Students in the field of painting work long hours and in inappropriate postures. In this qualitative study, it was aimed to evaluate the experience and awareness of art education teacher candidates about performance-based musculoskeletal disorders and their views on preparatory physical exercises. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 22 senior students studying at Trakya University, Department of Art Education. As a result of the thematic analysis, twelve sub-themes emerged under five major themes (i.e. "Exercise experience", "Physical pains", "Effects of exercise", "Breath awareness/Breath hold, "Spent time"). Complaints of neck, low back pain, and then backache and holding breath are common among art education teacher candidates. More research is needed to raise awareness of musculoskeletal pain of students in the field of painting, as well as to prevent such disorders, and to plan and implement ergonomic processes.