Artists Who Teach, www.artistswhoteach.org, is an organization for the Artist who is also a Teacher. Retired art teacher, Leighann Foster, is the founding artist/teacher of this on-line gallery showcasing over 505 artists.

The first goal of the web site is to bring together, honor, and respect the teacher side of the artist. Leighann feels this special group is not just artists or teachers, but both, and they bring to their artwork and their relationships what they have experienced through teaching. The second goal is to provide another avenue to market the artist’s work, art classes, and workshops. The instructors offer a wide variety of disciplines, teaching techniques, and styles for every student’s taste. Other artists discover this is a place to find a workshop to study with a long admired artist/teacher. And thirdly, Leighann wants to make the public aware of Artists Who Teach through a real gallery exhibition. Please visit the News section in the side bar to see the ads in American Style Magazine for Artists Who Teach.

The artists listed are currently teaching, not teaching at the present time, retired, rehired, part-time, full-time, participate in school visits, home schooling, or produce instructional videos. They may instruct on the public, private, or college level. Some are institutionally or privately educated and some are self-taught. Many have years of experience and are well known or famous and some are just starting a teaching career. The subject of the teaching assignment does not matter as long as art is produced along with the teaching experience. For instance, you may be a Biology teacher who makes sculpture or a painter who teaches art.

In recruiting the artists, Leighann looks for a developed portfolio of work that reflects study, knowledge, quality, and consistency. She looks for a wide variety of techniques, mediums, subjects, and a personal statement that communicates direction, purpose, and thought. Only an artist with a personal web site is considered. The site must be professional looking, free of advertisements and banners, and the viewer must be able to go directly to the artist’s full web page and not through another site. One of her objectives is to keep AWT clean, easy to navigate, attractive, and professional looking. She feels she owes this to the artists who have already joined.

The viewer can see all of the artists one-by-one, or view them alphabetically, or by discipline. In this way the artists get multiple opportunities to be seen. The artist’s name, URL, a work, a short biography, or statements are shown in the listing. The visitor can then click on the artist’s web address and see the personal web page to learn more about his or her work, workshops, and classes. There are instructions on how to photograph your work and write an artist statement for those who would like help in creating a web page. There are artists who qualify for AWT, but they need to establish a web page first. If you do not have a web page then I will refer you to West Rim Designs, our Web Host, ww.westrimhosting.com and they will help you get started. Also, there is no fee to join. Leighann says, “Artists pay for supplies, studio space, framing, insurance, commissions, and shipping and in the end after a sale there is little left. Listing them for free is my gift to the artists.”

Leighann asks those who are interested in the jury selection to join AWT to look at the web site first. Get an idea of the high quality of artwork and professionalism to see if you fit in before contacting her. If you are interested in joining AWT or would like to offer exhibition possibilities, email Leighann at foster3@gvtc.com. Thank you for visiting Artists Who Teach. Registered Copyright, 2008