當代藝術教育與物質文化和相關議題有著密切關係。其討論範圍涵蓋藝術、手工藝、設計以及工藝品。此外，更深入研究工藝品創作的背景文化、相關價值觀，乃至於各種作品與人類生活經驗的相關性。物質文化與議題本位的藝術教育闡明了文化概念，促進批判性回饋，同時協助學生理解人類透過哪些多元方式組織、賦予世界意義。它更將藝術教育引入當代生活最重要的論述之中。掌握這些基本知識後，藝術系所的學生便可運用傳統及創新技術，打造各人專屬、承載意義的文物。

Contemporary art education engages with material culture and the
issues that surround it. It includes critical discussions about fine art, crafts,and design and other artifacts. It delves into the cultures that created the artifacts, the values that surround them, and their relevance to the lived experiences of people. Material culture and issues-based art education helps to make the concepts of culture explicit, facilitates critical responses, and assists students’ understanding about the multiple ways people organize and make meanings about their worlds and brings art education into the most important discourses of contemporary life. With this foundational knowledge, the art student is then empowered with traditional and innovative techniques to create meaningful cultural objects of their own