Artist-teacher George Wallis: Redefining the concept through history.

摘要

The term artist-teacher has a significant presence within the contemporary art education landscape as its use extends from small community art centers to the largest museums in the world. Looking back on the first usage of the term artist-teacher by George Wallis (in the 19th century), this study constructs a pedagogical portrait of his identity associated with the term. Following a biographical approach to historical research combined with a case-study focusing on the artistic and educational experiences of Wallis, it remembers and rediscovers a forgotten and important teacher. A network of enterprises was developed to understand his thinking process and argues that the artist-teacher is a conceptual process of applying an artistic and aesthetic mode of thinking to teaching. The novel aspects of Wallis' teaching, art production, formal education, design experience, and philosophy are analyzed to understand his pedagogy. Defining characteristics of Wallis' pedagogy include selection, originality, constructive criticism, taste and morals, intrinsic/extrinsic motivation, and practical experience/mentorship. Through the entire pedagogy, Wallis' use of and reflection on his artistic enterprise informs all aspects of his teaching. This central aspect of the artist-teacher draws similarities to the Basic Design movement in Great Britain and the foundation course at the Bauhaus in which the studio activities of the artist transfer to teaching methodologies and practices. Complete with a history of the artist-teacher, this study aims to be a foundational text for entering the debate and scholarship surrounding the concept.