To best meet the needs of our students, we have decided to suspend enrollment in the Master of Arts in Teachers of Art, Grades K-12, Professional Certification. We encourage you to explore MA in Art, Education, and Community Practice or MA in Teaching Art, Grades K-12, Initial Certification.
Join a community of artist-educators eager to change the landscape of art education. Teachers who already have Initial Certification in Visual Art can complete a Masters Degree with a focus on contemporary art, social justice education, and critical multiculturalism combined with electives that allow you to pursue professional interests and curiosities.
Our degree is inspired by the work of contemporary artists and radical educators who help us see ourselves and the world in new ways. We believe that every artist-educator is a cultural worker, researcher, public intellectual, and activist. As artist-educators we explore the making and teaching of art as a social act, and consider its historical, political, and cultural contexts.
Designed for students who already have teaching experience, this degree allows you to further explore issues that are central to the practice of teaching art in schools and alternative educational settings. Our classes model how theory and practice are integral to teaching and making art. We will also prepare you to be a persuasive advocate for the importance of the arts in schools and society through your writing, speaking, and teaching.
You will graduate eligible to apply for New York State professional certification in Visual Arts: K–12 after completing 3 full years of teaching visual art.
Explore the Certification Program Blog to learn more about this program.
Our degree offers personal attention and a sense of community from initial advisement through completion of the final project. You will take a series of required foundational courses including Critical Pedagogy, Artists, and the Public Sphere; Race, Education, and the Politics of Visual Representation; and Media Literacy and Visual Culture: Teaching Art in a Digital Age. Beyond these classes, you will design your own course of study, selecting classes from across the Department of Art and Art Professions and University offerings to focus on areas such as performance studies, artistic activism, technology and education, critical race theory, and social justice pedagogy.
Our faculty includes internationally renowned artists and scholars as well as actively engaged artist-educators working in diverse contexts across the city. Guest speakers, exhibition opportunities, and special partnerships with museums, nonprofit organizations, and educational initiatives will provide you with a wide range of opportunities to expand your professional networks and gain experience in the field.
Blog featuring student projects
Our professional certification degree is designed for students who wish to pursue a graduate-level degree and continue artistic and educational work in a variety of settings. Our students go on to teach in public, private, charter, and independent schools in the US as well as internationally. Many teach in museum education or not-for-profit and community-based organizations and well as serving other educational roles such as curriculum consultants and positions on curatorial projects. Some pursue further study in PhD or EdD programs.
The NYU Steinhardt Teacher Education Program is fully accredited by the Teacher Education Accreditation Council. The 30-credit MA meets the academic requirements for New York State professional certification and is designed for students who already have an initial Teaching Art certificate and wish to pursue graduate training. Learn more about teacher certification.
If you have any additional questions about our degree, please contact artadvising@nyu.edu.
Join a community of artists, educators, activists, and community organizers working together to create critical art interventions that inspire dialogue and catalyze social change.
With a focus on contemporary art, social justice education, and critical multiculturalism, the MA in Teaching Art, K–12, Initial Certification envisions the artist-educator as cultural worker, intellectual, and activist.
Barney Building
34 Stuyvesant Street, New York, NY 10003
212-998-5700
nyuart@nyu.edu
