The serious need for reform of the Leaving Certificate Art Curriculum in Ireland sets the context for this article, which tracks the social and political factors that shaped the emergence of art education in Ireland before and after the formation of the Free State. This historical framing creates the background for the training of art teachers over three paradigms of art teacher education -- the Vocational, Expressivist and Contextual. Based on doctoral research, it examines the experiences of a group of art teachers trained within these paradigms. In light of current curriculum reform, it asks the question 'Can art education can move from a modernist skills-based paradigm, to become a vehicle for transformation, social engagement and citizenship within a revised Leaving Certificate Art curriculum'? It proposes that the contemporary art museum can be a transformative site for change within an art curriculum.