Art Teacher Salary

An art teacher is a professional who teaches courses related to music, painting, drama, sculpture, crafts, etc. He/She can be employed in an elementary school, college or even in a private institute. The average salary of an art teacher is somewhere around $52,000 and can vary depending upon the type of employer, experience, geographical location, etc. Before knowing more about the art teacher salary, let us take a look at the job description of an art teacher.

Art Teacher Job Description

To obtain teaching jobs in the field of a particular art, one has to obtain a four-year Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts or Arts. Further these students also opt for a one year training that includes, techniques of teaching students, classroom management, child psychology, etc. After obtaining these skills, one must obtain a license for teaching students in public schools and other institutions. An art teacher instructs students regarding techniques of various vocational and applied arts like sketching, painting, music, sculpturing, etc. He/she designs the lessons for the students and achieves the goals accordingly. He/she selects the required educational material required for the students and arranges demonstrations for teaching the students. An art teacher has to observe every student and suggest tips and techniques for the progress and improvement of a student. Sometimes field trips to art galleries and museums are also arranged to expose the students to various forms of art. Other than public and elementary schools, an art teacher can also be employed in a school of students with physical or mental disabilities. To become a successful art teacher, one must have skills to teach various genres and help the students to discover their creative skills. An art teacher should be skilled enough to spot out the talent in every student in his/her class.

Art Teacher Salary Range

As mentioned earlier, the salary of an art teacher is governed by a number of factors. The median starting salary of an art teacher is between $27,000 to $32,000. An art teacher at a university is paid on a higher scale, than an art teacher in an elementary school. Art teachers at private art institutes are paid more as compared to those working for elementary schools. Thus an art teacher salary depends upon the place of teaching and the level of expertise of the art teacher. The type of employer is another major influencing factor that affects the art teacher's salary. Self-employed art teachers earn more than those employed in schools and universities, while those who work in private companies earn the highest. Art teachers are provided with a number of benefits, other than their salaries. They are given nice pension plans and health care plans and these benefits increase their annual salary by almost 50%. Art teachers who teach in rural areas earn less as compared to those who work in urban areas. The tables provided below, state figures of an average annual art teacher salary depending on the number of years of experience and type of employer.

Years of Experience	Art Teacher Salary (in $)
Less than 1 year	24,178 to 39,348
1 to 4 years	29,380 to 41,267
5 to 9 years	32,571 to 48,342
10 to 19 years	35,758 to 57,364
20 years and more	43,069 to 71,409

Employer Type	Art Teacher Salary (in $)
School	32,146 to 48,855
College or University	25,434 to 54,911
Self Employed	25,942 to 61,042
Company	17,687 to 92,991

The profession of an art teacher is quite challenging with great career opportunities. One should definitely love for teaching to make a successful career in the field of teaching arts. The above given figures on art teacher salary are approximate and may change with location and other influencing factors. I hope the information provided in this article will prove useful to you.