Artist vs. Art Teacher

Do you need to be an artist to be an art teacher?

To an extent, yes, you need to have a passion for making art in order to teach it. There are many skills involved in creating art and to not understand them, you wouldn’t be able to teach it to your students well. That isn’t to say you need to be a professional artist. Even if you are an amazing artist, that doesn’t mean you’re necessarily a good teacher. I had an art teacher in the past that made amazing works, however he struggled to convey his knowledge sometimes. It is especially imperative to be an artist if you are teaching at the high school level, since students are choosing it as electives and are of an older mindset. There are many fundamentals that come with drawing, painting, and pottery that cannot be forgotten. 

Why can’t the elementary teacher be the art teacher?

An elementary teacher wouldn’t be as skilled as a separate art teacher because there is a level of specialization needed to learn skills. Lesson planning and classroom management is very different in an art classroom than a regular classroom. In addition, it gives the primary teacher a break away from the students as the art teacher watches after them. Children who are exposed to multiple minds become diverse learners.