In the 1970's Ludwig Tuman realized the fundamental problem facing the arts was that, over a two-hundred year period, they had drifted away from their essential role in fostering the spiritual life of humankind. Broadly speaking, the status of the arts in contemporary society had declined to a point where they were commonly regarded as entertainment and a pastime of little value. It became apparent to him that the process of integrating the arts back into humanity's spiritual heart would have to be gradual, spanning several stages, and would need to begin with a re-thinking of the nature and role of the arts from the ground up.

At that time the Baha'i community did not yet have a contemporary model for the role the arts could play in spiritualizing and uplifting humanity, and therefore regarded the arts, by and large, as having little relevance to its community life. Except for the Persian chanting of prayers, and entertainment at conferences, the arts were virtually absent from Baha'i activities in local communities. The basic concepts of the spiritual role of art needed to be articulated in a way that addressed humanity's current concerns. Moreover, if they were to be meaningful to the world-wide Baha'i community, such concepts needed to emerge not from an Eastern or Western line of thought, but from a fresh, global perspective derived from the Baha'i teachings.

Ludwig's first effort in this field was "Toward Critical Foundations for a World Culture of the Arts." An extensive essay published in World Order magazine in 1975, and described by the late Dr. Daniel C. Jordan as "a seminal contribution," it laid out the prospects for an emerging world culture and discussed the relationship of artists with their new, global environment.

Over the following years, Ludwig put on hold his career as a composer and pianist while grappling with the many thorny subjects involved in articulating a framework for a Baha'i-inspired philosophy of the arts. An early result of this effort was the essay "Can Art for the Baha'i Faith Become Distinctive?" published in 1989 with a collection of essays by fellow artists in the book, The Creative Circle: Art, Literature, and Music in Baha'i Perspective. The essay was later translated to German and published by the Association of Baha'i Studies of German-speaking Europe.

This was followed in 1992 by another extensive essay, "The Spiritual Role of Art," published by the Association for Baha'i Studies in Canada and the United States, and winning that institution's Award for Excellence. The essay was selected to be re-published in Volume XX of The Baha'i World.

The next year saw the publication of his book, Mirror of the Divine: Art in the Baha'i World Community. This book examines over 200 passages from the Baha'i teachings, deriving from them a vision of the arts divided into two basic areas – the overall spiritual nature of the arts, and the body of principles involved in their actual practice. The pressing need for a book on this subject was becoming clear. As Mirror of the Divine was being written, the Universal House of Justice began to encourage the use of the arts throughout the world, Baha'i artists were beginning to create works in increasing numbers, and the World Center produced its first compilation on the arts. Mirror of the Divine was subsequently published in Spanish in Barcelona, Spain. 

Though the arts were being encouraged by the World Center itself, and their use strongly recommended by the Ruhi Institute, the Bahá'í community as a whole did not yet fully appreciate the vast potential of the arts to enrich humanity's spiritual life. Clearly, the next stage in promoting their use had to involve raising people's awareness of such benefits.

At this point, Ludwig felt what was needed was a concise summary of core concepts – derived from the Baha'i teachings – regarding the spiritual character and potential of the arts. This resulted in "Networking our Vision of the Core Concepts of Art," a paper prepared for the Baha'i Social and Economic Development Conference in 1999, and written with the general public as well as the Baha'i community in mind. Designed to serve as a point of departure for consultation, it is increasingly finding use in study groups in various parts of the world.

After serving sixteen years as a pioneer in Venezuela, Ludwig returned to the United States and resumed his career as a musician in 1995. His compositions span a variety of cultures and styles, from east and west, north and south, present and past, reflecting the kind of world-embracing perspective that a growing number of artists are adopting. This perspective was described in Mirror of the Divine as the "global approach."

To promote the creation of local choirs in community life, he co-authored with Kathryn Tahiri the booklet Nine Steps to Raise and Nurture a Community Choir in 2001. Here again, the piece is designed to appeal to, and serve the interests of, both the Baha'i community and society as a whole.