Art instructors should absolutely be active artists. Art is unique among content areas for how much of the identity of the individual studying it allows to show through. Art is expressive, and requires an individual to engage with their experiences, feelings, and identity in a non-verbal way. An art instructor who isn’t currently engaged in the process regularly won’t be able to stir that flame in their students, they need to have their artistic identities alive and burning. Without this internal engagement, an instructor will only be teaching art history and craftmanship, at which point they are more of a history teacher or a craft and design instructor.
This raises the issue that I’m sure many art teachers don’t exactly have all the time in the world to devote to their own work, as teaching is a very demanding position and time constraints between grading, communicating with parents, and engaging with extra-curricular activities and staff development the idea of coming home and developing your own work could seem daunting. All the same, I think creating the space to explore your own work is critical, and something that students will expect to find when they ask about your background and experience working with art.
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