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From: Michael Vik
Date: 10/15/2003
Time: 3:29:45 PM
Remote Name: 199.44.215.199
I think the distinction that fine art is considered an elective (versus "core" academic classes) in schools today comes from its practicality and its emotion. Fine art enriches society, it conveys meaning past words and formulas to express its emotion. Academic classes are naturally practical because they deal with neccessary skills, like communication (through an English class, for example). However, a student does not need art to survive. It is mandatory for a person to be able to count to trade for goods and services (knowing how much to spend at a grocery store, for example), and to communicate with others. Fine art requires math, to a certain degree (especially in music and engineering), but math does not require fine art to be understood. Since fine art must build from the academic sciences, and fine art is not neccessary to survive, it is considered an elective in today's education system. Also, academic classes are less inclined to be emotional, because, for example, the theory of relativity is not really romantic, but many pieces of music can alter people's moods. The easy infusion of emotion into the fine arts give it its own category, seperate from academic science.