Current recommendations for teaching increasingly call for meaningmaking and discussion (Walker, 1996). However, new teachers are seldom given instruction or guidelines for creating an environment that nurtures or encourages dialogue or discussion that is not teacher-centered (Milbrandt, 2002). Most art teachers are familiar with questioning strategies used to involve students with looking at art (Anderson, 1993; Barrett, 1997; Feldman, 1996; Yenawine, 1998). But while art teachers are concerned with questioning and getting students to think for themselves, studies show that despite the fact that many teachers believe students should have opportunities for open-ended discussion, in practice, this is observed by researchers less often than teacher self-reports would indicate (Milbrandt, 2002). A dialogical relationship involves not just teaching strategies, but a personal philosophy towards teaching that values relationships and the commitment of time to developing an environment in which these relationships can be established. In this paper, the author describes what factors determine a dialogical relationship, how is it established, and how it may benefit the teaching of art education.