How To Become A Teaching Artist: What It Is and Career Path

What is a teaching artist and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Lauren Schiller

Being a teaching artist could give you the perfect opportunity to combine your love of performing with a desire to pass on your knowledge and skills to others. Teaching artists also referred to as artist-educators or community artists, are professional artists who engage students in the creative arts by exposing them to arts-based learning and technique-based education.

Teaching artists use their experiences as professional artists to develop curricula, lesson plans, and academic approaches that are delivered as part of an arts-based education program. In this emerging field, teaching artists work in a variety of settings, including K-12 schools, universities, community agencies, after-school programs, museums, and social service agencies.

Obviously, if you're interested in becoming a teaching artist, you'll need to love arts and enjoy working with others. Although there a no specific requirements, most of those working in this career field have at least a Bachelor's degree. Previous training and performance experience in arts is generally preferred.

What general advice would you give to a teaching artist?

Lauren Schiller

Professor of Fine Arts, Seton Hall University

Students will need digital skills - technology will definitely continue to impact the field. With iPads and Wacom tablets, there is a growing connection between technology and fine art. While there are art related jobs all over the world, cities have been the best places for artists to find meaningful work. The sheer number of artists and arts organizations concentrated in cities offer the best chance for a young artist to find their way.

ScoreTeaching ArtistUS Average

Salary

5.2

Avg. Salary $66,565

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

4.8

Growth rate 12%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.28%

Asian 11.34%

Black or African American 7.01%

Hispanic or Latino 9.99%

Unknown 4.91%

White 66.48%

Gender

female 68.86%

male 31.14%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

4.8

Stress level is manageable

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.7

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

8.9

Work life balance is excellent

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a teaching artist

Explore teaching artist education requirements

Most common teaching artist degrees

Bachelor's

71.2 %

Master's

21.0 %

Associate

3.7 %

Start to develop specific teaching artist skills

Skills	Percentages
Art Curriculum	13.26%
Arts Education	5.23%
Art Lessons	4.89%
Public Schools	4.51%
Creative Drama	4.49%

Research teaching artist duties and responsibilities

Perform weekly at NYC schools, lead talkbacks, and conduct workshops for students of all ages.
Lead an outreach art program in a public school in the Bronx for 4th and 5th grade students.
Utilize computers and software to develop teaching materials, manage classroom records and email, and produce PowerPoint presentations.
Demonstrate effective communication skills, well-execute and expedient application of makeup to achieve the look guests desires.

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