Talk:Teaching artist

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Revision to Teaching Artist page

Latest comment: 3 months ago6 comments2 people in discussion

Hello editors,

I want to disclose that I may have a conflict of interest, as I am a Teaching Artist. On December 31, 2025, I made a revision to this page in an effort to improve its accuracy. I now understand the importance of discussing such changes through this Talk channel. I appreciate the guidance of an editor.

My edit was intended to address a longstanding issue with the article’s framing. The previous language suggested that Teaching Artists primarily supplement their income. This characterization is inaccurate for many practitioners and has been a consistent concern within the field.

The revised language reflects that Teaching Artistry is, for many, a primary profession and an established field of practice. While my contribution was U.S.-focused, there is a strong basis for expanding the article to reflect international contexts, particularly through the work of the International Teaching Artist Collaborative.

There is also increasing global recognition of the field. Research, including Your Brain on Art, alongside growth in areas such as social prescribing, creative aging, arts integration, and other arts-based interventions, points to the expanding role of Teaching Artists across education, healthcare, and community development sectors.

In multiple countries, Teaching Artists are organizing around a shared professional identity, and governments are exploring policies to support their work. For example, in Australia, a COVID-19 recovery proposal included a $300 million investment to expand Artist-in-Residence programs in schools and libraries, with broad support from advocacy groups, unions, and political parties. While I do not have confirmation of the final outcome, such proposals indicate growing policy-level recognition of the field. Here in the United States, Teaching Artists are mobilizing under their shared identity across sectors, which is why I raised the Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic's recommendation to the U.S. Department of Labor to add Teaching Artist to their occupation classification system, a tremendous oversight, and a proposal that had endorsements from across the nation.

Given this context, I believe the article would benefit from expansion using reliable, international sources to better reflect the global scope of the profession.

I also want to note a concern about framing. Care should be taken to avoid reinforcing narratives that position Teaching Artists as peripheral or undercompensated by default. Issues of pay equity and labor conditions are significant in the field and should be addressed with appropriate sourcing and neutrality. However, framing the profession primarily as supplemental can contribute to misunderstandings and, potentially, to the undervaluation of the work.

I have copied by original post below, and I welcome input from other editors and am happy to defer to consensus on how best to proceed in alignment with Wikipedia’s standards.

Thank you again, for all that you do to keep this body of work accurate and informative to all of us, around the world.

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Teaching artists (TAs), also known as artist educators, are professional artists who both make art and teach others art.

Teaching artists work in educational and community settings, such as in schools, after school programs, libraries, retirement homes, prisons, healthcare facilities, social service agencies, governments and corporations. The Arts In Education movement benefited from the work of teaching artists in schools.

Arts learning consultant 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. This term applies to professional artists in all artistic fields. Arts integration is a teaching methodology facilitated by teaching artists where students construct and demonstrate understanding through an art form.

Teaching artists have worked in schools and in communities for many decades.

During the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, TAs were among the first staff to be fired, furloughed, or have contracts terminated, with little recourse, as they typically work without labor union backing. Historically, TAs work in part-time or independent-contractor 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, and 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 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. DMVTeachingArtist (talk) 00:50, 7 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

Hi, DMVTeachingArtist. Thanks for replying on your Talk page and posting here. I'm not sure just being a teaching artist gives you a conflict of interest fpr this article. Do you work for or volunteer for any of the related societies? Tacyarg (talk) 01:09, 7 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

Hello, and thank you for the clarification.

Yes, to disclose more fully, I serve as Board President of Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic (TAMA), an all-volunteer network run by and for Teaching Artists in the mid-Atlantic. The mid-Atlantic region is the most densely populated area of Teaching Artists in the United States.

While TAMA is not a union or formal professional association, it functions as a key space for peer support, resource-sharing, and advocacy. I would also clarify that I consider myself a participating member of the International Teaching Artist Collaborative, although I do not have to attend their meetings or gatherings. I do read their body of work that is advancing the field. Eric Booth, who has always been named in wiki's Teaching Artist page, is a leading member of the International Teaching Artist Collaborative. TAMA does not hire or train Teaching Artists, and again, we are an all-volunteer nonprofit. Our full intention is to meet our vision and then close! TAMA's Vision: Teaching Artists are dynamic, entrepreneurial professionals who lead, advocate, and sustain their independently owned arts practices while shaping the future of arts education, creative lifelong learning, and the broader arts ecosystem.

The perspective reflected in my proposed edit is not solely my own. The concern about how Teaching Artists are characterized—particularly the idea that the work is primarily supplemental income—has been discussed within our Teaching Artist community for many years. My intent was to reflect that broader, field-based concern, rather than to promote any specific organization.

I’m happy to invite additional Teaching Artists to weigh in here if that would be helpful, and I welcome guidance on how best to proceed in alignment with Wikipedia’s conflict of interest and sourcing guidelines.

Thank you again for your engagement. DMVTeachingArtist (talk) 01:40, 7 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

Thanks. Yes, I'd say that position does give you a conflict of interest as defined in Wikipedia terms. I'm unsure what the specific change(s) is that you want to make to the article - I think you have pasted the current version of the article above, not a revised one. The current version of the article doesn't say that TA earnings are primarily supplemental. Can you set out the changes in a "change X to Y" format? Or is it more that you would like the article expanded, as you mention above, but don't have specific text to add or change? Tacyarg (talk) 15:48, 7 April 2026 (UTC)Reply

Hello, and thank you for the continued conversation.

You’re correct that what I shared previously did not reflect the version I added on December 31, 2025. That was my error. I mixed up the versions. Rather than trying to reconstruct and share my original edits, I think it is more useful to propose specific changes along with a rationale.

For context, prior to December 31, the page described Teaching Artists as professional artists “who supplement their incomes by teaching and integrating their art.” This phrasing had been a longstanding concern among colleagues in the field. While I appreciate that this language has since been revised, I believe there are still opportunities to improve and update the article.

Given my role with Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic, I recognize I have a conflict of interest. Thus, I’ve outlined proposed changes below for review. I’m also happy to help locate reliable sources or encourage additional Teaching Artists (including those outside my immediate network) to contribute here.

Please let me know if this format is helpful or if more specificity would be useful.

Lead Sentence (income and role framing):

Current text: “professional artists who both make art and teach others art.”

Prior text (pre–December 31, 2025): “professional artists who supplement their incomes by teaching…”

Proposed text: “Professional artists with established practices in an artistic domain who also create and facilitate art-making and learning in a range of settings.”

Rationale: The earlier “supplement their incomes” phrasing has been a longstanding concern within the field, as it makes an assumption about income structure. The current wording is an improvement, but may still be somewhat reductive in describing the role's scope. The proposed revision more precisely describes the occupation and:

avoids assumptions about income sources
clarifies that teaching artists typically have an established artistic practice, which is critical to the work. This is not true for all teachers who teach art in school settings.
expands “teach” to include the creation and facilitation of art-making and learning in community settings, which is commonly used in reliable sources describing the field

Proposed Addition (to lead/early section): Distinction from arts teachers

Proposed text: “Teaching artists are distinct from certified arts teachers in traditional K–12 school settings. While both may engage in arts instruction, teaching artists are typically practicing professional artists who work across a range of institutional and community contexts, often through short-term residencies or partnerships rather than full-time classroom roles.”

Rationale: This distinction helps clarify a common point of confusion, preventing conflation of professions.

Proposed Addition: Expanded scope of work/sectors

Proposed text: “In addition to work in schools, teaching artists are active in a variety of sectors, including community-based organizations, healthcare settings, and social service programs. Their work may include areas such as arts in healthcare, creative aging, creative youth development, and arts programs in justice settings.”

Rationale: Teaching Artists commonly work across multiple sectors beyond K–12 education (where they facilitate arts-discipline learning and arts integration). The current article references multiple settings but could more clearly reflect the field's cross-sector nature and broaden its scope more closely align with how the work is commonly described in reliable sources.

Proposed Addition: Terminology and related roles

Proposed text: “Related terms such as ‘artist educator,’ ‘citizen artist’ and ‘community artist’ are sometimes used to describe this work, though meanings may vary by region and context.”

Rationale: This acknowledges variations without asserting equivalence.

Proposed Addition: Professional recognition/policy context

Proposed text (draft): “In the United States, there have been efforts to recognize teaching artists as a distinct occupational category. Similar discussions about professional recognition and support structures have taken place in other countries.”

Optional expansion: For example, in 2024, Teaching Artists of the Mid-Atlantic submitted a recommendation to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics regarding the inclusion of ‘Teaching Artists’ within the Standard Occupational Classification System (SOC code).”

Rationale: This situates the field within ongoing discussions of professional recognition without asserting outcomes or undue weight. Would a reliable source be this page where recommendations on teaching artistry can be found and are under review. Decisions will be announced in 2027 and implemented in 2028.

Proposed Addition: International perspectives/field development

Proposed text: “Teaching artistry has developed as an international field, with practitioners and organizations collaborating across countries. The International Teaching Artist Collaborative convenes periodic international conferences that bring together teaching artists and researchers from multiple regions.”

Optional expansion (if supported by sources): “These conferences have been hosted in locations including Oslo, Queensland, Scotland, New York City, South Korea (virtual), and New Zealand.”

Rationale: This would help expand beyond a U.S.-centric framing and demonstrate that teaching artistry is an internationally recognized field. The wording avoids promotional language and focuses on verifiable activity (i.e., convenings), but would need reliable secondary sources rather than primary organizational materials. If these sources are acceptable, I could find others: