By Rob Cooney (@EMEducation)
Don’t Call It Art
by: Austin Kleon
If you forced me to summarize this book in a single sentence, it would be this: Austin Kleon writes really fun books.
Don’t Call It Art is Kleon’s fourth book and follows in the spirit of his earlier work, including the bestseller Steal Like an Artist, which I reviewed back in 2023. Like his prior books, this one is built from an engaging mix of visual art, quotations, short reflections, and blackout poetry. It is the kind of book that invites you to browse, smile, and then look at your own work a little differently.
I do not consider myself particularly “artistic.” That said, I find books like this to be useful reminders that teaching is, at its core, a creative act. In that way, Don’t Call It Art provides a surprisingly natural bridge between art-making and teaching. Many of the chapter titles could just as easily apply to education as they do to art, including “Throw Out the Instructions” and “Permission to Be Bad.” As I read the book, I found myself seeing lessons for educators everywhere: for those just starting out, for those trying to find their voice, and for experienced teachers whose work may be feeling a little stale. I recently had the good fortune to attend a session at a national conference focused on applying lessons from Steal Like an Artist to our development as educators. I suspect Don’t Call It Art could support a similar kind of growth. It encourages readers to experiment (play), notice more carefully, and keep making things even when (especially when?) the work feels imperfect. Perhaps that is why we still talk about the “art of teaching.” The best teaching, like the best creative work, is not about waiting until we feel like experts. It is about paying attention, trying things, learning, and continuing to make something worth sharing.
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