He is a guitarist and paraplegic manual wheelchair user who is a member of the glee club at the fictional William McKinley High School in Lima, Ohio, where the show is set.

[2][3] During preparations for the Sectionals round of show choir competition, Principal Figgins (Iqbal Theba) decrees that there is no money in the school budget to hire a handicap-accessible bus to transport the glee club.

He goes on a date with club member Tina Cohen-Chang (Jenna Ushkowitz), who stutters, and explains that he was left paralyzed following a car crash when he was eight years old.

[4] He later forgives Tina, but makes sexist remarks about her fashion sense, demanding that she begin wearing skimpier clothes if she wants to be with him.

In the final season, Artie, still at the film school, comes back to McKinley to help Rachel Berry (Lea Michele) recruit new members for the newly rebooted glee club.

McHale auditioned for Glee coming from a boy-band background, having previously been a member of the quartet group NLT (Not Like Them) as one of two lead singers, with the song "Let It Be" by The Beatles.

"[17] He explained that from the beginning of the show's production, creator Ryan Murphy expressed the belief that Artie and Tina should be together, and so he and Jenna Ushkowitz deliberately sat close to one another during filming, assuming that it would eventually happen.

[18] McHale described Artie and Tina's relationship as being similar to the one between Cory (Ben Savage) and Topanga (Danielle Fishel) in the ABC comedy–drama Boy Meets World, and he believes they will always be together.

'"[20] McHale has stated that performing as Artie has made him more aware of the challenges that people with disabilities face: "It's a completely different side of life.

"[21] Entertainment Weekly's Tim Stack called "Safety Dance" one of his favorite moments of the episode, deeming it a "joyous, huge performance—definitely one of the most elaborate numbers the show has done before.

Tim Stack of Entertainment Weekly deemed it his favorite performance of the episode, as well as the best incorporation of Spears' music, as the song served Artie's storyline.

[23] Raymund Flandez of The Wall Street Journal also enjoyed it, appreciating the twist of having males sing a feminist empowerment song.

[24] In "Never Been Kissed", Artie performs "One Love"/"People Get Ready" as a duet with Puck (Mark Salling), which received generally positive reviews.

BuddyTV's Jen Harper enjoyed the harmonies and simple arrangement of "One Love/People Get Ready",[25] and Anthony Benigno of the Daily News gave it an "A", with praise for the vocals.

Futterman said it was "better than Artie's post-Tina 'Stronger'", and John Kubicek of BuddyTV declared it "proof that he's quite good at hitting emotional notes", while Semigran said she was "blown away".

[34] Both Gonzalez and Benigno gave it an "A", and the latter explained: "the arrangement ... gives the track a wonderful, spontaneous feel", and "this nerdy white boy has himself some soul.

Flandez called it one of the episode's "highlights", and Billboard's Rae Votta lauded Ariey's "Jagger moves while sitting in a chair" and said he "outshines even Mike and Will who dance beside him".

"[44][46] The Wall Street Journal's Raymund Flandez called it a "phenomenal job", and Stanhope cited "killer performances" by McHale on this number and others as evidence that with Artie only a junior "there is life" in New Directions after McKinley's current seniors graduate.

[45][47] Joseph Brannigan Lynch of Entertainment Weekly called the number "awesome" and gave it an "A+", and The Hollywood Reporter's Lesley Goldberg described it as "a perfect example of what the show looks like when it's firing on all cylinders"; both reviewers praised the dancing of both performers.

[48][49] Jen Chaney of The Washington Post wrote that the performance "lacked the energy and genuine aggression of the original Michael/Janet Jackson collaboration, although at least Kevin McHale and Harry Shum Jr. got to show off their dance skills", and gave it a "C".

[50] Shawna Malcom of the Los Angeles Times reviewed the episode "Vitamin D" positively, praising the focus it gave Artie: "Until now, the character, who is a wheelchair user, has served mostly as a punchline.

Last night, he got a much-deserved moment in the spotlight, and he rolled with it, doing his best Richie Sambora on the talk box, then taking lead vocals on the Usher track.

"[52] Glee creator Brad Falchuk responded that while he understood the concern and frustration of disability advocates, McHale had the singing and acting ability and charisma required for the role and "it's hard to say no to someone that talented".

"[17] Gerrick Kennedy of the Los Angeles Times expressed a similar sentiment, stating: "Here we have an episode bluntly addressing the complexities of disability and doing so with so much respect and dignity, and there are complaints about Artie not being wheelchair-bound [sic] in real life?