In the period between 2000 and 2004, the Norwegian Research Council funded a research project on ‘cultural-aesthetic practice and welfare’. This project includes two independent studies about theatre and young people. In her dissertation Rikke Gürgens investigates the theatre experience of exceptional and extraordinary people who produce their own theatre. Bjørn Rasmussen conducted an action research project, which established a ‘reflection room’ for teenagers at risk in high schools by means of drama and theatre practice. In both studies, the notion of art as an important part of everyday life became important. The theatre experience had strong implications both socially and aesthetically. In this article we discuss the link and the difference between the aesthetic and the social dimension from the perspectives of John Dewey and Hans-Georg Gadamer. In different ways we believe these philosophers provide a bridge between an autonomous view of art and a present cultural aesthetic that emphasizes the social perspective to a greater degree.