Charles Fowler here argues that studying the arts is an important and valuable component of general education and of society and American culture. Directed toward a broad public audience with the intent of providing parents and other interested citizens with a thorough background about arts education, the author presents a number of different rationales to support the necessity of the arts in general education. Fowler confronts complicated matters of curriculum such as -- who should study the arts? which arts and whose culture should be taught? -- and discusses the varying philosophies amongst arts advocates and educators themselves.