How to become an Art Teacher
Art teachers are the only teachers in the building who have to be working artists and classroom managers at the same time. You'll need a teaching license with an art endorsement for most public school jobs, and a portfolio that proves you can make things as well as teach them. Here are the realistic ways in, and what hiring principals look for once you apply.
Four doors into the art room
An art education degree with student teaching
This is the straight line. You study studio art and teaching methods together, then spend a semester student teaching in a real art room under a cooperating teacher. Most programs place you at both an elementary and a secondary school, because an art license usually covers every grade level. You finish with a portfolio, a stack of lesson plans you actually taught, and a mentor who can vouch for how you run a room full of clay and scissors. Principals like this route because it removes the biggest unknown: whether you can manage a class of kids holding sharp tools.
A studio art or BFA degree, then a teacher prep program
Plenty of art teachers started as painters, printmakers or graphic designers and decided later that they wanted a classroom. If that's you, look for a post-baccalaureate certification program or a master's in art education. Your studio depth is a real selling point here, since you can teach wheel throwing or screen printing without learning it the week before. What you'll need to prove is the teaching half: lesson design, classroom routines, and how you'd adapt a project for a student with an IEP.
An alternative certification route
Many states let career changers teach on a provisional or intern license while they finish coursework at night. Districts with a hard-to-fill art opening sometimes lean on this route, especially at the middle school level. It's the fastest way into a paid job, and also the hardest first year, because you're learning to teach while doing it full time. Rules and names for these programs vary by state, so check your state's education department before you sign up for anything.
Teaching art outside a public school
Private schools, charter schools, museums, community art centers and after-school programs often hire art instructors without requiring a state license. It's a good way to build a teaching record while you work toward certification. The trade-off is that pay, benefits and job security tend to be thinner, and some of these jobs are part time or tied to a single season of classes.
The license, the test and the portfolio
Public school art teachers need a state teaching certificate with a visual art endorsement. Most states ask for a bachelor's degree, an approved preparation program, student teaching, a background check and one or more exams. A lot of states use Praxis tests, including a subject test in art content and a test of teaching principles, but some states write their own exams. Requirements, passing scores and reciprocity between states all differ, so treat your state licensing board as the final word.
The portfolio matters more for this job than for almost any other teaching role. Bring your own work, but lead with student work: photos of finished pieces, process shots of a project in progress, and a short note on what each lesson was trying to teach. A principal who isn't an artist will judge you on whether the student work looks thoughtful and whether every kid in the room seems to have finished something. If your district uses an online gallery like Artsonia, a link to a class gallery does the same job on a phone.
Words that show up in art teacher postings
School HR systems and busy principals both skim for exact terms, so use the posting's own wording on your résumé when it's true for you.
Make your résumé sound like an art room
Taught art classes to students and planned creative lessons.
Taught visual art to 540 students in grades K-5 across 22 weekly sections; built a clay unit that got every student through a kiln firing and ran a spring show with 400 pieces on display.
Clay dust, carts and cleanup time
You'll often see every student in the school, which means learning a huge number of names and working with every classroom teacher's schedule. At the elementary level you might get a class for a short block once a week, so a project that takes a high school class a few days can take you a month. Cleanup time is teaching time. If you don't build it into the lesson, the next class walks into wet paint.
The other hidden part is logistics. You'll order supplies on a tight budget, keep the kiln room safe, check that materials carry the ACMI safety seal, and store dozens of half-finished projects on drying racks. Some art teachers don't have a room at all and push a cart from class to class. People who love this job tend to enjoy the organizing as much as the art. People who leave usually say the mess and the scheduling wore them down before the students did.
What Art Teacher postings ask for
Hiring the most
- KIPP4
- Broward County Public Schools2
- Minneapolis Public Schools2
- United Charter Schools2
- asd.wd5/asd201
Remote
0% of openings are fully remote.
Questions people ask
Do I need to be a great artist to be an art teacher?
You need to be competent across a lot of media and comfortable demonstrating in front of a class, not famous or gallery-level. A principal will look at your portfolio, but they care more about whether you can teach a room of beginners to draw from observation or center clay on a wheel. Breadth usually beats a single strong specialty, especially in elementary and middle school.
Can I teach art with just a studio art degree?
In a private school, a museum program or a community art center, often yes. In a public school, you'll usually need a state teaching license with an art endorsement, which means a preparation program and exams on top of your degree. Many states offer alternative routes for people who already have a studio degree, so check your state education department for the options where you live.
Is it easier to get hired at the elementary or high school level?
It depends on the district, but elementary openings tend to come up more often because many schools share or split an art position. High school jobs are fewer and often ask for a specialty like ceramics, photography or digital art, plus experience with a college-level course such as AP Art and Design. If you're flexible about grade level, you'll see a lot more openings.
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