Liberal Arts Education for Practical Convergence of Life and Art:
Focusing on Contemporary Art Classes Connected with Art Museums
Kim Ye-jin
CEO of Art Flexible, a Culture and Arts Education Service
Abstract Liberal education is based on humanism, which posits that human
beings as free thinkers should be able to understand themselves and
the world around them in order to act and live independently. Based
on this idea, liberal arts education aims to have learners explore their
own inner value, understand others, and empathize and communicate
through art in the community. It is essential for liberal arts education to
help learners develop the attitude to think critically and embrace their
lives in relation to art, rather than perceiving it as a transfer of knowledge.
In terms of art and cultural education, which aims for the practical
convergence of life and art, museums are cultural and artistic institutions
that specialize in providing local communities with a variety of aesthetic
experiences and are considered important resources. In particular, today's
museums are being transformed into new museology based spaces that
pursue the value of intangible cultural heritage beyond the existing elite attitude,
which centers on the collection and exhibition of artwork. Furthermore, the
new museology based art museums that welcome visitors as active subjects
of experience share the same vision with liberal arts courses offered at
universities where students are respected as active subjects; this implies the
possibility of the convergence of liberal arts education between art museums
and universities. Based on the possibility of such a convergence, this study
intends to propose how contemporary art classes in universities can provide
practical art experiences in life by connecting with art museums. In this regard,
the meaning of ‘relevance’ for practical art was explored, and the responses of
students taking the <Contemporary Art Roundtable> class at Humanitas College,
Kyung Hee University were analyzed in order to examine changed perceptions
and attitudes toward art. This revealed that connecting art museums with cultural
education in universities can have a positive effect on practicing art in life. Accordingly
, this study suggests linking art and liberal arts education with art museums as a
new way to integrate humanistic and liberal education for the next generation.
Keywords : Liberal arts education, art museums, relevance, appreciation of contemporary art, convergence of life and art
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