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.”