Why Aesthetic Education?

An aim of this project is to enhance the quality of visitors' relationships with artworks. At their best, artworks fine and decorative invite us to especially intense experiences, and these have been variously been called 'sublime', 'divine' and 'life enhancing'. While rare, these peak artistic experiences are the centre of ongoing relationships with art.

Certainly, there are many current approaches to art education that stimulate people's interest, but they do not treat these unique and powerful experiences of artworks as primary goals. Rather, they tend to stress historical, social and intellectual issues, which arise in connection with artworks. As a consequence, they introduce visitors to art, but they do not always allow for full and lasting appreciation of art's unique qualities. We think aesthetic education has a special contribution to the development of this appreciation. Aesthetic education can awaken people to what is wonderful in art.

So what is aesthetic education? Rather than characterising art through its extrinsic worth, aesthetic education focuses on the intrinsic value of artworks. Aesthetic derives from the Greek 'aisthesis', which means 'perception by means of the senses'. This draws our attention to a particular way of engaging with objects, and especially with works of art. Aesthetic education is the process through which we become more sensitive to the particular visual character of objects. This perceptual experience is a channel for imagination, memory and longing; the richness of experience is brought to intense focus by the qualities of the work. Current art education practice does not ignore this experiential dimension, but deals with it in a fragmented or occasional manner. Our contribution is to draw together, organise and promote the various features of an aesthetic approach to art appreciation.

An extended version of this mission statement can be downloaded here.

Funding and Collaboration

Funded by an Australia Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant, and developed in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery and Johnston Collection, the project runs from 2005-2007.