Living the Questions: Existential Intelligence in the Context of Holistic Art Education

Author(s): Seymour Simmons III

Reviewed work(s):
Source: Visual Arts Research, Vol. 32, No. 1(62) (2006), pp. 41-52
Published by: University of Illinois Press
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Living theQuestions: Existential Intelligence
intheContext of Holistic Art Education
Seymour Simmons III
WinthropUniversity
Abstract
Existential intelligence, a recent candidate for
inclusion on Howard Gardner's list of Multiple
Intelligences(Ml), involvesthe explorationof
"the nature of existence in itsmultifarious guis
es" p. 60). As such, itaddresses ultimate
(1999,
questions like "Who am I?" "What is the mean
ing of life,of love, of tragic loss, of death?" and
"What is my relation to nature, to other people,
toGod?" This essay begins witha reviewofMl
theory in general and existential intelligence in
their contribution to a ho
particular, considering
listic approach to art education. It then argues
forthe importanceof thoughtfulreflection on
existential issues foryoung people todayand
demonstrates the roleofmaking and studying
art to help them deal with these issues. Finally,
the essay provides general guidelines for en
gaging existential intelligencethroughart les
sons appropriate for contemporary American
public schools.
Living the Questions: Existential
Intelligence in the Context
of Holistic Art Education
Late inhis life,the post-Impressionist artist
Paul Gauguin created a painting thatem
bodied inwords and images his questions
about existence: D'o? venons-nous? Que
faisons-nous? O? allons-nous?, inEnglish:
Where do we come from?What are we?
Where are we going? (1897-1898). These
questions, raised throughout history as
people search formeaning, purpose, and
value intheir lives,not only concern adults
but also adolescents and even children.
Robert Coles, a psychiatristwriting inThe
spiritual lives of children (1990), refers
specifically toGauguin's paintingwhen he
observes that these "are eternal questions
children ask more intensely,unremittingly,
VISUAL ARTS RESEARCH ? 2006 by theBoard ofTrustees of theUniversity
and subtly than we sometimes imagine"
(p. 37). Ifanything, reflection on eternal
questions is a matter of increasing ur
gency today as young people face a world
of conflictingvalues, beliefs, and societal
pressures.
Recently, Harvard psychologist Howard
Gardner (1999) framed such reflection in
terms of a proposed "Existential Intelli
gence" and considered itas a possible ad
dition to hiswell-known listofmultiple intel
ligences. Existential intelligence,Gardner
asserts, "explores the nature of existence
in itsmultifarious guises" (p. 60). Typically,
this exploration occurs in philosophical
dialogue, religious discourse, or spiritual
contemplation, but, as with Gauguin's
masterpiece mentioned above, existen
tial concerns can be equally addressed
through visual imagery.Affirmingthe on
going importance of existential reflection
in lifeand art, this essay considers ways
of engaging existential intelligenceas part
of a holistic approach to art education and
offers guidelines for developing lessons
on the subject appropriate forU.S. public
schools. Itbegins with some background
on holistic education, then reviewsmultiple
intelligence theoryand practice.
Holistic Education
Holistic education isbased on the recogni
tion that there are many dimensions of the
individual?body, emotions, intellect,and
spirit?all needing development and inte
gration within the whole. Integration then
extends outward to link individuals with
society, humanity,nature, and the cosmos.
Toward these ends, holistic general edu
cation balances physical activity,arts, aca
of Illinois 41
demies, and sometimes spiritual practices
likeyoga or meditation. Moreover, specific
subjects likevisual art can be taught ina
holisticmanner. An article on this topic ina
recent issue of Art Education (Kind, Irwin,
Grauer, & de Cosson, 2005) compares
the holistic perspective to more common
approaches: "Education is longing for a
deeper more connected, more inclusive,
and more aware way of knowing.One that
connects heart and hand and head and
doesn't split knowledge into dualities of
thought and being, mind and body, emo
tion and intellect, but resonates with a
wholeness and fullness that engages ev
ery part of one's being" (p. 33). As such,
holistic education is preparation, not just
for careers and citizenship, but "for the
whole of lifeand the deepest aspects of
living"(Forbes, 2000).
According to Miller (2000), contem
porary holistic education emerged in the
1960s and the 1970s, inspired by 18th
and 19th century writers like Rousseau,
Pestalozzi, and Froebel. Yet holistic ideas
have farmore ancient roots.Based as they
are on a deep understanding of human
nature and human needs, we findholistic
principles in traditional teachings of both
East and West. In theWest, forexample,
holistic concerns are evident in the Greek
concept of Paideia (Jaeger, 1965) and in
Plato's educational vision defined in his
Republic (Cornford, 1941). Today, holistic
education is perhaps most closely associ
ated with "alternative"schools likeMontes
sori andWaldorf. Increasingly,however, ho
listicapproaches are entering mainstream
public education where theyare supported
by ideas frommainstream sources such as
Howard Gardner's theoryof multiple intel
ligence (1983).
inBrief
Multiple Intelligences Theory
The theory of multiple intelligence, origi
nally published in Gardner's 1983 book
Frames of mind, was developed during
his participation ina research project on
human potential at the Harvard Graduate
School of Education (1985). As a psy
42 SeymourSimmons
chologist interested insymbolic functions,
especially those involved inthe arts, Gard
ner wanted to expand the notion of human
potential by revealing other formsof intel
ligence beyond the combination of linguis
tic, logical, and mathematical capacities
captured instandard IQ tests (Spearman,
1927). This so-called "general intelligence"
is commonly assumed to apply to all kinds
of problems, personal and professional
(Spearman, 1903).
By contrast, Gardner claimed that there
were many different "intelligences" used
to address a diversity of issues. Initially,
Gardner's list included seven forms of in
telligence: linguistic, logical/mathematical,
musical, spatial, bodily kinesthetic, inter
personal, and intrapersonal.Gardner was
not the firstto identify multiple mental ca
pacities like these (e.g., Thurstone, 1938),
but he did press the point of commonal
ityamong them by provocatively labeling
them all "intelligences." He also sought to
prove that each capacity was, indeed an
"intelligence" rather thanmerely a talentor
skill by testing them against eight criteria
(1985, pp. 62-67):
Potential isolation by brain damage
An evolutionary historyand evolution
ary plausibility
An identifiablecore operation or set
of operations
Susceptibility to encoding ina symbol
system
A distinctive developmental history
along with a definable set of expert
"end-state" performances
The existence of idiotsavants, prodi
gies, and other exceptional people
Support from experimental psycho
logical tests
Support frompsychometric findings
Besides placing the several mental ca
pacities on equal footing,calling them all
"intelligences" provided a logical way to
acknowledge that people are more intelli
gent insome aspects of their lives than in
others, a common sense observation that
runs counter to the idea of a single gen
eral IQ.Gardner then proposed a similarly
common sense definition of intelligence
that encompassed all the forms he had
identified,calling it the capacity to "solve
problems or create products that are of
value ina culture" (1985, p. x).
Ml theory thus described contributes to
holistic education by providing a definition
of intelligence thatencompasses many as
pects of the individualwhile acknowledging
the engagement of intelligence ina diver
sity of significanteducational experiences.
In regard to one aspect of holistic educa
tion, however, the initialformulationof Ml
fellshort.Although ittook intoaccount the
physical domain throughbodily/kinesthetic
and spatial intelligences, the affective do
main throughmusical and personal intel
ligences, and the intellectual domain as
commonly conceived through linguistic
and logical/mathematical intelligences, it
leftout the spiritual element. Gardner ad
dressed this concern when revisitingMl
theory in his 1999 book Intelligence Re
framed. Itwas in this context that the pos
sibilityof an "existential intelligence"was
considered indepth.
What is "Existential Intelligence?"
Gardner's discussion of spiritual and ex
istential intelligenceswas part of a review
of additional candidates forhis list.Others
were naturalist,moral, and artistic intelli
gences. Of these, only the naturalist intelli
gence was fullyadmitted. This intelligence,
which involves "the recognitionand classi
ficationof the numerous species?the flora
and fauna?in [the]environment" (1999, p.
48), met all criteria and was sufficientlyfo
cused inscope to correlate with the other
intelligences. By contrast, moral and artis
tic intelligences were deemed too broad.
Any intelligence, Gardner says, can be
used formoral or immoralpurposes. Lin
guistic intelligencecan be used to preach,
teach, or sell unreliable used cars. Logical/
mathematical intelligence can be used to
resolve economic crises or to perpetrate
white-collar crime. Similarly,Gardner says
that "strictlyspeaking, no artistic intelli
gence exists, rather, intelligences function
artistically?or not artistically?to the ex
tent that theyexploit certain properties of a
symbol system...[thus] spatial intelligence
can be exploited aesthetically by a sculptor
or painter and nonaesthetically by a geom
eter or a surgeon" (pp. 108-109). Even mu
sic has non-artisticuses, as when a bugler
plays "Reveille" towake the troops.
Gardner's concerns about a possible
spiritual intelligence are more extensive.
For one thing,he finds itdifficultto define
and limitthe concept of the spiritual.More
importantly,he finds two aspects of the
spiritualout of synchwith theother formsof
intelligenceand worrisome in themselves.
One is the association of the spiritualwith
the attainment of uncommon states of
mind, being, or truth.Another is the ap
parent capacity of some spiritual individu
als to have an effect,positive or negative,
on others. A thirdaspect of the spiritual,
however, merits his closer consideration:
"thespiritualas concern with cosmic or ex
istential issues" (p. 54). This, then, forms
the basis of a separate "existential intel
ligence,"which addresses questions like
those raised inGaugin's painting:Who am
I?Where do Icome from?What does the
futurehold forme? Why do Iexist?What is
themeaning of life,of love,of tragic loss, of
death? and What ismy relation to nature,
to other people, toGod? (p. 54).
After describing the nature of existen
tial intelligence, Gardner tests itagainst
his eight criteria, where it fares reason
ably well. Itscore ability is "the capacity to
locate oneself with respect to the furthest
reaches of the cosmos?the infiniteand
the infinitesimal?and the related capac
ityto locate oneself with respect to such
existential features of the human condi
tionas the significance of life,themeaning
of death, the ultimate fate of the physical
and the psychological worlds, and such
profound experiences as love of another
person or total immersion ina work of art"
(p. 60). This potential "has been valued
in every known culture" and is embodied
in religious as well as secular institutions
where it is formulated in "enduring sets of
Living the Questions 43
symbol systems (such as those featured in
theCatholic liturgy)"(p. 61).
In terms of evolution, Gardner (1999)
asserts that "one of the major cognitive
activities among early humans was a
grappling with these existential issues" (p.
62). Moreover, individuals ineach culture
(Christ, Buddha, Mohammed) exemplify
high-end states of achievement of existen
tial intelligence while "prodigies" include
"religious leaders likeGandhi and physi
cists likeAlbert Einstein" (p. 62). Physi
ological and psychometric criteria are also
addressed. In the process, Gardner even
finds evidence of "a possible heritable
component" (p. 64). Despite this appar
ent success, however, Gardner (1999) still
hesitates to add existential intelligence to
his list,saying, "The phenomenon is per
plexing enough and the distance from the
other intelligences vast enough to dictate
prudence?at least fornow" (p. 66).
Though perhaps disappointing, the fail
ure of existential intelligence to achieve
Gardner's fullapproval in no way dimin
ishes itssignificance to human life,or to
the arts. Many importanthuman attributes,
such as emotions and morality, falloutside
the scope of multiple intelligences. On
the positive side, Gardner's careful con
sideration of the existential in lightof his
eight criteria, includingsocial, psychologi
cal, and physiological components, helps
situate at least one facet of the spiritual
within the purview of public education. Few
schools would support the pursuit of spiri
tual states and fewer still the projection of
spiritual influence onto others, but many
could tolerate guided reflectionon existen
tial issues especially when making art or
studying works of art where such issues
figureprominently.
Existential Intelligence and
Teaching Art
Existential issues and the cultivation of
existential intelligence can thus play a
part in art education, whether the focus
is student-centered or curriculum-cen
tered. Teachers with a student-centered,
44 SeymourSimmons
developmental approach like thatof Victor
Lowenfeld (1957) need only lookwith Rob
ert Coles (1990) at the spiritual concerns
of young people today.Those with a cur
riculum-centered approach such as Disci
pline Based Art Education (Clark, Day, &
Greer, 1987) would finda wealth of works
addressing existential themes throughout
history,spanning every culture and reflect
ing the range of aesthetic philosophies.
They might, forexample, explore the role
of sacred art and craftobjects used by tra
ditional cultures in rituals around existen
tial issues - burial rites, rites of passage,
vision quests, etc. According to anthro
pologist Ellen Dissanayake (1995), these
rituals, and the images and objects that
are a part of them, help hold communities
together, unitingyoung and old in the pur
suit of common concerns.
Speaking more broadly, the National
Standards forArts Education makes much
the same point, saying in its introduction:
"The arts are one of humanity's deepest
rivers of continuity.They connect each
new generation to those who have gone
before, equipping the newcomers in their
own pursuit of the abiding questions: Who
am I?What must Ido? Where am Igoing?"
(Mahlmann, 1994, p. 5). This statement,
which confirms the significance of exis
tential issues to our domain fromboth de
velopmental and curricular perspectives,
should encourage art teachers to engage
existential intelligence,whatever theiredu
cational philosophy. But such engagement
isof particular importancewithin a holistic
approach, not only because itadds a spiri
tual dimension to the students' overall de
velopment, but also because the capacity
to reflect intelligently on the meaning and
purpose of life
may be themost important
dimension of all.
Socrates made this point categorically,
saying that "the lifewhich is unexamined
is not worth living"(Bartlett's, 2005). True
to his word, the Greek philosopher liveda
lifeof existential reflection.He also encour
aged such reflection fromall with whom
he came incontact, relentlessly question
ing them about the meaning and purpose
of life,about ultimate worth, values, and
moral choice. Socrates' purpose was not
to elicit pre-determined answers. In fact,
he claimed not to have any answers him
self. Rather, his aim was to get people to
question their assumptions, and based
on such questioning to thinkmore deeply
about life'smajor issues. Socrates called
thisprocess "perfectionof the soul" (Plato,
inMack, 1997).
Dialogue and personal reflectionon ex
istentialthemes were especially important
during Socrates' time when established
beliefs were breaking down and conflicting
values were causing doubts, especially in
the young. Inshort, itwas a timemuch like
our own. Such times call for the capacity
to thinkforoneself and ifnecessary to op
pose social or political pressures to con
form,as Socrates did at the cost of his life.
As we know, Socrates was triedand con
"
demned, ostensibly for 'not recognizing
the gods of Athens' and for 'demoralizing
"
the young men' (Cornford, 1932, p. 42).
His real "crime,"however, was persistently
posing annoying questions. Given the op
portunity to recant or escape, he chose
death rather than to give up a lifeof philo
sophical inquiry.
An image of Socrates at this tellingmo
ment has come down to us ina painting
by Jacques-Louis David (1787), which
depicts the heroic figure reaching out, un
afraid, to take the cup of poison hemlock
while sharing a finalword with his devoted
friends.Justas Socrates inspired theyouth
of his day toask deep, reflectivequestions,
David's painting inspired the French peo
ple in the years leading to the Revolution
by exemplifying traits of self-knowledge,
self-direction, and courage in the face of
Works of art likethiscan continue
injustice.
to inspire the youth of today to reflectand
thinkforthemselves about lifeissues.
Faced with problems seemingly en
demic to our culture?crime, depression,
drugs, promiscuity, racial and economic
inequality,terrorism,violence, war?young
people are already asking existential ques
tions likethose proposed by Parker Palmer:
"Does my lifehave meaning and purpose?
Do Ihave gifts theworld wants and needs?
Whom and what can I trust?How can I rise
above my fears? How does one maintain
hope? (Palmer, 1998-1999, pp. 6-8). Palm
er,writing ina special issue of Educational
Leadership entitled "The spirit of educa
tion," is one of many educators who urge
thatwe directly address these concerns
inU.S. public schools. At the same time,
these writers also acknowledge that teach
ers who do so will face many challenges
including especially policies intended to
keep religion and topics associated with
religionout of the classroom. Other chal
lenges may include identifying specific stu
dent concerns as well as developing les
sons and findingresources tomeet these
concerns while staying within established
guidelines. The followingsections consider
some of these challenges and ways of ad
dressing themwhen teaching art.
Know your students. Whatever the
subject, studio art projects and art works
forstudy must be appropriate to the edu
cational needs of the students ifthe lesson
is to be effective. Ifanything, appropriate
ness ismore importantand more difficult
when lessons involve existential themes.
One major difficultylies in knowing what
questions are ofmost concern to particular
students.
It is true thatsensitive teachers can fre
quently guess the compelling issues instu
dents' lives based inpart on self-reflection
and inpart on knowledge of theirstudents'
developmental levels, socioeconomic cir
cumstances, cultural backgrounds, fami
lies,and individualconcerns. But even with
this information,it is all too easy to miss
themark. A more reliable strategymight be
to encourage students to formulate their
own questions throughwritten reflections
on studio art projects or during dialogues
prompted by works of art (Winner & Sim
mons, 1992).
Of course, genuine reflectionand sin
cere questioning depend, not only on ef
fective teaching methods, but equally on
the establishment of a good rapport be
tween the teacher and the students as well
as a classroom atmosphere that is open
LivingtheQuestions 45
and nonthreatening. Sometimes, under
such conditions, existential concerns will
arise spontaneously while students make
art on theirown or when a project allows
fora diversityof personal responses. Other
times, students may need to be prompted
by specific questions or directions. For
example, Robert Coles often gave young
people he worked with assignments such
as to "drawGod" (1990, p. 40). Coles then
followed the drawing session with conver
sations inwhich he asked children to talk
about their images and what theymeant
to them.Coles, however,was working one
on-one with young people in a research
or therapeutic context. As such, he could
broach religious, spiritual, or existential
topics thatmany consider inappropriate for
discussion ina public school setting.
By contrast, art educator Peter Lon
don (1989) describes lessons that can be
applied directly ina classroom, while ad
dressing central existential questions like
"Who am I?"One of these lessons asks
students to findand draw an object that
is somehow metaphorical of them, mak
ingart around "thatquality of [themselves]
without which [they]would no longer be
the person [they]take [themselves] to be."
Another involves creating "Janus Masks"
depicting theirpublic and private personas
(pp. 103-105). As evidenced from these
examples, existential issues, like other
deep or hidden aspects of the psyche, can
be more accessible during the act of mak
ing art?thus, the healing capacity of art
therapy and the emotive power of artistic
self-expression.
To achieve such significant ends, Lon
don urges that students make art, not in
reference to the work of previous artists,
which he calls "second-hand art" (1989),
but from theirown first-handexperiences
and concerns. London thendescribes a key
purpose of personal artmaking interms of
"grapplingwith the ephemeral qualities of
lifeand with our own mortality" (p. 8). The
importance of allowing young people to
make theirown art unencumbered by the
prior study of adult art may be associated
with a "studentcentered" or "childcentered"
46 SeymourSimmons
approach to education. The child-centered
approach, as framed by Dewey (1902) and
others, takes the students' own experience
as the starting point of learning, then helps
them construct new knowledge by relating
new informationtowhat theyalready know.
This approach seems particularlypertinent
when addressing problems of profound,
personal concern such as those encom
passed within the existential domain.
Nonetheless, as suggested earlier, per
sonal reflectionon existential issues can
also occur while studying art made by oth
ers, forexample in an art history lesson
when the work in question addresses its
theme ina way that strikes a chord with
the students. Robert Coles (1990) de
scribes one such reflectivedialogue that
happened, this time ina public school set
ting,when he was teaching a class of 4th
graders. The picture under consideration
was The Doctor by Sir Luke Fildes (1891),
which depicts a physician at the side of an
ailing child. With apparently no prompt
ing fromColes, the painting unleashed a
storm of questions, comments, and de
bate, not only about illness and death, but
about good and evil, the existence and
nature of God, and the relation between
humans and the divine (p. 110). Such dis
cussions not only demonstrate the power
of art to evoke reflectionabout existential
questions, they leave no doubt that these
questions are already on theminds of chil
dren, sometimes frombefore they are old
enough to go to school. "How young,"Cole
writes on the book's back cover, "we are
when we start wondering about itall, the
nature of the journey and of the finaldes
tination..."
Know your subject As noted above,
existential themes can provoke genuine
reflection so long as the works in ques
tion reach students on a personal level.
Teachers who use this tack may have a
"curriculum-centered" perspective, one
whose starting point is an established
body of knowledge that is studied using a
set of professional disciplines. Inart, these
disciplines have recently included art his
tory,art criticism,and aesthetics, although
others likeanthropology can also be em
ployed. Whatever discipline is used, the
challenge is to findworks of art that relate
to student concerns.
While the internetnow makes artwork
of all kinds more accessible than ever be
fore, images related to existential themes
are not necessarily easy to locate or to
identifyas such. Teachers seeking such
imagerywill generally need to extend their
knowledge of historical and contemporary
art well beyond what they learned incol
lege art historysurvey classes and even in
classes focused on distinct periods (e.g.,
20th century art). These classes, of neces
sity,covered a wide range of themes, so,
existential images, ifany, would normally
have been limitedto the obvious few?me
dieval depictions of the last judgmentor the
Dutch Vanitas' still-lives that symbolically
depict the vanity of worldly concerns?
while bypassing more subtle and evocative
works. Moreover, until quite recently,art
history focused primarily on mainstream
western art while largely ignoring"hidden
streams," including art from non-western
cultures, women artists, traditionalor folk
arts, and "outsider art," i.e., work
those outside the world of galleries, mu
seums, and art schools (Simpson et al.,
1998). These works often deal significantly
with existential issues.
One such example froma non-Western
culture is the Japanese tea ceremony, cha
do. Chado embodies, in itsutensils, itsset
ting,and the ritual itself,importantvalues
associated with Zen Buddhism such as
humility,being attentive to the subtle quali
ties of experience, and being fullypresent
inthemoment (Queen, 2004). For samurai
warriors, the practice of chado and the re
flection itevoked helped them prepare to
face theirown mortality inbattle. Another
dimension of chado, the importance of re
spect between host and guest, is transmit
ted through the tea ceremony to benefit
not only the individual,but the community
as a whole. Knowing about such underly
ing concerns, teachers who address
ticulturalart content like the tea ceremony
might ask students to compare values em
bodied inthe subject being studied to those
promoted by popular culture. Doing so,
however, teachers must be likeSocrates,
posing reflectivequestions without inviting
or expecting particular answers (Hamblen,
1984). Only in thisway will students feel
comfortable exposing theirown views and
pursuing theirown paths of inquiry.
By contrast, art teachers could present
subjects likechado without ever engaging
existential intelligence, either by focusing
on other issues (historical, formal, tech
nical), or by skimming over the subject
without allowing time to contemplate its
significance. Moreover, this significance
will generally be apparent only after con
sidering the subject within itscultural and
philosophical context. Surprisingly,contex
tual investigation is no less necessary to
uncover the existential content embedded
inworks ofWestern art. Consider, forex
ample, modern abstract painting. Though
unknown tomany, much of thiswork was
motivated by existential questions that
arose inthe face of unprecedented cultural
upheaval. Maurice Tuchman (1986), writ
ing in the catalogue foran exhibition en
done by titledThe Spiritual inArt:Abstract Painting
1890-1985, of which he was the curator,
explains, "...[T]he industrialrevolutionand
consequent changes in the economic sys
tem, coupled with Charles Darwin's find
ings, not only undermined people's faith
inconventional religionbut also led to the
perception of lifeas barren and devoid of
meaning" (p. 19). In response, Tuchman
writes, artists turned toward Eastern and
Native American spiritual teachings, mys
ticism, and the occult while working out
theirown cosmic and existential concerns
through paintings that, simply put, ad
dressed non-material subjects with non
representational images.
The exhibition and itscatalogue docu
ment how this search formeaning was
fundamental to artists like Kandinsky,
Mondrian, Pollack, and O'Keefe while pro
viding examples of traditionalartwork that
mul inspired them: Tibetan M?ndalas, Kab
balistic diagrams, and Native American
sand-paintings. Tuchman thus demon
LivingtheQuestions 47
strates how much 20thcentury art can only
be understood in relation to itscontext, its
sources, and the existential concerns that
motivated it.At the same time, he shows
how these factorswere laterobscured for
political reasons (e.g., the desire to dis
tance abstract art from itsoccult influences
which, following World War II,were associ
ated with Nazism) and because influential
art critics at the time were emphasizing
formal issues at the expense of contextual
ones.
In-depth, contextual investigation of
works of art fromother centuries can re
veal similar explorations of existential top
ics. Simon Schama's book Rembrandt's
eyes (1999) exposes such aspects in the
artist's works that have been missed even
by other Rembrandt scholars. For exam
ple, Schama shows how the well-known
Anatomy Lesson of Doctor Tulp (1632)
embodies a sense of awe at the ingenuity
of the "Maker's" design (p. 353). In addi
tion, Rembrandt's many works pertaining
to blindness reveal the conflict feltby the
artist and his audience between the attrac
tions of the sensory world and the call of
the innerworld of the spirit.
Even historicalmonuments likeRodin's
sculpture, The Burghers of Calais (1884
1889), can be viewed in terms of underly
ingexistential themes. In it,six bound men
march toward almost certain execution,
each one bearing on his face, by his pos
ture,and throughhis gestures his personal
attitude toward death: resolve, resignation,
fear,doubt, despair. Besides immortalizing
brave individualswilling to sacrifice them
selves for the sake of their city, Rodin's
work thus speaks to all of us about ulti
mate concerns (Fowler, 1994).
Speaking more generally,we could say
thatartists, includingmakers of traditional
ritual artifacts, those working within es
tablished religious contexts such as icon
painters, as well as those likeRodin and
Gaugin who address existential issues in
more individualized manners, serve oth
ers by giving a public formtowhat formost
of us are deeply private matters. Indeed,
works of art have long served this role in
48 SeymourSimmons
illiteratesocieties as well as incultures like
our own. One way they have done so is by
exemplifying existential issues fordiscus
sion or contemplation. Another is by pro
viding a visual vocabulary (whether rep
resentational or abstract) to give shape to
what are otherwise vague, intuitive,even
ineffableconcerns.
Itwill often require extra effort forart
teachers to identify works that can bring
to lightexistential issues, but theywill be
rewarded by becoming more knowledge
able about their content area while ad
dressing genuine student needs. In the
process, teachers may learn more about
themselves, as well.
Know yourself. Teachers who address
existential themes with theirstudents can
hardly avoid facing their own feelings
about issues that are raised. Beyond par
ticular topics, Palmer (1998-1999) encour
ages teachers to reflecton more general
existential questions, includingtheirvalues
as teachers and as people. In this regard
he says, "Whoever our students may be,
whatever subject we teach, ultimatelywe
teach who we are....Our only choice is
whether we will reflecton the questions we
are living?and how we are livingthem?in
a way thatmightmake our work more fruit
ful"(p. 10).
Among the fruitsof such reflection would
be a deepening self-knowledge, which, in
turn,may help teachers better understand
theirstudents. Such knowledge and under
standing should then help teachers make
more meaningful educational decisions in
regard toexistential themes. Still, these de
cisions must be informedby public policy,
national and local.
Know your rights. Raising existential
questions may no longerbe a capital crime
as it was forSocrates, but itremains a mat
terof legal concern intheUnited States due
to the constitutional separation of church
and state and the way this is interpreted
in particular regions, states, or schools.
Teachers therefore need to know exactly
what they can and cannot do, just as they
must when approaching any controversial
or sensitive topic. However, regulations re
garding religious, spiritual, and existential
issues are especially worrisome. As Paul
S. "...[E]ducators are
Briggs explains,
luctant to discuss the religious content of
artworks...due, inmost cases, to teachers'
fear that theymay be seen as proselytizing
or denigrating the religious beliefs of an
other" (2002, p. 39).
Charles Haynes, senior scholar of reli
gious freedom programs for the Freedom
Forum First Amendment Center, concurs.
In his article, "Avertingculture wars over
religion"(1998) inEducational Leadership,
Haynes warns educators to proceed care
fullywhen addressing blatantly religious
or spiritual topics but also when teaching
apparently secular lessons on death and
dying where religious/spiritual issues are
likelytoemerge. Such topics,Haynes says,
potentially run up against the Establish
ment Clause of the First Amendment that
"requires school officials to remain neutral
concerning religion?neutral among re
ligions and neutral between religion and
no religion" (1998, p. 26). Nonetheless,
Haynes adds, thisdoes notmean that reli
gious and, by extension, spiritual and exis
tential issues must be entirelyavoided and
clarifies this by asserting, that, "In fact,"
he says, "itcould be argued that ifpublic
schools are to remain neutral concerning
religion, the curriculum must include
ligious as well as secular ways of under
standing theworld" (p. 27).
Existential questions, of course, need
not referspecifically to religion.Still, they
differ fromquestions typicallyaddressed
in schools in that they are rarelymatters
of mere intellectual interest. Instead, ex
istentialconcerns are often charged with
emotions?feelings of fearand doubt, hate
and love.These may in turnbe provoked
by physical experiences of pain or illness,
or by profound events likethe birthof a sib
lingor the death of a loved one. Indeed,
some existential questions may be said to
arise fromdeeper levels still, fromwhat is
called our soul or spirit.For these reasons,
itmight be argued that such questions
have no place inan academic setting.Yet,
followingGardner, teachers could make a
case foraddressing existential concerns
as a means of educating existential intel
re ligence.
Another key to safely raising existen
tial as well as religious issues in public
schools is,according toHaynes, to provide
a clearly articulated "academic or civic
purpose" (p. 26). Based on the arguments
made above, neither of these should pose
a problem. The academic purpose forad
dressing existential issues is that they
represent a prominent theme inworld art
(see, forexample, Walford, 2000). The civ
ic purpose is that these issues represent
importantconcerns foryoung people, and
that reflectionon these concerns can have
crucial psychological, moral, and social
implications.
In fact, existential issues potentially
bring together both civic and academic
issues by linking individualand universal
concerns. "Doing so," according to Parker
Palmer, "notonly brings up personal pos
sibilities forconnectedness but also helps
students learn the discipline more deeply"
(1998-1999, p. 9). For example, students
who make art around an existential theme
may better appreciate theworks of others
that address the same concerns. Con
versely, studying an existential topic ad
dressed inanother's work may shed light
re on the students' own concerns. Parker
Palmer calls learning experiences like
these connecting the "big story" (the story
told by the discipline) with the "littlestory"
(experiences related to the issue in their
own lives).On the other hand, Peter Lon
don (personal correspondence) says that
when existential issues are at stake, the
equation is reversed. The "big picture" is
the lifeconcerns of the individualwhile
works of art, myths, religious rituals,etc.,
are importantonly as they support reflec
tion.Even so, academic and civic purposes
may still be addressed as individualscon
nect with the domain of art and with others
who have shared the same concerns.
Know your goals and how to achieve
them. One way to demonstrate thata par
ticular lesson serves "academic and civic
purposes" is to align itsgoals with those
LivingtheQuestions 49
defined inthe districtscope and sequence,
state frameworks,or national standards. In
addition, lessons can address holistic aims
such as the development and integration
of the whole person, the engagement of
multiple intelligences, etc. Pursuit of these
goals will, however, have implications for
all aspects of teaching. For example:
Whether the focus is on making art
or studying art, holistic lessons by
definitionmust integrate intellectual,
emotional, physical, and potentially
spiritual components. Studio art proj
ects involving creative expression
will naturally engage hands in the
making and hearts in the expression,
but these must be complemented by
thoughtfulreflectionon an existential
theme ifthe full range of capacities is
to be met. The study of art, by con
trast, typically involves primarily intel
lectual effort applied in description,
analysis, interpretation,and evalua
tion. Holistic art study would still in
clude intellectualactivities, butwould
also honor students' emotional reac
tion to thework. Further,holistic study
would need to include some type of
hands-on creative activity likewriting
and illustratingan essay or doing a
presentation on the theme. Another
way to integrate the various aspects
of a person is throughcombining the
study of art with studio art activities.
Such lessons, however,will onlymeet
holistic criteria ifthey lead to the cre
ation of original work, and not to the
imitationsof another person's art. As
an example, a lesson addressing in
dividual and societal values inspired
by the study of chado could lead
students to create an environment,
objects, and a ritualtha together em
body and communicate the students'
own values or thatof theirculture.
To foster personal reflection in re
sponse to existential questions,
teachers and students should pursue
theirtopics with a spiritof genuine in
quiry.This, too, has implications.First,
objects of inquirycannot be known in
50 SeymourSimmons
advance and normally admit tomany
possible solutions. Therefore, assign
ments addressing these subjects
should be open-ended enough to al
low fora diversityof responses. Sec
ond, because inquiryalways involves
taking risks, teachers must ensure
that students feel safe indoing so. A
sense of safety is particularly impor
tantwhen the topic of inquiry is an
existential question. As Parker Palm
er suggests, Our real questions are
asked largely inour hearts because it
is too riskyto ask them infrontof one
another" (1998-1999, p. 8). To broach
such questions ina classroom setting
would require an established atmo
sphere of mutual respect and sup
portwhich ismodeled by the teacher
and expected of the students (Berger,
1996).
Inquiry-based lessons around ex
istential questions explicitly involve
multiple intelligences. They will obvi
ously engage existential intelligence
as students thoughtfullypursue the
object of concern, while intrapersonal
intelligencewill come intoplay as stu
dents reflecton the personal signifi
cance of the question and what they
already know about it. Interpersonal
intelligence combined with logical
and linguistic intelligences will en
ter inas teacher and students pose
questions to prompt deeper reflection
(Heid, 2005, p. 51). Linguistic intel
ligence will also apply to written as
signments, whether papers or journal
entries. Finally, spatial intelligence
along with several others will be re
quired forcreative art projects (Sim
mons, 2001, p. 19).
Assessment of holistic art projects
addressing existential questions
should reflect the depth and rich
ness of students' engagement as de
scribed above. Itshould also support
ongoing learning, not just evaluate it
after the fact. As such assessment
should take intoaccount process as
well as product. Product assessment
 in studio art projects would include
the usual criteria:conceptual, expres
sive, creative, formal, and technical
qualities depending on the nature
and focus of the project.Written as
signments would similarly address
both formand content. Process as
sessment whether forart making or
writing about art would typically look
at research, planning, drafts, and re
flection.The latter,as noted above,
is of particular importancewhen ad
dressing an existential theme. Reflec
tions, recorded as formalanswers to
questions on reflectionsheets or as
informalentries ina journal, may or
may not be graded. Either way, they
should be acknowledged and re
sponded to by the teacher inso faras
theyprovide evidence of the students'
pursuit of personal questions, while
also documenting problems students
encountered, their evaluation of the
work, etc. Beyond that, reflections
can lead students fromone work to
the next, resulting ina body of work
around a topic of personal impor
tance.
Conclusion
Returning to the concerns with which this
essay began, we should conclude by re
viewing how lessons on existential topics
may contribute to holistic art education.
First, creating art around issues of univer
sal concern can help students break down
barriers between themselves and their
peers, therebyopening the door formutual
understanding, respect, and compassion.
Second, studying art around these themes
can enable students to connect with art
istsand cultures ordinarilyquite foreign to
them. Cross-cultural connections like this
can be especially valuable inclassrooms
where students come fromwide-ranging
backgrounds. Finally, these same activi
ties can help students connect to themany
parts of themselves, includingtowhat was
described earlier as the deepest parts of
themselves.
We should also reiterate how such
lessons actively engage existential intel
ligence. Following Gardner's definition of
intelligence, thisengagement must involve
"solving problems or making products."On
one level,both concerns are met when art
making or writing in response to art serve
as means to help students resolve a par
ticularexistential dilemma. Over time,how
ever, the engagement of existential intel
ligence in this and other ways may result
ina farmore significant "product,"one that
is also the goal of holistic education: a life
meaningfully lived.
Following Socrates' example, such a life
does not depend on answering existential
questions, but rather inpursuing them.On
thissame note, Parker Palmer (1998-1999)
quotes the poet Rainer Maria Rilke from
his book Letters to a young poet (1993).
Rilke, Palmer tells us, was responding "to
an earnest student who had pressed him
with question after urgent question" (p.
11 )when he wrote, "Be patient toward all
that is unresolved in your heart....Try to
love the questions themselves....Do not
now seek the answers, which cannot be
given because you would not be able to
live them?and the point is to live every
thing.Live the questions now. Perhaps you
will then gradually,without noticing it, live
along some distant day into the answers"
(Rilke, 1993, p. 35).
About the Author
Dr. Seymour Simmons III is an Associate
Professor of Art and Design at Winthrop
University inRock Hill, South Carolina. He
was formerlya researcher at Harvard Proj
ect Zero. E-mail: simmonss@winthrop.edu
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