Where Do You Discover New Artists? (Ep. 522)

In this episode of Art Ed Radio, host Tim Bogatz sits down with Kelly Hatton, curriculum designer for FLEX and PRO at The Art of Education, and they dive into the wonderful world of teaching art history. Kelly opens up about how she went from relying on whatever art prints were left in the supply closet to intentionally curating her artistic awareness through museum memberships, artist talks, and a carefully cultivated Instagram feed. She also gives a behind-the-scenes look at how the team at AOE decides which artist bios to develop for FLEX, from responding to what teachers are actively searching for, to ensuring broad geographic and cultural representation across the platform.

Tim and Kelly dig into one of the most important questions in art education: how do you balance historical and contemporary artists in your curriculum? Kelly’s answer is refreshingly clear–you don’t have to choose. She makes a compelling case for pairing artists across time, asking critical questions about who has been left out of the historical canon, and keeping the conversation alive for students by connecting them with living artists they can actually follow and engage with.

Timothy Bogatz: Kelly Hatton’s joining me now. Kelly, how are you?

Kelly Hatton: I’m good. I’m good. It’s Thursday, almost Friday. How are you?

Timothy Bogatz: Yes, I love it. And we’re getting into summer, which is a wonderful thing. We have lots of cool things to talk about with artists and art history and a lot of fun stuff. Before we get into that, since this is your first time on the show, we would love an introduction. Can you tell us about yourself — who you are, anything about your life, your teaching, and what you do now at AOEU?

Kelly Hatton: Yes, alright. My name is Kelly Hatton. I live in Memphis, Tennessee. I’ve got a husband and an eleven-year-old daughter who’s about to go to middle school. I got into art education in a roundabout way. I initially went to college and actually started out pre-med, if you can believe that.

Timothy Bogatz: Wow.

Kelly Hatton: Very different path I’m on now. I switched my major to communications and got into photography at the very end of that, and that led me to want to pursue art. I eventually made my way to Memphis to go to Memphis College of Art to study art and photography. I really loved being in Memphis and wanted to find a job that kept me here. I was lucky that our state was mandating elementary visual art in all elementary schools at the time, so they had to hire about a hundred teachers in one summer. If you had a degree in art, you could have a job.

Timothy Bogatz: Yeah.

Kelly Hatton: And I did. So I had no experience — that alternative license pathway threw me into an elementary classroom with no idea what I was doing. But it turns out I liked teaching. I was pretty good at it and had a lot of support, because there were so many of us in that same boat. I eventually became a mentor teacher for our district, led professional development and workshops, and then — after ten years in the classroom — I got the job as the district administrator for visual art and theater, which was amazing. I had about two hundred teachers that I was serving at the time.

Timothy Bogatz: Wow.

Kelly Hatton: And then the pandemic came, and a lot of things were happening. I was so lucky to get a position at The Art of Ed. I’m a curriculum designer for FLEX and PRO. I’ve been with AOEU since January 2021, I believe. And inside all of that career experience, I’ve also been lucky to go to so many NAEA conferences, and I was selected for the NAEA School for Art Leaders. So — almost twenty years in the field, with lots of different experiences that have led me here. I feel really lucky to be here now.

Timothy Bogatz: That’s awesome. I want to talk to you a little later about FLEX and PRO, but I also want to talk about artists and the artists we show our students. Thinking back to when you first started teaching — how did you decide which artists to show your students or what you wanted to teach? And did that approach change over time as you got further into your career?

Kelly Hatton: Yes, definitely. Like I said, I was thrown into the classroom, so I relied a lot on just the artists I knew and liked. There wasn’t a lot of thought or intention going into it. There were so many of us starting at the same time, so we relied on each other for lesson plans and whatever professional development we were attending — but there was not a lot of proactive learning on my part.

Timothy Bogatz: Yeah, mine was very much whatever reproductions the teacher before me had left in the room. I was like, I guess we’re teaching this artist because I have a poster.

Kelly Hatton: Yes, one hundred percent! We had those giant textbooks, which you kind of used and kind of didn’t. But yes — the art prints. That was pretty much how I decided. And I mean, they were some great prints, but…

Timothy Bogatz: Can I jump in real quick? For all you mid-twenties teachers who don’t know about these: every art teacher used to have a collection of prints or posters — tagboard-weight reproductions of famous paintings. If you were lucky, you had a good variety, but I feel like every teacher had at least the six-pack or twelve-pack, you know, Van Gogh’s Irises and the most canonical paintings you can think of. That’s what we’re talking about.

Kelly Hatton: Exactly. Gosh, things have come a long way. Back then, Instagram was maybe a thing, but it wasn’t what it is now. You didn’t have that pathway — or really social media in general. Now, I’m not big on social media, but Instagram is really the only place I’m active. I’ve curated my feed to be mostly artists, other art teachers, museums, curators, writers, and a lot of interior designers who are very into art. I find out about artists that way all the time. During the pandemic, I feel like that was the starting point — all I did was find artists and start following them, and that’s just expanded over the years. Other ways I find artists: who’s trending? Who do we have on Art Ed Now? Who are the NAEA keynotes? If you go to NAEA, you’re being exposed to lots of other art teachers and artists. And in the work I do at AOEU — writing artist bios — I’m sometimes writing about artists I’ve never heard of, or ones I’ve heard of but haven’t really gotten into. I learn a lot there. Especially when it’s a keynote who’s a living, practicing artist, I’ll go straight to Instagram. Are they on there? They’re in my feed now.

Timothy Bogatz: Once you get that algorithm trained, you find new artists, which leads you to more artists — it’s this self-perpetuating loop. But I wanted to ask about the flip side of that. How much does the physical world factor in for you? Do you discover artists through museum visits, local galleries, or art fairs?

Kelly Hatton: A lot. And you can be on Instagram all you want, but seeing art in real life is most impactful. Whenever I’m traveling, I make a point to go to a museum in that city, especially if it’s a new city. I try at least once a year to get over to Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, Arkansas, which is about a five-to-six-hour drive for me. It’s one of the best museums in this region — it’s just amazing. And then The Momentary next door features more performance-based artists and installations. I got to see a huge knit cave installation there. Locally, I’m on the education committee at the Dixon Gallery and Gardens, so I stay up on the exhibits coming through. We also have the Brooks Museum here. Having museum memberships and going to artist talks is huge — just keep your eye on what’s happening locally. I got to see Hank Willis Thomas speak several years ago, and I’m a huge fan. And I was very lucky to meet Bisa Butler when she came to Memphis for a very intimate artist talk. Seeing artwork in person is incredibly impactful. If I find something that moves me in a museum, I’m taking pictures of it, then going to Instagram to see if they’re there so I can follow them. I’ve found a lot of artists that way.

I also wanted to mention artists like Derek Forger — he’s actually from Memphis and practicing in New York. He has a program here where he takes young artists to New York every summer to tour studios. And then artists like Kadir Nelson, Deborah Roberts, and Bisa Butler — people I’ve found either on Instagram or in museums. Sometimes I’ll get to advocate for a specific artist bio, or it’ll be someone I immediately start following to stay up on their work. I’ll also say this: a lot of these artists really love to be tagged on Instagram when you’re making work inspired by them. Bisa Butler will share your students’ work. Vanessa German has shared my museum visits before. It’s really cool to just put yourself out there like that.

Timothy Bogatz: And kids love that interaction too. If you just tell them, “Hey, Bisa Butler liked my post on Instagram” — that goes a long way. Okay, I wanted to ask you about artist bios. You do a lot with the FLEX curriculum, and there are hundreds of artist bios on the platform. Can you give us a little behind-the-scenes insight? How are those decisions made? How do you decide when a new artist bio needs to be written? Do those museum visits ever lead you back to the team saying, “We have to have a bio for this person”?

Kelly Hatton: Yeah, it happens sometimes. There have been times we’ve decided we really want to make sure we have more representation across every state — so we’ve made a point to include artists in FLEX so that every student, no matter where they are, can feel that relevance from someone who came from where they are. And of course, we’re very committed to having a diverse variety of artists from different races, cultures, and countries. It’s always a work in progress — no curriculum is ever perfect, but we’re constantly striving for that. One thing I mentioned before: artists who are trending. When Art Ed Now releases a new keynote, or when NAEA announces keynote speakers, we try to support teachers attending those conferences with new bios. And a lot of it also comes from what our customers are searching for. We can see when teachers go into the platform and search for a particular artist we don’t have yet, and we make note of those — whether it’s a contemporary or historical artist.

The most recent instance where I thought, “We need an artist bio” was for a specific lesson loosely inspired by Rachel Burke. She’s on Instagram as @imakeinstagram, and she takes kids’ craft materials and does really fun, colorful, amazing things with them. We created a lesson using Perler beads to make vessels — she calls them melty beads. She’s Australian, and I knew the type of art she creates would be really attractive to students.

Timothy Bogatz: Love it. Zooming back out — big picture question. How important is it that the artists we teach are relevant or contemporary versus historically significant? Do you try to strike a balance?

Kelly Hatton: I don’t think you should ever really have to choose between the two. In fact, I think they work best together. Historical artists give students context and vocabulary over time and help them see that this is a conversation that’s been going on for centuries. And contemporary artists make that conversation feel more relevant and alive. Students can follow living artists, watch interviews, sometimes see work being made right now. One of the best ways to approach it is to pair them — here’s a historical artist, and here’s someone working today who’s responding to the same concepts or themes, using the same media, or even pushing back against that historical tradition. A good question to always ask is: who has been left out of the historical canon, and why? Who has gotten to decide who the “master artists” are? I think it’s a natural connection to bring the past and the present together.

Timothy Bogatz: Well said. And a lot of times those contemporary artists can be an entry point into talking about art history — showing how people have done things in the past. I always appreciate that.

One last question. What advice would you give to a new teacher who wants to build a more dynamic curriculum and incorporate more art history? And on the other end of the spectrum, for experienced teachers — what should our goals be? What should students walk away with from those conversations and lessons?

Kelly Hatton: For the new teacher — just get inspired. Where I started was only what I knew, which was very limited, but now you have the world at your fingertips. You can find inspiration in so many places. Leading with artists and connecting them to the concepts and media you’re already planning to teach can come very naturally. A compelling human story is always an engaging entry point. And don’t feel like you have to have a perfect roster of artists right away — you can start small, bring in one or two new artists, and build from there. Also, know your students. Ask them what they’re interested in. They may surprise you.

For the experienced teacher — it doesn’t matter how experienced you are, the perfect curriculum doesn’t exist. It can always be better. And it’s less about coverage than impact. It’s not about how many artists your students can name — it’s about helping them ask the right questions: who made this, why, and for whom? Look at your full-year roster and ask what story it tells collectively. Sometimes you can see the gaps. There are tools you can find to help audit your curriculum for inclusivity. For all teachers, one big thing is providing primary sources — show the artist talking about their work firsthand. Always check the artist’s website first, but they almost always have an artist statement, and that’s a great pathway, especially with older students. It also encourages students to think that way about their own art. And model curiosity yourself. When you’re discovering new artists, share that with your students. Help them see that engaging with art history is a lifelong practice, not just a checklist.

Timothy Bogatz: And if you’re excited about it, that excitement is contagious. If you’re passionate about an artist, a lot of times your students will be excited to discover them too. Kelly, thank you so much. Really enjoyed talking to you. I appreciate all your insights, and thank you for coming on.

Kelly Hatton: Thanks so much for having me.