Becoming an art professor requires a terminal graduate degree, an active exhibition record, and enough teaching experience to compete for positions that are notoriously scarce. The path typically takes seven to ten years after completing a bachelor’s degree, and most candidates spend several years as adjunct or visiting faculty before landing a full-time role. Here’s what each stage looks like and what you can do to strengthen your candidacy.
The Degrees You Need
The Master of Fine Arts (MFA) is the terminal degree for studio art and design, as recognized by the College Art Association (CAA). Terminal degree means it’s the highest credential in the field, and virtually every tenure-track job posting in studio art lists an MFA as a minimum requirement. MFA programs require at least two academic years of full-time graduate study and a minimum of 60 semester hours. Most programs culminate in a thesis exhibition and a written thesis or artist statement.
If you’re interested in teaching art history rather than studio courses, the expected credential is a PhD in art history, which typically takes five to eight years beyond a bachelor’s degree and involves a dissertation based on original scholarly research.
Doctoral degrees in studio practice do exist. Programs offering a PhD, Doctor of Fine Arts (DFA), or Doctor of Visual Arts (DVA) emphasize formal research and often blend studio work with another discipline. These degrees can be competitive advantages at research-intensive universities, but they are not required for most studio art positions, and the MFA remains the standard.
Building a Professional Exhibition Record
Hiring committees evaluate art professors partly on the strength and consistency of their creative work. Think of your exhibition history as the equivalent of a publication record in other academic fields. You’ll want to show a mix of solo exhibitions, group shows, and juried competitions. Regional gallery shows are a fine starting point, but competitive candidates for tenure-track jobs typically have at least a few exhibitions at well-regarded galleries, university museums, or nonprofit art spaces with national reach.
Start exhibiting while you’re still in your MFA program. Submit to open calls, apply for artist residencies, and seek out gallery relationships in the cities where you live and work. Document every piece and every show with professional-quality photographs, because you’ll need those images for your application portfolio later. Grants and fellowships from arts organizations also carry weight on a CV, both for the funding and for the peer-review validation they represent.
Your exhibition activity shouldn’t stop once you land a teaching job. At institutions that offer tenure, continued creative output is one of the primary criteria for promotion. The expectation is that you remain a practicing artist for the duration of your career, not just during the job search.
Getting Teaching Experience
A terminal degree alone won’t make you competitive. Search committees want evidence that you can run a classroom, design a syllabus, and mentor students through critiques. Most candidates accumulate this experience in stages.
During your MFA, look for graduate teaching assistantships. These positions typically let you lead discussion sections, assist a professor in a studio course, or teach introductory classes under supervision. Some programs guarantee funding through assistantships, so factor that into your program choice.
After graduating, the most common route is adjunct teaching. Adjunct positions are contract-based, non-tenure-track roles where you’re hired to teach a set number of credits per semester. Pay is modest, often a few thousand dollars per course, and benefits are rare. But adjuncting lets you build a teaching record, develop new course syllabi, and collect student evaluations that you’ll include in future applications. Many departments prefer adjunct candidates who hold a terminal degree, so completing your MFA first gives you the strongest footing.
Visiting assistant professorships are another stepping stone. These are full-time positions with one- to three-year contracts, often created to cover a faculty member’s sabbatical. They pay better than adjunct work and give you a more immersive experience in departmental life, including committee service and student advising.
Assembling Your Application Materials
When you apply for a full-time or tenure-track position, you’ll typically need to submit several components:
- Cover letter: Tailored to each institution, explaining your artistic practice, teaching philosophy, and fit with the department’s needs.
- Curriculum vitae: A comprehensive academic CV listing your education, exhibitions, publications, grants, teaching history, and professional service. This is not a one-page resume. Art CVs for mid-career candidates often run five pages or more.
- Artist statement: A concise description of your creative work, its themes, and its methods, usually one to two pages.
- Portfolio of artwork: Twenty images is a common request, though some postings ask for fewer or allow video and other media. Each image should include the title, medium, dimensions, and year.
- Teaching portfolio: This may include a teaching philosophy statement, sample syllabi for courses you’ve taught or could teach, and documentation of student outcomes or evaluations.
- References: Three professional references is standard, typically from faculty mentors, exhibition collaborators, or department chairs who have observed your teaching.
Preparation matters here. A weak portfolio or a generic cover letter can knock you out of the running before a committee reads your CV. Treat each application as a custom pitch for that specific department.
The Job Market and What to Expect
The median salary for postsecondary art, drama, and music teachers was $80,190 as of May 2024, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That figure spans a wide range depending on institution type, rank, and geographic location. An assistant professor at a small liberal arts college might start in the mid-$50,000s, while a full professor at a large research university could earn well above the median.
Overall employment of postsecondary teachers is projected to grow 7 percent from 2024 to 2034, which is faster than average. That said, the BLS notes that full-time tenure and tenure-track positions are expected to remain limited across all disciplines. In art departments specifically, a single tenure-track opening can attract 100 or more applicants. Many qualified candidates spend years cycling through adjunct and visiting positions before securing a permanent role, and some pivot to related careers in museum education, arts administration, or community college instruction where hiring is less concentrated.
Strengthening Your Candidacy
Beyond the baseline credentials, a few factors can set you apart. Specialization in a high-demand area helps. Departments frequently search for faculty who can teach digital media, printmaking, ceramics, or other areas where retirements have created gaps. If your MFA concentration aligns with a department’s specific need, you move to the top of the pile.
Interdisciplinary range also matters. A sculptor who can teach 3D design software, or a painter who also runs community engagement workshops, brings more value than someone who can only cover a narrow slice of the curriculum. During your graduate and adjunct years, volunteer to teach courses outside your primary medium whenever you get the chance.
Finally, engage with the broader academic community. Present at the CAA annual conference, review for journals, and participate in panel critiques. These activities build your professional network and signal that you’re invested in the field beyond your own studio practice. When a search committee reviews 150 applications, the candidates who show up as active participants in the discipline’s intellectual life have a meaningful edge.