John Dewey on Art, Aesthetic Education, and the Democratic Community: The Lab School Works of 1896–1900*

Important works in the Dewey corpus — particularly those discussing the theory and practice of art and aesthetic education, prepared from 1896 through 1900 while Dewey was working out the plan for the University's Laboratory School—remain virtually unstudied. When interpreting or building upon Dewey's theory of art and art education, scholars have relied on major works including Democracy and Education, Experience and Nature, and Art as Experience. The purpose of this paper is to revisit the Lab School works and reinterpret them for contemporary philosophers of education and art educators.