A myriad of issues affect PK-12 public school art educators' work lives, including how and by whom art is taught in schools. Chief among these issues are budgetary shortfalls, time constraints, and general misconceptions that anyone who enjoys the visual arts is capable of teaching the visual arts. Perpetuation of this myth impacts art education, removing the locus of control over art curricula and school-wide offerings from the art teacher. In this article, the authors discuss why the "pedagogy of art education"--what one needs to know about art content and instructional strategies specific to art content--is critical to the development of authentic art integrated learning opportunities. The development of creative processes--the ability to find multiple problems and posit multiple solutions--is considered as one rationale for art-based curricula. The authors seek to motivate art teachers to think about the possibilities of influencing and shaping school-wide curricula based on learning in and through the arts, and ultimately, their role in this process. Toward accomplishing this goal, the authors present a model based on the premise that "all" art-based learning within schools should be coordinated by highly qualified professionals. Specifically, they discuss the role of art educators as leaders, in charge of promoting creative thinking dispositions, and designing/planning art integrated curricula that leads to the development of school wide art learning. (Contains 4 figures.)