Self-identification is essential to the mediation of educational outcomes, however the selective self-identification of students as an artist remains a relatively unexplored area of research in art education. This project uses qualitative narrative analysis to deconstruct the life stories of university-level art students, to examine formative processes underlying selective artistic self-identification, and to discern how dispositions developed in earlier experiences impact student engagement, performance and motivation at the university level. Research findings indicate students-as-artist identities develop along two distinct dramaturgical positions and emphasise the importance of mentor relationships, student-choice, open exploration, and environmental support to the development of emerging student-as-art identities. The researcher reviews literature broadly supporting an examination of selective self-identification, outlines methods used to deconstruct the life stories of university-level art students, examines evidence of emerging patterns in the data, and concludes with a short discussion of how findings of this project impact the teacher's role in corroborating selective artistic self-identification in students.