In primary and secondary education in Flanders, the Dutch speaking part of Belgium, Arts have their place in the general curriculum. However, there is a tension between the Arts and the school environment. While education values uniformity highly, this is less the case with Art. Art in a school context is tamed by school conditions. (Haanstra, 2001) As a result, teachers often choose for a mimetic and technical approach to the art field. This threatens to undermine several other fundamental artistic processes. In the classroom itself, Arts often seems to be absent. Pascal Gielen illuminates the educational field in his book “Teaching Art in the Neoliberal Realm” (2012), the school as a business, and asks whether there is still room for art. From there he examines the effects of this change regarding neoliberal tendencies for arts education as a practice and the position of art and the artist. 

In this research we take a close look at the art practice in a school context. How does an artist work, act and create in order to achieve these artistic practices? What drives the artistic process in artists and how does this relate to the educational process?  

An art practice originates from an interaction between a (substantive) idea and a material form. This space between idea and form is explored in an art practice. This open game is filled in by many artists in different ways. It’s the place where the artist can find his own style and unique signature. We want to find out how art teachers can translate this into the classroom practice without losing themself in a purely mimetic material-technical course. 

Therefore, the following research questions are guiding principles. 
  How can:  

•  the openness of artistic practice, inherent to art, be used by the teacher in an art lesson? 

•  the concept of 'openness of the work of art’ can be explored by arts teachers? 

•  teachers give content to the openness of the work of art in the form of an art practice? 

•  teachers use art (and thus the openness of the work of art) in a teaching context? 

In the theoretical part we are inspired by the work of Gielen, Elias, Eco, Heijnen, Vermeersch.... We use sources that focus on making arts, the zone between idea and material form, the arts educator and the central role of Arts in (arts-)education.   

Amongst others Vermeersch, Frenssen and Elias refer in their publication “Gadamer in the classroom. Using a hermeneutic approach to deepen student's interpretation of contemporary art” to Eco and the fact that art cannot be reduced to mere expression but also has a cognitive dimension. Today, the cognitive dimension of learning is no longer up for discussion when it comes to the Arts. There is a growing awareness that the Arts may well be the area where the question of meaning, both personal and collective, is most openly allowed and encouraged (Elfland 2002). In fact, the question of what meaning we contribute to a work of art is often the first and most obvious question that arises in art.' (Vermeersch, 2016)  

In the winter we organise an online seminar where artists and teachers will be invited to explore the art practice. For this we bring together an international group of artists, teachers and researchers. Through debates, interviews and pitches, we will explore the space between idea and form with this various group. The acquired insights shall be translated into the field of arts-education. The art practices and ideas that emerge from this seminar are data that will be analysed later. The online event is a source for putting together a consortium. 

From the perspective of 'A/R/Tography', (Springgay et al., 2007) we try to make visible from the inside, how intentional movements and relationships affect everyday life, studio work, teaching and the research landscape. The study of Onses and Fernandez (2017) has shown that this methodology is interesting, because it has multiple ways of being explored and discovered. Data collection: -By means of observations, interviews and documents/artifacts we want to conduct the fieldwork to collect data. -We’re planning several seminars (online and in real life), consisting of collaborative work (performances, visual work, music), making practice, discussions with several national and international artists, art educators, art students, following preparatory rehearsals, studio, experiencing discussions, getting involved in these creation processes in order to jump into the artistic practice. -Interviews (participants of the winter school and of the Art of Teaching expertise trajectory) -These artistic and art-educational activities will be documented through video recordings. In addition, the various participants will be interviewed individually about their artistic actions and practices in school contexts. -Personal artwork Analysis: By means of visual analyses and labelling of research portfolios, results are questioned again and form the basis for purified answers. These insights are an impulse for further work, research and creation. The research questions will provide guidance while being 'on the move'. Report: As a researcher-teacher-artist, our position is of great importance to this research. Answers to the research questions arise from the interplay between our research, teaching and art practice. Reporting and interpreting in the form of a visual documentary and practice-related article can provide insight into various processes of meaning-making.

We want to offer insights into the a/r/tography research process we have been conducting. Insights from the online sessions, our art practice and our art educational practice. In all these approaches the space between idea and form is the guidance. Because of the ongoing research we are unable to formulate any results yet, but we expect the following outcomes: -Reporting and interpreting in the form of a visual documentary and practice-related article can provide insight into various processes of meaning-making. -Artistic work: drawing, painting and instrumental music, in which the openness of the work of art is given substance. -Reflective documentation, visual and theoretical documentation (in Dutch and English) -New subject didactic insights with a focus on how to train teachers of art, for teachers of art and teachers of teachers of art.

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