The world requires a comprehensive, working definition for that realm of the “ARTS”. This definition succinctly satisfies that require.

“Art” means different things to various people. It’s been an enigma! Because the age of twelve I wanted to be an “artist”. Through the years I’d get involved with plenty of “art” endeavors: drawings, sculptures, paintings in various media, architectural design, photography, writing, and ceramics. I’ve even been fortunate to have “art” jobs: art and photography teacher, freelance artist, supervisor of a graphic art department, museum exhibits designer and builder, and art director. In all those experiences and even through educational training beyond the master’s degree I could not find a comprehensive meaning of…”art”. After all, I had been an “artist”; but, how could I make claim to this intriguing group with out really understanding what “art” was?

In early 1990′s, I participated in the Improving Visual Art Education Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio, that was sponsored through the Cincinnati Art Museum and also the Getty Center for the Arts. The conference basically centered around the idea of “Discipline Based Art Education”. In this realm arts education is thought to have four basic tenants that needs to be covered in pedagogy and help give credence to spending constrained budgets on having “arts” within the public school curriculum. These four areas are: history, theory/criticism, aesthetics, and production. It had been out of this conference which i created the design for that MIA PATCH Lesson Arrange for the Arts since there was no lesson plan format which i new of this really fit the “arts” education arena. Among the speakers, and that i forget her name, was an aesthetics professor from the University of Minnesota. She came the nearest to some definition of art that I could agree with, except, for her, art needed a concrete artifact, a skill “object”, something tangible to become reviewed through time. But, as numerous “artists” know, sometimes an artistic creation is made to be fugitive, non-tangible through time, it has to disappear to fulfill its aesthetic intent.

While out jogging one afternoon at the conference it came to me, an epiphany; ” There’s a simple, comprehensive meaning of “art”, this is an acronym for itself”.

The Aesthetic Rendering of Thought.

To ensure that Art to exist, the next three (3) criteria should be met. First of all, there must be some sensory manifestation (Rendering), fugitive or permanent, that is based on a creative, intellectual process (Thought) using the aim of a beautiful or pleasurable (Aesthetic or Anti-aesthetic) action, or reaction, in a single or even more of the senses and/or psyche.

Encircled within this definition are more than the traditional concepts of “art”: painting, sculpture, ceramics, writing, architecture, drama, music, dance, and photography. It is easier to realise why cooking could be included being an “art” and more than just a craft. Please do not confuse “craft” with “art”. Art objects are original creations, unique. Craft, on the other hand, is the fastidious copying, reproduction, of an art object.

The idea of art work is commonly misunderstood. Lots of people believe that fine art refers to the excellence of the art in question, this really is not the case. Exactly what the fine in fine art actually refers to is the discipline’s purity.

For this reason most of the performing arts such as ballet and theater are classified as the fine arts. On the other hand, it does not necessarily refer only to that of performing arts every talent albeit sculpting, painting and many more all can be considered art work as long as the purity of the art is the best that it can possibly be.

With having said that, the concept of what purity of a discipline is will be questioned. It had been Aristotle who said hello best when he explained that imitation may be the finest thing in human instinct. The second reason is that of our ability to be in harmony albeit with regards to rhythm in order to nature itself.

So essentially, fine arts are those whose purity is really as close as possible to being in rhythm to imitation of human nature. Bear in mind though, this definition only actually refers back to the performing arts then when you are looking at visual arts such as painting and sculpting to name a few, the idea of the art’s purity can differ in one art to another as well as from the subclass of the particular art to another subclass of this same talent.