Most people think of the arts in education as a way of teaching arts skills, and in times when the emphasis is on achieving literacy and numeracy (necessary, but not sufficient, educational goals) the arts can often be seen as "fringe." This article makes the case that study of artworks in the service of developing perceptive and imaginative capacities is critical to K-12 education, and begins in the elementary grades. Arts skills can also be explored, but it is argued that this is best accomplished in the service of developing these capacities. For over thirty years, Lincoln Center Institute has been pursuing aesthetic education as defined by the educational philosopher Maxine Greene. Recently, as the Institute began to further define and explore its work, we developed the Capacities for Imaginative Learning, which can be cultivated not only through the study of artworks, but across the curriculum. The origin of these capacities in the Institute's work at the High School for Arts, Imagination and Inquiry, their relationship to general conceptions of the imagination, and their applicability in the elementary grades are outlined. This article describes the beginnings of research on the nature and efficacy of the Capacities in fostering learning across the curriculum. Additionally, research questions are posed at the elementary level. (Contains 4 notes.)