The Role of the Professional Artist

Abstract

The topic under consideration asks a vital question: how can higher standards in college art teaching be achieved? The answer to this question is not simple: art is as complex (or simple) as the individual who creates it; the problems of teaching are involved and complex. The idea of a professional level of attainment in art, which the professional's role suggests, poses a serious dilemma between what to teach and how to teach, a dilemma so serious that the antagonism between the professional artist and the art educator in many art departments has reached such major proportions as to seriously jeopardize the effectiveness of the departments. The topic under consideration, in other words, can be reworded to ask the question: what is the relationship between the role of the professional artist and the role of the art educator?