The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of the art therapist and to examine the differences in the perception of this role between art therapists and staff at welfare institutions. Participants included 292 art therapists and 293 welfare institution staff members. Participants were given a 53-item questionnaire based on the Korean Art Therapy Association Code of Ethics and previous studies. The data was analyzed using factor analysis, descriptive statistics and t-test. The results of the study are as follows. First, the domains of art therapist were classified into “therapist competence and research ability,” ”respect for human rights,” “mediation,” ”professional competence,” “education,” ”psychological assessment,” and “case study.” In terms of the perception of the role of the art therapist both art therapists and welfare institutions staff ranked professional competence first in importance. Second, art therapists were found to attach more importance to the art therapist s relational ability, therapeutic intervention ability, and professional competence, whereas welfare institution staffs were found to place greater importance on the art therapists’ role of the educator and psychological assessment expert.