Claiming Creative Space: Bridging the Divide between Art Practice and Art Education

Abstract

Reflecting on his joint appointment in visual art and education, Stanford Professor Eliot Eisner commented that he felt less welcome in the art department (2003). Exploring a job option at one university, I was told that as arts education faculty, neither I, nor my students, would be permitted in the school's impressive ceramics facility. How are we to encourage developing educators to incorporate the arts into their pedagogy if they lack access to first hand arts experiences? In response to this query, this chapter addresses the structure, content, and effect of a set of Exploring the Arts courses designed to bridge the education/studio gap with interdisciplinary arts offerings for visual artists and arts educators, as well as classroom teachers and artists across domains.