Student work from BritishSchool of Design, 1840.

R. W. Herman, black andwhite chalk drawing. V

Victoria and AlbertMuseum, London.

cherArtist-Teacher or Teaching Artist?Artist-Teacher is a powerful and frequently usedterm in the fields of art, museum studies, arthistory, and art education. Art educators typicallyuse the term to describe their dual practice or toemphasize the importance of art production inrelation to their teaching. In this context, artist-teachercan be a more elaborate title for art teacher. Despite thispopular practice, I seek to discuss the conceptual underpin-nings of artist-teacher. As I understand it, the term artist-teacher involves a philosophy of teaching based upon artisticpractice. A notion seasoned art educators and studentsshould seriously consider when contemplating theirteaching methodologies. In the majority of instances,artist-teacher describes various possibilities of balancing theroles of making and teaching about art (Anderson, 1981;Beer, 1999; Brown, 1990; Campbell, 2003; Cho, 1993; Day,1986; Dohm, 2000; Douglass, 2004; Hansel, 2005; Kent,2001; Lund, 1993; Smith, 1980; Szekely, 1978; Tucker, 1998;Weiss, 2001; Wolfe, 1995; Zwirn, 2002). Unfortunately,current uses of the term imply that art teachers cannot dowhat they teach. Emphasizing the word artist in one's title

clarifies the importance of creating art. This assumes arteducation is best when practicing artists are in charge anddisregards the importance of the education field. In fact, theterm may be considered elitist, used to describe a selectgroup of individuals capable of practicing a dual career. As aphilosophy of teaching, artist-teacher is not considered adual role but it involves the integration of artistic experi-ences in the classroom. Several scholars touch upon thisinteraction (Daichendt, 2009; Hansel, 2005; Hickman, 2005;Horne, 1916), including Chapman (1963) who sees thesetwo activities-teaching and making art-actuallysupporting one another, despite being difficult to balance.

In this article, I review historical uses of the termartist-teacher in an effort to re-contextualize its origins sinceGeorge Wallis' (1811-1891) first use of the term. Based onthis review, I propose that the concept of artist-teacher cansuggest an approach to art education that celebrates artisticpractices and artistic ways of thinking into the classroom. Inthis manner, artist-teacher represents a more inclusive andricher understanding of the multifaceted aspects of teachingart. In conclusion, my goal is to reintroduce the concept ofthe artist-teacher to a 21st-century audience of art educatorsunfamiliar with its rich history.

BYG AME DAK ED

September 2009 / ART EDUCATION 33

George Wallis, a 19th-century art teacher,combined both artist and teacher indescribing his educational philosophy(Wallis, 1845). His actions, and the subse-quent use of the term artist-teacher by hiscontemporaries, significantly affect ourcurrent understanding of the term in the 21stcentury. Wallis applied his artistic aptitude tosolve practical issues in the classroom.Learning to draw by himself, Wallis usedthese experiences in his teaching. Utilizingthe blackboard to demonstrate the drawingprocess, students were facilitated through aprogression of exercises that increased indifficulty. This was followed by criticism inorder for students to learn from their errorsand shortcomings (Daichendt, 2009).Applying the practical learning experiencesfrom Wallis& drawing background in theclassroom demonstrates one example ofartistic enterprises informing the teachingmethodology. The increased importance ofteaching as a profession and the study ofeducational methods sets the stage for theinvention of artist-teacher that designatesequal importance to the role of both artproduction and teaching.

recognized the limitations

inherent to the guild traditions

and sought better educational

opportunities. Clubs became

laboratories for thought,

producing a new generation

of artists and teachers.

Through history, shifting perspectives inart and educational theory allow us to seemany different vantage points. From [thetimes of] ancient craftsmen to current day,influential events include the birth of themodern conception of artist during theRenaissance, arts' acceptance into the liberalarts, and the educational philosophiespropagated by the Basic Design Movement inBritain and the Bauhaus in Germany. Allthese contributed to a view of art educationin which studio activities and experiences ofartists became experiences in classrooms(Daichendt, 2009).

Western OriginsThe earliest art teachers did not see

themselves as artists. Ancient Greeks andRomans considered themselves artisans whomade their living in industry (Efland, 1990;Macdonald, 1970). The characteristics ofcreativity, originality, and genius associatedwith artists during Modernism were notprevalent. Typically, these early creators(potters, sculptors, and painters) acquiredtheir skills apprenticing at a family workshop,rather than in a school. The artistic processwas considered a trade with conventions andtraditions taught and passed on to youngergenerations (Kristeller, 1951). Often a fatherwould mentor his sons, or on occasion,someone from outside the family interestedin learning the specific trade (Efland, 1990).The craftsmen and sculptors who createdobjects sought to teach these skills forpractical means, ensuring economic stabilityrather than self-expression. While little isknown of the teaching methods used, it islikely that workshops strongly promoted andstimulated learning a desired craft.

During the Middle Ages, the CatholicChurch sought to suppress the survivingmodels of pagan art and culture thatprospered in the Greek and Roman periods.Classical sculpture, painting, and educationduring this time entered a period of declinebecause of the indifference medievalChristians held toward Greek and Romaneducation (Efland, 1990; Cordasco, 1987).The graphic and decorative arts survivedthrough the work of monasteries as way toillustrate or illuminate the messages of theBible to the illiterate (Stalley, 1999). Theemergence of craft guilds resulted fromspecialization of industry and an increaseddevelopment of trade (Kleiner, Mamiya, &

Tansey, 2001). The apprentice system wasused in this context to teach young peoplespecific skills, including the variousmanifestations of the arts and crafts. Studentswere called apprentices and could spendseveral years at this level eventuallyprogressing to the status of journeyman. Theteacher was referred to as a master and wasthe only member of the workshop to trainstudents.

The artist of the Middle Ages was also acraftsman. The goal was to teach a trade,without emphasis on improving the teachingprocess. It is possible that apprenticesremained in that role for a very long timebecause the guilds sought to limit andcontrol the labor supply (Efland, 1990). Bell(1963) writes that the young painter in aguild regarded himself as an artificer andmanual laborer with the goal of becoming aquality craftsman. An apprentice could toilaway mixing pigments without learningmuch of the trade and educational innova-tion was likely overlooked unless it increasedproduction or income. As with the Greeksand Romans, a workshop may have facili-tated artistic growth but poor workingconditions may have had a negative impacton the learning process. This detrimentalatmosphere is one reason for the emergenceof art academies in the Renaissance(Goldstein, 1996).

Artistic training during the Renaissancedeveloped over a length of time in the guilds.From the 14th-16th centuries, apprentices ofsculpture or painting continued to becomeprofessional craftspeople under a master(Kleiner, Mamiya, & Tansey, 2001). However,new opportunities arose to gain artistic skills;artist clubs and academies appeared aroundthis time in Italy. Painters, sculptors, andmusicians frequented artist clubs, along withmembers of the upper class, to discuss issuesrelated to music and poetry (Goldstein,1996). These alternative contexts for learningwere a substitute to the restrictive guilds andrepresented a significant educationalexperience. Artists recognized the limitationsinherent to the guild traditions and soughtbetter educational opportunities. Clubsbecame laboratories for thought, producing anew generation of artists and teachers. Thisprogression formed the foundation forartistic thought, allowing George Wallis tosee himself as an artist-teacher in the 19thcentury.

34 ART EDUCATION / September 2009

The art academy of 16th-century Florencewas more informal than the rigorous andrigid 17th-century Paris academy with acurriculum built on a doctrine of perfection.Historian Thomas Hess (1967) wrote "...thenew Renaissance ideas in the arts werecontroversial and aggressively supported-which inevitably led those who championedthem into teaching" (p. 9). These ideas were astrong contrast to guild regulations, appren-ticeships, and limited opportunities. Artistssought an education that was not subject to a5- to 7-year apprenticeship and took refuge ina more personalized education (Macdonald,1970). Practicing theory and instruction, theart academies of the Italian Renaissancebelieved the fine arts were foremost anintellectual discipline and the artist was nolonger a manual worker. Painting wasarguably part of the liberal arts includinggrammar, rhetoric, dialectics, arithmetic,geometry, astronomy, and music(Staniszewski, 1995). Many private academieswere founded in the 16th and 17th centuriesespousing similar theories but the Romeacademy, reformed by Pope Urban VII, wasthe most influential until artists began toprefer Paris (Macdonald, 1970).

During the 18th century, art academiesbecame the primary source of art instruction(Goldstein, 1996). Almost every large city inFrance founded an academy during thisperiod, with Paris as the prime example.Keeping a relationship with Rome, the FrenchAcademy of the 18th and 19th centuriessought to organize these theories anddoctrines into a set of rules for practicing andteaching (Small, 1999). Students studiedclassical sculpture and progressed throughincreasingly difficult compositions anddrawing assignments. The art educationpracticed by the French academy becomes thestandard for many students of art around theworld, as an academy was present on everycontinent (Macdonald, 1970).

Portrait of George Wallis (taken1843-45). Courtesy of Manchester

Metropolitan University.

September 2009 / ART EDUCATION 35

#.~~/a' ! " 1 /.

/ / '. •§ /6 A . i

Page from George WaIlis'lecture notes illustrating the Extension of Artistic Endeavors (sketching) into the Educational Context (lesson planning).

Contemporary writers refer to art teachersof the Renaissance and European academiesas instructors, teachers, masters, professors,and tutors (Ackerman, 2003; Elkins, 2001;Efland, 1990; Hess, 1967; Macdonald, 1970;Milner, 1988; Small, 1999). French instruc-tors officially held the title of membre orprofesseur at an institute or academy like theEcole des Beaux-Arts in Paris (Ackerman,2003). The highest position of honor wascalled an acad6micien, an elected member ofthe academy comparable to the medievalguild master in status. Additionally, theacademicians of ateliers were referred to asmaster or patron/father (Hess, 1967). It wasnot until the late 18th century that the firstacademy of art opened in the United States.

In England, the first class to prepareteachers of design was established in 1841.These teachers were trained to replace olderacademic drawing masters, as they were unfitto teach the new curriculum advocated byschools of design (Macdonald, 1970). Theopening of this course for art teachers issignificant because it introduced a differentdimension. Instead of training artists ordesigners, this class sought to prepareteachers to work within the burgeoningschools of design. This teacher preparationcourse is an early example of two fields (artand education) coming together in anunusual manner during the 19th century.

A graduate of this teacher preparationcourse, George Wallis was the first head of a

school of design and referred to himself as anartist-teacher (Macdonald, 1970). Wallisbegan his career as both an artist anddesigner, inventing the Victoria Tea Trayshape and holding an active painting career.Educationally, he was involved in there-organization of curricula to benefitstudent learning, development of teachingstrategies based on artistic practice, andpromotion of creativity amongst his students(Wallis, 1845). By labeling himself as anartist-teacher, instead of artist, he stressedthe growing importance of teaching and themetamorphosis of the art and educationfields.

36 ART EDUCATION / September 2009

Significant Artist-TeachersContemporary historians commonly use

the term artist-teacher (Efland, 1990; Elkins,2001; Logan, 1955; Macdonald, 1970). Theterm "artist" has been added to teacher indescribing many significant individuals.According to Logan (1955), Walter Gropiusis referred to as one of the most importantartist-teachers in history, and the mostinfluential on contemporary art (Elkins,2001). Recognized as founder of theBauhaus, a school that sought to overcomethe division between art and craft and thedivide between art and industry, Gropius islabeled an artist-teacher for meldingdisciplines that did not formerly work welltogether.

Efland (1990) provides a list of artist-teachers from the early 20th century thatincludes: Victor DAmico, Natalie Cole,Florence Cane, Peppino Mangravite, andMarion Richardson. According to thisspecialized group of artist-teachers, artistswere the most appropriate persons to fosterthe creative capacities of the child as opposedto classroom teachers. Developing creativeself-expression was the method used to fosterthe development of the child as an artist.These artist-teachers felt that the educationalestablishment/methods in effect during theearly 20th century stifled the naturalexpression of students and proposed a newmethod for the child progress (Efland, 1990).The artists' experience in studio was essentialfor understanding students' artistic growthand therefore, identifying teachable momentsin the classroom.

Debating the TerminologyLanier (1959) addressed the use in the US

of the term artist-teachers by art educators.He condemned the new term as not having aplace in the field of art education. In his view,an artist was quite different from an artteacher. Lanier was worried that the termwould have negative implications because arteducation did not belong to the field ofeducation and classroom teachers might feelinferior to artists. Two months later, arebuttal by McCracken (1959) was publishedsuggesting artist-teacher was a concept ratherthan a descriptive term. McCracken felt thatthe emergence of the artist-teacher term wasbased upon the positive effects of artisticactivity and on the educational experience.This debate was based on two differentunderstandings. As a term, artist-teacherimplied that professional teachers must also

6•_e.c the field of art education developed a teacher-

training course for prospective educators, it provided an

opportunity to focus on the craft of teaching. Wallis explored this

new role by embracing his artistic and educational interests.

be professional artists. As a concept, itreinforced the importance of creative activityfor the profession. The concept advocated byMcCracken (1959) aligns with historicalarguments. Artist-teacher is an inclusiveeducational philosophy and not one thatemphasizes a particular educationalbackground or professional role.

Going ForwardThe interest by researchers (Anderson,

1981; Beer, 1999; Brown, 1990; Campbell,2003; Cho, 1993; Daichendt, 2009: Day, 1986;Dohm, 2000; Douglas, 2004; Hansel, 2005;Kent, 2001; Lanier, 1959; Lund, 1993;McCracken, 1959; Smith, 1980; Szekely,1978; Tucker, 1998; Weiss, 2001; Wolfe, 1995;Zwirn, 2002) in the term artist-teacherillustrates the significance of the term. Thedevelopment of the concept artist-teachertraces back to the beginnings of artisticproduction in history. Artists have alwaystaught their trade, craft, or discipline.However, once the field of art educationdeveloped a teacher-training course forprospective educators, it provided anopportunity to focus on the craft of teaching.Wallis explored this new role by embracinghis artistic and educational interests.

Wallis' use provides a starting point forunderstanding characteristics of theartist-teacher. These characteristics aregeneral, including attributes used throughouthistory yet specific to Wallis' pedagogy. Theyrelate to and draw upon similarities toartist-teachers working through history. Thelist here could be applied to artist-teachersworking in contemporary settings as well asin Wallis' 19th-century context.

"* Teaching should be a direct extension ofstudio life.

"* Classrooms should be modeled on thepractices of artist and designers.

"* Teaching is an aesthetic process:Artists-teachers manipulate classroomtechniques, materials, and characteristicssimilar to the artist's manipulation of theelements and principles of design.

"* Artist-teachers apply artistic aptitudes(drawing, painting, performance) in

educational contexts (classrooms,boardrooms, planning sessions, mentor-ship opportunities, teaching processes,research practices) to enrich the learningexperience. Example: exploring lessons ina sketchbook.

The notion of artist-teacher is aboutbringing together studio practices, problems,and art world discussions to improvelearning. The variety of methods practiced byartist-teachers in the classroom reflects therange of artistic approaches artists utilize.

Artist-teachers certainly share characteris-tics with traditional understandings of artteachers. Teachers who embrace their ownartistic aptitudes and value the connectionsbetween studio and classroom can create aclassroom experience that utilizes individualartmaking interests. In fact, Wallis' reflec-tions on his own artistic triumphs andfailures as a working designer allowed him todesign curriculum that met the needs of19th-century students. The concept ofartist-teacher can be encompassing of thequalities of an art teacher and also of theunique aspects of being a reflective artist.

As the artist-teacher is positioned betweentwo fields, the genius of the concept is in themiddle ground where traditional under-standings of education and artmaking fuse.These characteristics are present in thepractice of many art teachers who embracetheir personal artistic practices. In thismanner, contemporary art educators whosubscribe to this orientation can constantlyreinvent what they do and how they do it inclassrooms. Despite this, the term artist-teacher will continue to be debated regardingits meaning and usage. However, inspired byGeorge Wallis' earliest uses of the term, Ihave hoped to allow his understandingsprovide the lenses for understanding thepossibilities of this concept for art educationtoday, and perhaps in the future.

G. James Daichendt is Associate Professorand Exhibition Director at Azusa PacificUniversity, Azusa, California. E-mail:gdaichendt@apu.edu

September 2009 / ART EDUCATION 37

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