Maneuvering the role as a community college artist-educator: scholarship assessed

The relationship between the artist-educator and higher education has provided economic security for an unprecedented number of artists and established a place for art alongside the other academic disciplines (Mannheimer, 1998). With this elevation to intellectual credibility comes the artist's responsibil- ity to address issues of scholarship, teaching, professional development, program integrity, and the mission of the institution and department. If artist-educators are to serve students and the institution, it is important that they maintain a balance between ongoing scholarship, which provides the best of what students deserve (Sperling, 2003), and teaching, which "keeps the flame of scholarship alive" (Boyer, 1990, p. 24). Accordingly, issues pertaining to practicing one's art while fulfilling teaching and campus-related responsibilities should be examined with the goal of recommending practical applications for maintaining a successful balance between the two.The purpose of this study was to examine how Texas community college artist-educators balance scholarship (artwork) with the responsibilities of maintaining a 15- to 18-hour teaching load and carrying out service obligations to the institution and community. Given the focus on teaching as the heart of the community college profession, many community college instructors consider scholarship and research as secondary to teaching, rather than as an integral part of their role (Fugate & Amey, 2000). Brudney (2001) states that to succeed as a community college faculty member, one must see himself or herself primarily as a teacher. Although art instructors share similar responsibilities with their colleagues across campus, artist-educators' perspectives on scholarship and teaching at a community college may be quite different from those of their colleagues in other disciplines. Creating and exhibiting artwork are often seen as the first and foremost concern of the artist-educator - a mindset embedded early on in one's educational pursuit of the studio arts. Although the majority of community college instructors are focused far more on teaching than on scholarship (Cohen & Brawer, 2003; Outcalt, 2000), the creative nature of the artist demands that the artist-educator remain active in producing art.Examining how community college artist-educators balance scholarship with teaching and service can provide valuable insights for students and instructors in evaluating and preparing career paths for the practicing artist. This study is important in that there is limited research on community college visual arts instructors and their pursuit of the dual career of artist and educator. Given the importance of artistic production to the artist-educator and the vast differences between universities and community colleges, those entering the teaching profession with a master's of fine arts (MFA) degree should understand how they can best handle the roles and challenges they will face in continuing their artwork as a community college instructor. In addition, this research can help those already within the ranks of community college artist-educators unify their dual roles, increase their artistic production, and advocate for policy changes that recognize the importance of practicing art while teaching.This study was guided by four research questions:1. What aspects or qualities of the community college do artist-educators believe promote their artistic production?2. What are the areas of conflict within the community college that artist-educators believe either hinder or are barriers to supporting their artistic production?3. How effective do community college artist-educators perceive themselves to be in balancing the role of scholarship with teaching and service?4. How do community college artist-educators perceive the relationship between scholarship and the quality of their teaching?BackgroundA review of the literature reveals that the majority of practicing artists pursue careers in higher education largely for financial reasons (Adler, 1976; Larrabee, 1970; Lowry, 1963; Morrison, 1973). …