This monograph presents a viewpoint of the nature of art education today. To provide more perspectives on past changes that help in grasping today's circumstances, the monograph offers lectures and papers that address the changing nature of the U.S. society, its cultures and sub-cultures as they affect students, the function of art in maintaining and supporting culture, and the content of art education theory and practice. In part 1, "Art Education and Cultural Diversity and Change 1965, 1980-1995," chapters are: (1) "Society, Art, and Education"; (2) "Cultural Influences on Aesthetic Experience"; (3) "Cross-Cultural Inquiry into the Social Meaning of Art: Implications for Art Education"; (4) "Cultural Diversity and Change: Implications for Art Education"; (5) "DBAE and Cultural Diversity: Some Perspectives from the Social Sciences"; (6) "Interdisciplinary and International Trends in Multicultural Art Education"; and (7) "Art in Society and Culture." In part 2, "Cultural Diversity and the Structure of Art Education," chapters are: (8) "Defining Art Education in the Eighties"; (9) "Art Education Progress: Through a Field of Dichotomies or through a Network of Mutual Support"; and (10) "Art and Community: History of the Institute for Community Art Studies." In part 3, "Cultural Influences on Professional Development," chapters are: (11) "Society and Identity: A Personal Perspective"; and (12) "Cultural, Environmental, and Individual Influences on Professional Development." Contains a selected bibliography. (BT)