Teaching Artists: A Century of Tradition and a Commitment to Change

Abstract

This report summarizes a mixed methods study of teaching artists in a dozen communities across the United States. The study found strong historical connections to the settlement house movement of the late 19th and 20th centuries. Teaching artists today provide much of the arts instruction an enormously large variety of settings—community schools, arts institutions, social service agencies, senior centers, parks, and, increasingly, over the last three decades, public schools. Although highly educated, teaching artists are generally underemployed. Three quarters work part-time, earn less than $10,000 a year from teaching, and must earn additional income from their art or other employment. Most, though, find the work meaningful and satisfying, many believe that teaching makes them better artists, and there is evidence that their teaching methods, which are often project based and highly engaging, are very effective.