The Institute fosters the development of aesthetic education as a basic part of education through partnerships with school districts. The program is organized as a three-step process in which the focal point is the work of art itself. Step one provides teacher training in a summer session, involving participatory activities and aesthetic analysis. In step two, teachers choose particular works of art for study during the academic year.
Summer session provides participatory activities and aesthetic analysis tools.
While not a primary programmatic thrust, arts teachers can and do use the Institute units of study as their curriculum. General classroom teachers at elementary and secondary levels use units of study as part of their ongoing curriculum. Each of the 16 Institute sites is autonomous financially, organizationally and programmatically. Under the Lila Wallace grant, the Institute plans to expand its sites to 27 more communities.