by Sasha Rolfsmeyer
Is “Artist” a Stable Career in Today’s Society?
The stability of occupations within the art field has been topically questioned, as about around 120,000 art degrees in the United States are granted to college graduates every year. Yet, the term “artist” itself is vague, as there’s several platforms, media, and concepts to work with. People like Kristina Gonzales, a graphic and web designer, states that although degrees in sciences or businesses might attain an individual a lot of money as opposed to an art-related occupation, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be the happiest. “Yes,” she states, “an art degree can be more challenging but it's more the person and your connections than the actual degree. If you challenge yourself to grind away and also build reputable contacts then you won't worry about being an artist”. She goes on to say that creating a diverse portfolio combined with involved experience will set an artist up for success.
The information shown in the graph derived from the Bureau of Labor Statistics depicts sample salaries of topical art jobs. Ellen Rosenthal, a retired art educator from Woodbridge, Virginia, also states that art jobs don’t have to be “financial suicide” as long as you look in the right places.
The Art Field is More Successful Than the Science Field
The value in work is often measured by enjoyment, but is there any factual evidence that “art” would be a stable field to immerse yourself into?
An important study to consider: the Strategic National Arts Alumni Project (SNAAP) conducted a trained artist survey to examine how many graduates have succeeded within the art field after college. In fact, the statistics are astounding: “70% of graduates have found jobs within the arts, 75% have been or are self-employed, [and] 99% consider creativity to be an important competency in their profession” (Goins). In comparison to the science field--which circumvents technical, mathematical, engineering and science degrees--75% of graduates are not employed within the parameters of their original degree, according to the 2014 US Census Bureau. From this information, most artists aren’t “starved” even though the public perceives them to be.
Stable Art Careers
In case you’re interested in getting into the art field of work, here are a few jobs the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) deemed to be “stable art career options” (study.com):
You can also visit websites like artjobs.artsearch.us and flexjobs.com for more information and opportunities.
Works Cited
Goins, Jeff. “The Arts Are a More Secure Career than the Sciences - Here's the Proof.” Medium, Medium, 24 June 2017, medium.com/@jeffgoins/want-greater-job-security-become-an-artist-seriously-635e63b34c30.
Reid B. Student Pearl City, et al. “Is There Such Thing as a Stable Art Career?” CareerVillage, 31 Aug. 2017, www.careervillage.org/questions/66788/is-there-such-thing-as-a-stable-art-career.
Study.com, study.com/articles/stable_art_careers.html.
Your topic was very interesting. There has definitely been a lot of misconceptions floating around that "all art students" are destined to struggle financially, but your post has proved that wrong. I think the main reason why the art field is technically more successful than the science field is because art is more similar to business than science. With science, you can't really be self-employed, as you don't have any products to sell. However, with art, the ways you can be self-employed are nearly limitless, even for musicians who can sell their services online or give lessons. I think that this is also related to supply and demand as the older people in our generation (those in their early 20s) have been taught to focus on the science field instead of the arts as it generally makes more money, and as a result there are too many graduates in the science field, while for art students, it doesn't really matter since they can be self-employed, although they may not make as much.
ReplyDeleteI loved reading your article. As an artist/graphic designer, I know that there are a lot of hardships that come with being an artist. Art students in high school don't think about the money that they would be making, they think about the creativity and knowledge that they are building. Going into the art career is a challangign thing for a new artist but I think that once you become a “popular” artist then money isn’t going to be the biggest worry. Starting at a young age with a portfolio and lots of background knowledge is an important step that can jumpstart your career in art. I would maybe consider adding more about different careers that students can get into right out of high school or ways that they can start working up their portfolio in high school. Great job.
ReplyDeleteI personally related to this. I want to go into the art field and this article showed me that it's not as daunting as people make it out to be.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI don’t feel that there is a misconception on the ability to pay finances or the right career, It seems to me that the misconception is about competition. There aren't enough jobs out there for every single art school graduate to be satisfied with their job and pay. Jobs that offer a high position, seem to correlate to unfairly low pay. If i was an art director or fashion designer, I’d at least expect to break 100K or more. This article is mainly focused on finances which is helpful for someone who is laser focused on becoming someone in the arts industry. Based on just skimming through some statistics, it wouldn’t be worth my time trying to become apart of the art industry.
ReplyDeleteI like that you drew attention to working in the field of art, because I don’t think it is talked about enough. I thought that it was insightful that you compared how people in an art field to people in a science field feel about their job and their overall success rates. I was mostly astonished by the quote reading, “70% of graduates have found jobs within the arts, 75% have been or are self-employed, [and] 99% consider creativity to be an important competency in their profession”. I always assumed that finding a career in the arts was difficult, but this quote proved me wrong and also opened my eyes to actual careers that are related to the “arts”.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am not wanting to be an artist of any sort, this was very interesting to read and was especially informative! You had great research. There was a nice bar graph, table, and percentages used as well that strengthened your blog. Reading this blog, a question came across my head with your choice of topic for this blog. Are you looking to have an art major in college? I'm guessing so, which would be awesome! And if you are, what do you want to do in the art field? Overall, well done.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your article. I wasn't too informed about careers in the art field, what the variety of jobs was, and how much they made. This really cleared it up and gave me a lot of information on it, while also keeping me engaged. I also really like your visuals!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your article. I liked how you brought up the topic of an art career being financial suicide. I've known many people who have expressed a liking for art and thought about an art career but were terrified of not being able to get a job. Art is very emotional and you're always using your brain to come up with new ideas. I think many people are afraid of running out of creativity and being mentally drained. I think it can be overwhelming to think of having a high demand for art to pay your bills. However, I know art jobs that take place in a company can be less overwhelming and have more structure. As seen in the job growth statistic, the art industry hasn't been growing much which has me wondering if it's because people are scared of it. I loved how you addressed this topic and was overall very organized and easy to understand.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the fact that degrees in science or business will get you a lot of money, but you won’t necessarily be happy. It is important to find a job that you enjoy doing. I never knew that in the science field, 75% of graduates aren’t employed in jobs that relate to their original degree. I think the reason most people think that art isn’t a good future career is because they only think of the job of artist. However, there are many other jobs in which an art degree is useful where you aren’t necessarily an artist. In addition, it's important to remember that success doesn’t mean just having a lot of money.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who is interested in an art career, this was very enlightening. I've always been worried about the money, but your statistics about art vs. STEM graduates was reassuring. It's also nice to know that Multimedia Artists and Animators is a stable career and pays very well, as I am interested in that field.
ReplyDeleteI think this was a very interesting topic. I don't really know about the money aspect of being an artist, but I think that this article gave me some good information. I find it really interesting that the art field is more successful than the science. I feel like we actually have a lot of things in life that involve science more so. I do think it is cool though and I understand how more people would want to do art instead because it would be more enjoyable. And having a job that pays good and is enjoyable would be perfect. I also really liked how you gave us some statistics as well, I think it added to the blog itself.
ReplyDeleteIt’s crazy to see that only 70% of graduates with an art degree have jobs, and 75% of artist are self-employed. Is there a reason they not everyone has a job that gets this degree.
ReplyDeleteI have noticed a similarity between the art field and the science field. It’s not about what you know, it’s about WHO you know. If you meet enough people and have enough professional contacts, you will never have to worry about finding a job. For example, my father’s friend is a software engineer, and his network of people is huge. What he does is take a contract to work for a specific company for a year or so, and when that contract is over, he will just ask his network if they are looking to hire someone for a job. For ~20 years, he has never been without work. What I’m saying is that you can be successful in either career path, as long as you know what to do.
ReplyDeleteI thought it was incredibly interesting to see that people of this profession make so much money. I know that there are so many different aspects of looking at the are profession and seeing that most have a good pay grade, which is amazing. I have heard many different things about being in the art profession such as that it takes awhile to get going in the industry. I do think that this is true. In reality, when we think of artists around the world we don’t usually think about someone who is only a couple years into the profession. Personally, I think about Picasso, Georgia O'keeffe, Vincent van Gogh and Leonardo da Vinci. In my defense, I am not very familiar with art besides famous people. I do think that once you get into it and truly get going, anything is possible. Overall, I think that people who continue on with this career are very brave and powerful people. It takes a lot to be able to show people your pieces that you think so highly of. The motivation and creativity that one has to have to accomplish something like this is incredible. Thank you for bringing some light to this subject and educating me on something that I didn’t know would surprise me so much. Great job!
ReplyDeleteI think it really is a matter of balancing money and happiness. Some people are lucky to have both, but not everyone is.
ReplyDeleteThis is super interesting. I knew that artists were given a bad rep because everyone thinks an artist just throws paint at a canvas when in fact, an artist can be involved in marketing, social media regulations and other jobs. If you look at the district's Instagram you see elements of graphic art that someone earned a degree for. But I never realized that jobs related to science had a lower success percentage. I also think the jobs that involve art that are well paying was a good chart to point out. Nice job breaking down financial misconceptions of the art community. Maybe you could include how much artists who make web-comics on various platforms make. That would be interesting to see in comparison to like fancy art jobs like Art Director.
ReplyDeleteAs we grow older, it becomes increasingly more important to understand what career options are available. Often times, what we originally thought is misconstrued, so it's important to do our own research before making final decisions on what we should pursue.
ReplyDeleteI really found this blog interesting. I really always thought that jobs related around art don't get payed well at all but I guess I never really considered a interior designer, commercial and industrial designer and a few of the other jobs as art jobs. What type of education is needed for most of these jobs, and if education is needed after high school to be a interior designer, commercial and industrial designer do you really need a art credit? I have taken many art classes in high school and I feel that I never even considered that to be a career that I actually made good money. I only took those classes because I found it fun a relaxing. I feel like many people are like me and don't purposely get into art only for the money. I wonder what percent of people with a art profession got into art for fun or a hobby then it turned into a job.
ReplyDeleteI thought you did a really nice job on your blog post, it was very well written and extremely interesting! When I was younger, I really wanted to be a painter and get an art degree, but I was talked out of it because I was worried it wouldn't give me enough money to live off of. Although I found more of an interest in psychology, I thought it was interesting how you said art degrees and careers are more about the people you meet and the connections you make. In my opinion, I think that an art career would give a person more interesting life experiences compared to someone with a science career, but I thought it was interesting how you connected these life experiences in college to the career that a graduate could have after college. The data that you gave about science graduates not sticking with their original major was extremely interesting and made me think more about how many career options people with art actually have.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statement about how it's important for artists to network in order to have a successful career. Networking is very important for a lot of different careers, especially careers that involve self employment, and as you stated in this blog post, lots of artists are self employed. What would you suggest is the best way to network in a self employed career like art?
ReplyDeleteThis notion that artists are “starved” I think comes from the fact that they don’t necessarily make or are able to make as much money as those graduates from more traditional occupations, like lawyers, doctors, or engineers. This blog proves that artists should be valued for their hard work and competencies just as much as those that study technologies, and sciences. I was shocked to see the percentages of artists that are able to find work in their desired fields and how little that percentage is for those in the sciences!
ReplyDelete