Radical democrat John Dewey ([1916] 1966) believed that education could be a powerful tool for developing citizens' character and drawing them into political engagement. He also argued that science could inform public debate and contribute to problem solving in the community (Dewey [1935] 1980, [1939] 1989). Here, we describe and evaluate our attempt to realize these twin ideals in a semester-long course at Chapman University during spring 1999. In this course, students were active learners holding partial control over their educational experience and democratic citizens attempting to make a contribution to their community.

This article explores, criticizes, and extends John Dewey's arguments about art in relation to public life in a democracy. Dewey believed that art is a potent form of communication through which community is developed and political action undertaken. Although correct, Dewey erased conflict, negotiation, and contestation from art, and failed to address the crucial role of power in the world of art. Three distinct kinds of political action through art are developed: pragmatic, deliberative, and confrontational.