HUNTER COLLEGE
ADSUP 722 - ISSUES IN CONTEMPORARY EDUCATION

on line with Lincoln Center Institute

ENTERING THE WORLD OF THE WORK OF ART

An Aesthetic Education Guide

Lincoln Center

for the arts in education

Institute

Aesthetic Education: A Brainstorming Guide

Basic to the Lincoln Center Institute philosophy of aesthetic education is the

belief that works of art are an inexhaustible resource. Each individual has

the capacity to respond uniquely to a work of art and there are no "right

answers" to understanding or responding to a work. The Institute believes that

a work of art can yield new insights with each viewing of or encounter with

the work; that doors to new and imagined worlds are opened to the viewer; that

these encounters with works of art can change people, causing them to view the

art work and world in a new way and reveal new understandings of themselves

and their world.

 

The educational process designed by the Institute supports the study of a

specific work of art through a method of aesthetic inquiry. The goal of this

process is to develop two interrelated capacities:  a receptivity to experiencing

any given art work, and the ability to reflect on that experience.

 

By cultivating these faculties, all students, young or old, can gain practical

insights and capabilities that can be applied to other studies and other areas

of life. Abstract thinking and problem-solving ability, for example, which are

improved through this practice, are equally important in studying a ballet

performance, conducting a biology experiment or solving a mathematical

equation. In the Institute process, these skills are developed as educators,

their students and whenever possible, parents become involved in carefully

planned encounters with works of art. In these encounters, the participants

are actively engaged in observing, listening to, researching and discussing

the works, and exploring them through participatory activities.

 

IN SUM, THIS EDUCATIONAL PROCESS IS DESIGNED TO:

• heighten students’ perceptual ability;

• expand their understanding of the underlying structure, including the social,

cultural and historical contexts from which a work of art is created;

• illuminate the choices made by artists which help shape the perceiver’s

experiences; and

• highlight the relationship of aesthetic experiences to other educational and human experiences.

The outline and guide in this booklet are designed to support the study of a

work of art through the Institute’s model of aesthetic education. It is a process

through which workshops and lesson plans for the focused study of any work

of art is developed.

Lincoln Center Institute