Arts and letters is the fine arts and literature

Literature

Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

, considered together, sometimes also including performing arts

Performing arts

The performing arts are those forms art which differ from the plastic arts insofar as the former uses the artist's own body, face, and presence as a medium, and the latter uses materials such as clay, metal or paint which can be molded or transformed to create some physical art object...

 and liberal arts

Liberal arts

The term liberal arts refers to those subjects which in classical antiquity were considered essential for a free citizen to study. Grammar, Rhetoric and Logic were the core liberal arts. In medieval times these subjects were extended to include mathematics, geometry, music and astronomy...

as well. It is not precisely defined, and may include almost any cross-section of fine arts, performing arts, literature, and traditional academic disciplines other than the sciences, mathematics, professions, and technical disciplines.