Classroom teachers have stereotypes and myths about art education that seem to arise for various reasons including a range of backgrounds, interests, and lack of art experiences; diversity and contradiction of preferences; expectations for an easy course and high grades; and preconceptions about art and art teaching. This latter category includes confusion between creative versus conceptual learning, hard work versus completing the task assigned, art learning as rule-drive versus rule-divergent, and compulsive versus disciplined behavior. A participant observation study was set up to address these problems, suggest solutions, and explore a major metaphor of art education as creative tension. (KM)