# Teaching artist > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Teaching_artist > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Teaching_artist.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teaching_artist > Source revision: 1348400351 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Professional artist who also teaches art}} {{Globalize|1=article|2=United States|date=April 2026}} [[Image:GermantownTNart-class.JPG|thumb|200px|A Memphis potter conducts a summer workshop in hand-building in [Germantown](/source/Germantown%2C_Tennessee), Tennessee.]] '''Teaching artists''' (TAs), also known as '''artist educators''', are professional [artist](/source/artist)s who both make art and teach others art.{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://teachingartists.org/ |access-date=2025-12-31 |website=Teaching Artists of the Mid Atlantic |language=en-US}} == Overview == Teaching artists work in educational and community settings, such as in schools, [after school programs](/source/After-school_activity), libraries, retirement homes, [prisons](/source/Prison_art), healthcare facilities, [social service](/source/Social_services) agencies, governments and corporations. The ''Arts In Education'' movement benefited from the work of teaching artists in schools.{{Cite web|url=http://teachingartists.com/researchonTA.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121227120148/http://www.teachingartists.com/researchonTA.htm|url-status=dead|title=Association of Teaching Artists|archivedate=December 27, 2012|website=www.teachingartists.com}} Arts learning consultant [Eric Booth](/source/Eric_Booth) has defined a teaching artist as "a practicing professional artist with the complementary skills, curiosities, and sensibilities of an educator, who can effectively engage a wide range of people in learning experiences in, through, and about [the arts](/source/the_arts)." {{Cite web|url=http://nysaae.org/docs/The_History_of_Teaching_Artistry_By_Eric_Booth.pdf|title=The History of Teaching Artistry|website=nysaae.org}} This term applies to professional artists in all artistic fields.{{Cite web|url=http://teachingartists.com/whatisaTA.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723005527/http://www.teachingartists.com/whatisaTA.htm|url-status=dead|title=Association of Teaching Artists'|archivedate=July 23, 2011|website=www.teachingartists.com}} [Arts integration](/source/Arts_integration) is a teaching methodology facilitated by teaching artists where students construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form.{{Cite web|url=https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/resources-for-educators/classroom-resources/articles-and-how-tos/articles/collections/arts-integration-resources/what-is-arts-integration/|title=What is Arts Integration?|website=The Kennedy Center}} Teaching artists have worked in schools and in communities for many decades.[Phillip Lopate](/source/Phillip_Lopate), ''Journal of a Living Experiment, a documentary history of Teachers & Writers Collaborative and the writers-in-the-schools movement.'' New York: Virgil Press, 1979.Jane Remer, ''A Brief History of Artists in K-12 American Schooling,'' Teaching Artists Journal, Volume I, Number 2, 2003.{{Cite book |last=Wakeford |first=Michael |title=Putting the arts in the picture: reframing education in the 21st century |publisher=Center for Arts Policy at Columbia College Chicago |year=2004 |isbn=9780929911113 |editor-last=Rabkin |editor-first=Nick |location=Chicago |lccn=2004111847 |editor-last2=Redmond |editor-first2=Robin}} During the [COVID-19 pandemic in the United States](/source/COVID-19_pandemic_in_the_United_States), TAs were among the first staff to be fired, [furloughed](/source/Furlough), or have contracts terminated, with little recourse, as they typically work without [labor union](/source/Trade_union) backing. Historically, TAs work in part-time or [independent-contractor](/source/Employment) roles with compensation based on hourly rates or service duration, which undervalues their commitment to creating high-quality programming. Moreover, TAs lack traditional benefits, including healthcare, pensions, [sick leave](/source/sick_leave), and [job security](/source/job_security). In April 2020, a team comprising 16 U.S. national arts leaders and five arts organizations convened to address the critical moment TAs faced. That summer, they published a [white paper](/source/white_paper) calling on the arts and culture sector, the philanthropic community, policymakers, schools, libraries, retirement homes, detention centers and community entities to prioritize and value TAs. {{Cite web |title=Immediate and Structural Action Needed |url=https://teachingartists.org/resource/immediate-and-structural-action-needed/ |access-date=2026-01-02 |website=Teaching Artists of the Mid Atlantic |language=en-US}} ==See also== *[Artist](/source/Artist) *[Teacher](/source/Teacher) *[Visual arts education](/source/Visual_arts_education) ==References== {{Reflist|30em}} ==Further reading== *Gielen, Pascal and De Bruyne Paul, (2011), Teaching Art in the Neoliberal Realm. Realism versus Cynicism. Valiz: Amsterdam. {{ISBN|978-90-78088-57-8}} *{{Cite web|url=http://www.norc.org/PDFs/TARP%20Findings/Teaching_Artists_Research_Project_Executive%20Summary_%20FINAL_9-14-11.pdf|title=Teaching Artists and the Future of Education|last1=Rabkin|first1=Nick|last2=Reynolds|first2=Michael|last3=Hedberg|first3=Eric|last4=Shelby|first4=Justin|date=September 2011|website=|publisher=[National Opinion Research Center](/source/National_Opinion_Research_Center) (NORC) at the University of Chicago|access-date=June 7, 2016}} Category:Visual arts education Category:Arts occupations Category:Education and training occupations --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Teaching artist](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teaching_artist) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teaching_artist?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.