Fernando Echarri

10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1609994 can create and constitute a unique experiential place of variable forms (Falk, 2009), where visitors are encouraged to participate in aesthetic interpretation with their own creative skill. According to an experiential approach, the present research focuses on the challenge that museums face to foster the viewer's significant experience to artwork (Barnes and McPherson, 2019).In connection with the above, the aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between the visitors' aesthetic experience and their engagement with the sublime through two different works of art, given that aesthetic and transcendent or spiritual experiences are intimately related (as it will be explained in more detail below). This research and its conclusions are based on a sample of individuals belonging to a group of Highly Sensitive Persons that, as discussed in Section 5, are characterized by a particular aesthetic sensitivity and a strong capacity for deriving deep and transcendent meanings from Art.Visitor involvement in art contemplation is not a recent claim, as in 1925 the Spanish philosopher Ortega Gasset (2010, p. 310) had already argued for the need of pause, detention and slow contemplation in art interpretation vs. quick glazing and passing by the art object. Contemplation is a gate to experience. "We must teach observation" César Manrique used to say (Gómez, 1990). It is through the education of our sight that we can reach the "communication with objects" (Yenawine, 2013, p. 39) and capture possible messages. Art experience requires visual dialogue between viewer and artwork at the deepest levels of insight, in which first sensitive arousal evolves progressively into emotional, cognitive and meta-cognitive response, ultimately becoming what Pelowski and Akiba (2011) call "transformative aesthetic experience."In order to foster this kind of experience a museum facilitator faces a challenge similar to that of the artist when trying to communicate immaterial experience through material form. Facilitators must design proposals according to viewer immaterial features and object material features, since both, subject and object, together determine educational experience as well as aesthetic experience, in the sense that these two experiences mean novelty and genuine human growth (Dewey, 1934). However, strong experiences like transformative aesthetic experiences always emerge in a particular, intimate, unexpected way for each human being, meaning the educator never has guarantee or total control over it and only approximation is possible, by means of designing, planning, and implementing best conditions for it to succeed.Previous research has addressed the use of art to generate an experience of the Sublime. The study of Stamatopoulou et al. (2024) is a solid example that exposes the interplay of the aesthetic and the spiritual, using religious paintings and exploring the reaction of a range of participants to them. The question is whether other forms and subjects of art, beyond strictly religious ones, may serve as appropriate sublime stimuli to foster a similar experience to the one provoked by religious art, a possibility already suggested by the aforementioned authors. Fingerhut and Prinz (2018, p. 122-123) also raise the question of whether any artistic genre can elicit awe (intimately connected to the Sublime experience), an issue that we seek to address through a case study in this article.Aesthetic education bases on the idea that human life is sensitive to the qualities of the material world and to how these qualities relate to each other (Eisner, 2002). Since art is about the mastery of relating qualities, its contemplation offers the best opportunities for aesthetic education. Art sensibility has to do with material physical perception as well as immaterial psychological perception, as arousal connects with emotion and cognition making. For this reason, it is said that art can profoundly touch and change lives.According to the model of "transformative aesthetic experience" of Pelowski and Akiba (2011), true art contemplation is a complex phenomenon that goes beyond assimilating art information. It is neither self-escape nor any other kind of evasion from the real world. On the contrary, it demands overcoming initial cognitive disruption and discrepancy, by deeply touching the inner self (Vining and Merrick, 2012).The aesthetic experience may be essential for a deeper understanding of the world around us and of ourselves. Effectively, art is not merely an aesthetic object to be enjoyed, contemplated, or received in a subjective and individual manner, isolated from life and knowledge. Rather, it constitutes a mode of understanding and an encounter with truth and with the world. Art is a manifestation of truth in an existential or revelatory sense (Gadamer, 1989).Teaching and learning to contemplate an art object requires attention to different dimensions of the person that integrate together to produce what is called the aesthetic experience. In this regard, we can say that "There is much more body and much more soul to be rendered if you have the will" (Bumgarner, 2004). Fingerhut and Prinz (2018) refer to intense and complex engagements triggered by the emotion of wonder, in which cognitive, perceptual, and spiritual components can be identified, and, when sufficiently strong, may culminate in an experience of awe. Bearing this in mind, we refer to the body dimensions: sensitive, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual.The concept of the Sublime first appears in an anonymous work attributed to Longinus from the 1st century AD, On the Sublime, which approaches it from the perspective of literary genres rather than aesthetics. In one of its chapters, an analysis of the figure of the Sublime is included in relation to the vastness of the cosmos, though linked to humanity and not the external world. In 1756, the British philosopher Edmund Burke (2017Burke (...

Environmental challenges require educational approaches that foster ecological consciousness through interdisciplinary learning experiences. This article examines how Arts Integration and Environmental Education, grounded in the principles of Deep Ecology, can be developed within the context of an art museum. Rather than treating art and nature as separate domains, the study explores their complementary potential to cultivate meaningful engagement with ecological issues through aesthetic experience, creative inquiry, and critical reflection. In this case, art museums are conceptualised as educational environments where artistic interpretation and environmental awareness converge, enabling learners to establish deeper relationships with both cultural and natural heritage. Drawing on the theoretical foundations of Deep Ecology, Environmental Education, museum education, and Arts Integration, the article analyses the educational framework of the EcoArt program as a case study. The findings suggest that integrating artistic and ecological perspectives may strengthens ecological consciousness, and promotes commitments toward environmental sustainability. The study argues that art museum education can play a significant role in addressing contemporary environmental challenges by creating interdisciplinary learning experiences that connect aesthetic engagement with ecological responsibility.

The indoor microbiological contaminants present in the built environment, including residential buildings, can pose significant risks to human health and well-being and the sustainability of indoor environments. Therefore, the total aerobic microbial count (TAMC) and total yeast and mold count (TYMC) are key indicators used to evaluate microbial contamination levels in indoor spaces. This study presents an assessment of TAMC and TYMC in residential indoor environments in two cities in Spain, Pamplona and Seville, which represent different climate zones, with Seville characterized by extensive air conditioning use due to its high summer temperatures. We conducted sampling and analysis in 20 dwellings over two summer campaigns to quantify microbial populations and identify parameters that worsen TAMC and TYMC and promote amplification (I/O, indoor/outdoor). The results show that ventilation type, building design, and climatic conditions significantly influence indoor bacterial amplification. The study indicates that the implementation of the Spanish building code in 2006 has improved microbial Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), even in airtight and energy-efficient dwellings, highlighting the importance of integrating ventilation and health considerations into sustainable building design. Environmental parameters such as temperature and CO₂ concentration were reliable indicators of bacterial proliferation. Kitchen design and the presence of pets also emerged as relevant determinants of microbial loads. Overall, the use of I/O ratios proved effective for identifying indoor microbial amplification, supporting their application in future IAQ assessments, sustainable building evaluations, and healthy housing strategies.

Contemporary art museums have become important learning environments to promote visitor aesthetic education. Each piece of art constantly sends different messages to the viewer and creates a person-art connection that can provide significant experiences. These connections can be established in the contemplation of the sublime. In order to understand how these connections occur, researchers present a study about the relationship between aesthetic experience and the sublime that can happen through the contemplation of contemporary art, both figurative and Specifically, this aesthetic experience with the sublime has been studied in a group of highly sensitive individuals. The abstract work of Mark Rothko's masterpiece “ Untitled ” (1969) and the figurative work of Fernando Maselli “ Artificial Infinite ” (2014) have been utilized. The study includes an instrument for the evaluation of the “aesthetic experience of the Sublime,” in which four dimensions—perception, emotion, cognition, and spiritual—are considered. This instrument has been applied to a group of highly sensitive people. Based on mixed quantitative and qualitative data analysis, results show that these individuals can experience contemporary art painting intensely by perceiving changes in its sensitive features while vanishing self-references of time and space.

Recent studies in museum education focus on the quality of visitor experience to help engagement. To understand how it occurs when it comes to dealing with young visitors to modern art museums, the researchers studied the esthetic experience of Mark Rothko’s masterpiece Untitled (1969) with 678 primary and 335 secondary students. Four dimensions—sensory, emotional, cognitive, and spiritual, are taken into consideration for the development and preliminary validation of a specific instrument to evaluate the so-called “Rothko experience.” Based on quantitative data analysis, results suggest that school visitors can experience Mark Rothko’s modern art intensely by perceiving changes in its color and other sensory features while making self-references to time and space vanish. Besides, cultural background makes a difference in intensely experiencing Rothko’s modern art. Suggestions are made for the development of pedagogical strategies that engage young audience in museum experience of modern art.

In recent years, the world has suffered an exaggerated and disproportionate exploitation of natural resources that directly affects people's lives both now and in the future. This utilitarian way of understanding the environment also extends to our society, which is becoming dehumanized, producing the so-called social exclusion. Horticulture, as the basis of food production for humanity, also has a notable influence on the Earth ecosystem, in its environmental and social perspective. Depending on the approach we take to horticulture, we can either relate appropriately to our environment or, on the other hand, cause environmental damage and, therefore, social damage. The values behind the horticultural activity will be decisive when it comes to achieving an environmentally harmful horticulture or a horticulture aligned with the natural and social cycles and processes: this is what is called ethical horticulture which includes sustainable principles based on ecological and social criteria.

This article is the result of a collaboration between the Mater Dei Diocesan School, Ayegui, and the University of Navarre Museum, Pamplona, both located in the Foral Community of Navarre, Spain. This article relates the experience of the Infant section of the Mater Dei Diocesan School in the development of the educational project the “Kids’ Museum,” which was conducted in collaboration with the University of Navarre Museum and aimed at the first cycle of early childhood education (0–3 years old). In this project, both organizations adopted an educational instruction method using materials for children in early childhood, including the practice of art activities and storytelling. To this end, the museum loaned the school a portable box with varied resources. All materials and activities were connected to the works of art that are part of the permanent collections of the museum.

Los museos pueden incorporar eventos destacados a su programación educativa, como es el caso de la pandemia Covid-19 que actualmente está afectando numerosos aspectos de la sociedad, tanto en aspectos personales, familiars, escolares y comunitarios. El Covid-19 se ha convertido en un centro de interés para las personas susceptible de ser aprovechado por las instituciones educativas. Entre ellas, el Museo Universidad de Navarra ha querido transformar la situación que esta pandemia genera en una oportunidad educativa. Para ello ha desarrollado el programa “256 colores, after Vik Muniz” con el principal objetivo de fomentar la inteligencia creativa y emocional en los escolares a través del arte. Se trata de un proyecto colaborativo en el que han participado 704 escolares de educación primaria de 23 centros educativos. La instrucción educativa programada utiliza la creatividad para generar una introspección que ayuda a la identificación y gestión emocional en esta situación de pandemia, buscando la experiencia significativa como método para fomenter un aprendizaje más significativo. La creatividad se ha potenciado mediante sinergias contextuales con obras de arte reales de las exposiciones del propio Museo, especialmente con la obra “256 colors, after Gerhard Richter” (2015), del artista brasileño Vik Muniz. La realidad generada por el Covid ha obligado al Museo a adaptarse para realizar el programa educativo en dos escenarios diferentes: modalidad presencial en el Museo o en el centro educativo. En este segundo caso la visita a la exposición del artista Vik Muniz se ha realizado de manera virtual.

El arte contemporáneo tiende a presentar múltiples mensajes que posibilitan la interpretación y conocimiento de la realidad, generando en muchas ocasiones un vínculo entre la obra y la persona. Aunque este vínculo es individual, las metodologías colaborativas pueden vehiculizarlo y reforzarlo. El aspecto grupal y la unidad de diferentes colectivos y personas diversas para realizar un objetivo común resulta un valor añadido a la hora de reforzar una instrucción educativa que pretenda el conocimiento del arte contemporáneo, en ocasiones de difícil interpretación. Teniendo esto en cuenta, el Museo Universidad de Navarra ha realizado tres proyectos de metodología colaborativa-inclusiva en los que la actividad principal consistió en realizar lienzos de gran formato basados en las obras de arte contemporáneo “Guernica” (1937) de Picasso, “Círculos dentro de un círculo” (1923) de Kandinsky y la obra “Untitled” (1969) de Rothko. Los proyectos tuvieron lugar entre 2017 y 2019 y permitieron la participación tanto de centros escolares como de centros educativos especializados en colectivos diversos de todas las edades.