland Dewey
media
(use mediums if appropriate)
medieval
medium-sized
Mesoamerica
metalwork
MFA, pl. MFAs
Microsoft
not MS
Microsoft Word or Word
not MS Word
mid-1960s
(but early 1960s or late 1960s)
mid-Atlantic
midtown Manhattan
Middle Ages
Middle East
Middle Eastern
Minimalism, Minimalist, Minimal art
(as art movement)
mission statement
mixed media
(n.), mixed-media (adj.)
mobile phone
modeling, modeled
modernism, modernist
(this is an adj., not a movement)
MoMA
for Museum of Modern Art
MoMA PS1
(as of 2010; before then, P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, then P.S.1)
monoprint
motif
(not motive), pl. motifs
multimedia
(adj.)
Mylar
N
National Coalition Against Censorship
National Gallery
(in London)
National Gallery of Art
(in Washington, DC)
Native American
naturalism
Neoclassical, Neoclassicism
(as art movement)
Neoexpressionism
(as art movement)
Net art
(as art movement)
Netherlands, the
New Image painting
new media
(noun)
new-media
(adj.)
New World
New York
(rarely New York City)
New York Times
as full title, but the New York Times, the Times in some instances in run of text
nonart
non-Eastern
nonnative
nonnegotiable
nonprofit
not not-for-profit
non-tenure-track
(exception to the no hyphens rule)
non-Western
North, the
(as in the global North or, occasionally, the American North)
Northern California
O
office
not offices (ex: the company office in New York)
offsite
okay
not OK
old master
Old World
online
not on-line
onsite
not on site or on-siute
Oriental
(but prefer Asian)
Other, the
(as concept)
P
Pacific Rim
page numbers in citations
do not use “p.”: 23, not p. 23; in run of text spell out: page 23
paint stick
paintbrush
papermaking
papier-mâché
(no itals)
Parsons the New School for Design
part-time
(adj.), (part-time worker, but he works part time)
part-timer
(n.)
pay wall
pen-and-ink
(adj. followed by a noun)
performance art
PhD, pl. PhDs
photoengraving
photograph
not photo (spell out in captions and credit lines)
Photorealism
(as art movement)
Plexiglas
PM
not pm, p.m., or P.M.
PO Box
(in addresses)
polystyrene
(not Styrofoam unless the brand name is used)
Pop art
(as art movement)
postclassical
postdoctoral
postgraduate
Postimpressionism, Postimpressionist
(as art movement)
Postminimalism, Postminimalist, Postminimal
(as art movement)
postmodernism, postmodernist, postmodern
(not an art movement but a general term)
poststructuralism, poststructuralist
pottery making
preclassical
Precolumbian
predoctoral
Pre-Raphaelite, Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, PRB
(this is an exception; usually art movement names with “Pre” or “Post” take no hyphen)
president-elect
printmaking
private collection
provenance
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center, then P.S.1
(after 2010, MoMA PS1)