Crossing Boundaries: The Journey from Teacher to Teaching Artist

‘Crossing Boundaries: The Journey from Teacher to Teaching Artist’ is an exhibition curated by Purnima Ruanglertbutr. It features over sixty artworks created by twenty-seven secondary school Visual Art teachers who recently completed the Master of Teaching (Secondary, Art) program at the University of Melbourne. This full-colour catalogue includes concise, informative commentaries on how their art practices influence their teaching.

These insights challenge the expectation that Visual Art teachers must maintain active private art practices to excel in the classroom.

Through their artworks and artist statements, the participants in this exhibition question their practices and subject themselves to ongoing scrutiny and evaluation. The commentaries reveal that the graduates embrace professional identities that blend the roles of ‘artist’ and ‘teacher,’ reframing the art teacher as an ‘artist teacher’ or a ‘teaching artist.’

The foreword, written by Art Education Australia and Art Education Victoria, and the curator’s introduction explore the concept of ‘teaching artist’ within the context of the exhibition. ‘Teaching artists’ embody a hybrid identity that merges the roles of teacher and artist, successfully combining skills from both professions.