Minneapolis Institute of Art Launches Center for Empathy and the Visual Arts

The Minneapolis Institute of Art (MIA) has established the Center for Empathy and the Visual Arts, a research center funded by a $750,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. The center will study how art can evoke empathy and help visitors enhance their emotional intelligence. MIA director Kaywin Feldman stated that the mission is to "stimulate and cultivate empathy through the visual arts." The center will involve researchers, scholars, philosophers, artists, and curators to determine how museums can foster empathy. A think tank was held in October at the University of California, Berkeley, with experts in social sciences, virtual reality, neuroscience, and the arts. Dacher Keltner, a psychology professor at Berkeley, noted that aesthetic experiences are sources of awe and wonder that help understand others' thoughts and feelings. MIA president Duncan MacMillan emphasized that art spanning 5,000 years from around the world can awaken a sense of "common humanity." The center aims to develop and test ideas to promote awareness, understanding, and wonder among museum visitors.