Modeled on the essential principles of the Lincoln Center Institute for the Arts in Education, the EFA Aesthetic Education Program provides students with a rich investigation of high-quality works of art in all disciplines. Modeled on the essential principles of the internationally acclaimed Lincoln Center Institute in New York City, EFA’s Aesthetic Education Program provides more than 4,000 students and 200 classrooms teachers in Kalamazoo County with a rich investigation of high-quality works of art through discovery-based preparatory and viewing experiences. The Aesthetic Education (AE) Program functions within a collaborative partnership between EFA teaching artists and Aesthetic Education-trained classroom teachers. Working together, classroom teachers and teaching artist develop and implement inquiry-based, experiential units of study around specific works of art that students view. These units are designed to highlight the possible relationships between an artist’s choices and the viewer’s aesthetic response. Through participatory activities and reflections, students further develop their capacities for observation, analysis, questioning, and meaning making allowing them to deeply engage with and experience works of art while also making connections to their personal lived experiences, the outside world, and beyond.
