Friends of Aesthetic Realism
       Countering the Lies
“It’s a lie, and not a well told one at that.
  It grins out like a copper dollar.”

                  —Abraham Lincoln

Statement by Nicholas Corvino, New York City School Teacher

Although I have not studied Aesthetic Realism since the early 1980’s, I continue to see daily, its value for all places and for all time. It is an honor to submit the following, countering some of the lies against Eli Siegel and Aesthetic Realism.

As to higher education

A certain person states on the web that he was “discouraged from earning a college degree.” The complete opposite was true for me. Through my study of Aesthetic Realism in consultations, from 1972 to 1973, I was encouraged to continue my college education and received a B.A. degree in Psychology. I am currently teaching 6th, 7th, and 8th grade math—a subject which I feared and struggled with all through my elementary and high school years.

Through my study of Aesthetic Realism, I was enabled and encouraged to become an educator and to see all subject areas, particularly mathematics, in a new way. I now see math as warmly related to the self of every person and to the world: not as a cold, removed subject unrelated to the everyday. Its logic, order and surprise, I learned, have to do with the structure of the world itself.

I have had tremendous success over the past 20 years, using the Aesthetic Realism of Eli Siegel as my teaching method. I have witnessed my students—ranging from 2nd to 9th grades—in the parochial and public school systems, become more serious, lively and more open to the wide range of curriculum. Permanent like of the subject precedes and accompanies high test scores.

Another outrageous lie on the web is that Eli Siegel “demanded to be worshipped” and “ended up just another egomaniac.” I had the great honor and privilege to study Aesthetic Realism in classes with Eli Siegel from 1974-1975. What impressed me most about Mr. Siegel was his constant, unwavering good will. His desire to know and be fair to the entire world was boundless. I never saw Mr. Siegel demanding worship in any way, shape or form. What I did see in him was true kindness, humility and grandeur, and complete respect for everything, including me, in a way I never experienced before.

One of the many reasons I trust and respect Aesthetic Realism and Eli Siegel enormously, is their constant emphasis on critical inquiry, enabling me to see for myself what is true. This fact refutes another lie on the web that says Aesthetic Realism is “a destructive mind-controlling group.”  

 

READ WHAT'S TRUE—
  • Read statements by many individual men and women
  • Reviews from the NY Times Book Review, Saturday Review, Library Journal, Harlem Times, Popular Photography, and more
  • The poetry by Eli Siegel, so greatly respected by William Carlos Williams and many others
  • Read lectures by Eli Siegel on subjects as diverse as literature, love, & economics
  • What is learned in classes taught by Ellen Reiss

  • A Little Anthology of Comments (Some Funny We Hope) on Further Misrepresentations.

    >> Continue

    "On the Pleasures and Advantages of Anonymity: An Ode"—
    >> Continue

    A Dramatic and Cautionary Tale about an Unknown and Very Unimportant Person

    There once was a young man of ancient Greece named Milos. And Milos knew Socrates. He did not like Socrates because the great man asked far too many questions.... >> Continue
    Statements by Friends of Aesthetic Realism

    Barbara Allen
    Frances Amello
    Jerry Amello
    Christopher Balchin
    Mara Bennici
    David Berger
    Alice Bernstein
    Rachel J. Bernstein
    Barbara Buehler
    Gina Buffone
    Beverly Sue Burk
    Maureen Butler
    Jeffrey Carduner
    Margot Carpenter
    Lori & Robert Colavito
    Albert Corvino
    Nicholas Corvino
    Henry D'Amico
    Matthew D’Amico
    Ernest DeFilippis
    Vincent DiPietro
    Carol Driscoll
    Donita Ellison
    Anne Fielding
    Lorraine Galkowski, RN
    Pamela Goren
    Edward Green
    Avi Gvili
    Ames Huntting
    Mark Lale
    Dale Laurin
    Rose Levy
    Timothy Lynch
    Lorraine Mahoney, RN
    Derek Mali
    Glenn Mariano
    Haroldo Mauro Jr.
    Joseph Meglino
    Pauline Meglino
    Allan Michael
    Marvin Mondlin
    Robert Murphy
    Michael J. Nadeau
    Meryl Nietsch-Cooperman
    Ruth Oron
    Arnold Perey, PhD
    Lauren Phillips
    Jack Plumstead
    Maria Plumstead
    Rosemary Plumstead
    Rev. Wayne Plumstead
    Marcia Rackow
    Zvia Ratz
    Ann Richards
    Anthony C. Romeo
    Leila Rosen
    Rhonda Rosenthal
    Sally Ross
    Claudia Senatore
    Sheldon Silverman
    Jeffrey Sosinsky, MD
    Barbara Spetly McClung
    Joseph Spetly
    Faith K. Stern
    John Stern
    Arlene Sulkis
    Devorah Tarrow
    Jaime R. Torres, DPM
    Dennis L. Tucker
    Francine Weber
    Steve Weiner
    Miriam Weiss
    Carrie Wilson

    Also see the Aesthetic Realism Online Library  the Aesthetic Realism Foundation  Terrain Gallery  What scholars, writers, artists & teachers are saying  the Aesthetic Realism Theatre Company  & Links

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