In 2015, AHTR launched a major initiative to establish the first peer-reviewed journal devoted to scholarship of teaching and learning in art history (SoTL-AH). The project drew widespread community support and received two generous Digital Art History awards from the Samuel H. Kress Foundation.

The first award of $20,000 allowed AHTR to conduct a feasibility study to gauge demand for a journal on SoTL-AH and a technology assessment of open publishing platforms. The study also included a field-wide survey, conducted by the research firm of RK&A and a literature review of existing pedagogical research in art history.  AHTR synthesized these findings in a White Paper on the Need for a Journal of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Art History released in October 2015. This process led to assembly of an advisory board, comprising leaders in art history, SoTL, digital humanities, and museum education, and articulating a mission for the new journal. 

AHTR’s technology assessment focused on strategies for long-term sustainability, and led to an informal partnership with the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. The current agreement provides a home for AHPP on Academic Works, CUNY’s Digital Commons repository, in addition to securing regular archiving of all digital content on the AHTR website. This allows AHTR to maintain autonomy over the journal’s operations and proprietary url (www.arthistorypp.org), while the affiliation with the CUNY Graduate Center brings the journal greater visibility, expertise in scholarly communication, and a sustainable open access hosting platform at no cost to AHTR.  

In December 2015, the Kress Foundation awarded AHTR an additional $56,500 for start-up costs associated with the e-journal. This included web development using the bepress publication system, monies to create a parallel e-journal “hub” on the AHTR website, and to promote the journal through conference attendance and faculty outreach. AHTR began publication of Art History Pedagogy and Practice in December 2016.  With Issue 6 slated to be published in Fall 2019, Art History Pedagogy and Practice has been downloaded over 9,000 times in over 100 countries, clear evidence of the demand for scholarship in this field.