This essay constitutes a thoughtful tool for art education curriculum design and teaching. It outlines a curriculum for art education, K-12, that attempts to do justice not only to the seriousness and complexity of art but also the demands of schooling and aesthetic learning. It updates developments in the art education field and addresses the topics of multiculturalism and cultural particularism as well as modernism and postmodernism as they relate to art education. The book is organized in 10 chapters: (1) "Excellence, The Continuing Ideal"; (2) "The 1980s' Call for Reform"; (3) "Recent Developments: 1986-1994"; (4) "Aesthetic Experience"; (5) "The Marks of Excellence"; (6) "Elitism and Populism"; (7) "Multiculturalism and Cultural Particularism"; (8) "Modernism and Postmodernism"; (9) "An Excellence Curriculum, K-12"; and (10) "Anticipated Reactions." The book concludes with an Appendix, "Aesthetic Experience," and notes. (MM)