Arts & Ideas Series
The Arts & Ideas Series focuses on how the arts deepen and broaden our understanding of contemporary issues. As with so many Institute programs, this series reflects Institute founder Walter Paepcke’s vision of “the Aspen Idea [as] the cross-fertilization of minds,” which, as Shakespeare knew, is a vision of how the arts enable us to “apprehend more than cool reason ever comprehends.”
The series of programs each year will involve Aspen Institute participants who love the arts and want to connect great artistic experiences to a deeper understanding of society and politics.
We will examine what all art forms — including theater, visual arts, architecture, film, television, music, ballet, poetry, fashion, and culinary arts — tell us about political, social, and economic ideas.
Future programs will collaborate with local organizations such as Theater Masters and Theatre Aspen for drama; Anderson Ranch and Aspen Art Museum for visual arts; Aspen Music Festival for music; Aspen Film Festival for film; Aspen-Santa Fe Ballet for dance; and the Cooking School of Aspen for culinary arts.