Abstract
In the domain of visual arts, professional artists usually graduate from academies and universities. For professional development, art students must practise domain-specific activities. Support from lecturers and exchanges with fellow students also help advance accomplishments. Amateurs without academic or vocational artistic education can acquire their skills autodidactically or attend courses such as those at an adult-education centre. Empirical research in the domain of visual arts remains scarce; therefore, the present study’s objective was to analyse which kinds of domain-specific practice activities and social interactions artists, intermediates and amateurs rate as relevant to their artistic development in visual arts. The Professional Development in Arts Questionnaire (PDA-Q), including closed and open questions, was developed to examine artists’ activities and interactions. In this study, 81 experts, 58 intermediates and 31 amateurs participated. Experts and intermediates perceived domain-specific practice activities working on artworks and reflecting as the most important in their professional development. Experts and intermediates also rated these two activities as the most demanding. Amateurs rated these activities as less relevant and demanding. Experts and intermediates most often received feedback from lecturers and fellow students, while amateurs most often received feedback from friends and family. Experts and intermediates cited lecturers as being the most helpful sources of feedback, while amateurs cited family.
Highlights
In the domain of visual arts, professional artists usually graduate from academies and universities
While artists usually work alone and practise in order to improve their artworks, the social component of the latter becomes relevant when exhibiting or selling it. Both practice activities and social interactions were focused in the study of professional development in visual arts
Experts and intermediates classified the activity “Visiting museums/exhibitions” as relevant, while amateurs perceived this activity as less relevant. These activities are important for professional development during study and beyond
Summary
The sample included 81 experts (49 females), 58 intermediates (41 females) and 31 amateurs (20 females). Experts had to meet the following criteria: (1) be a member of the Association of Visual Artists Germany, (2) have an art-related degree, (3) have at least 10 years of experience and (4) be represented regularly in individual or group exhibitions Their mean age was 54.90 years (SD = 10.99), with their ages ranging from 27 to 82. The intermediate group comprised university or academy students in artistic study programmes with a mean age of 24.32 years (SD = 3.34), ranging from 19 to 36 Their experience in the visual arts domain ranged between one and 16 years (M = 5.11; SD = 3.66). The second part included closed- and open-ended questions about domainspecific practice activities (e.g. working on techniques and details) and social interactions (e.g. receiving feedback and helpful feedback aspects) concerning participants’ art education. Recruiting artists is difficult, and the online questionnaire enabled us to contact individuals in different regions, which increased the number of professional artists participating
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