Michael Walberg, MeD, 2024

Artistic education extends beyond technical skill with the ability to conduct research through art, anchoring the justification for arts education in its adaptability and societal relevance. Artist-teachers, pivotal in guiding students, face the challenge of balancing reflective artistry with professional development (Thornton, 2005). The Artist-teacher’s experience provides a unique perspective and an opportunity to explore and discover artistic processes and meaning-making in the classroom. Arts-based research offers a pathway for artist-teachers to navigate this balance, fostering conceptual thinking akin to artistic processes and nurturing empathy through engagement with aesthetics (Leavy, 2018; McIntyre et al., 2004). By employing objects and images as tools for inquiry, arts-based research facilitates a non-linear exploration of the creative process, informing pedagogy and inspiring students to create art with more profound significance (Franklin, 2014). As the author delves into arts-based research, the convergence of personal artistic exploration and pedagogical insights underscores the transformative potential of integrating this process methodology into art education. This research illuminates the synergies between artistic practice, pedagogy, and arts-based research, positioning the artist-teacher as a catalyst for demonstrating the artistic process to create meaningful art in the classroom.