jobs with an art degree?

[MergedLoki]

Alright, question time here folks.

Does anyone know the possible jobs one can get after an art college program? (i'm talking like 4 years, painting, drawing, sketching kinda art. etc.)

my gf just applied for a bunch. and SHE doesn't seem to have any idea of what she wants to do at the end of it. and I just want her to have a friggin idea of what kind of job she could look into when she's done.

I've tried to find stuff on the web but i can't find any acutal hard data just peoples comments of 'there's lots of jobs...' no mentions of specifics.

I worry only because well.. there's countless 'starving artist' jokes for a reason lol.

Anyways just curious of what anyone knows about (and note: i'm not artistically creative in the least, can't draw a straight line w/out a ruler and even then ti's 50/50 so i'm at a loss as to what possible careers she has available when she's done lol) and no. she has no idea either as she hasn't looked into it much (weird to me but then when i applied to college my mom helped out alot with info etc. and her parents seem less than useless in that respect)

[JustaCashier]

My artisitic (in)abilities are right up there with yours, (you're description fits me to a "T". )

That being said, is she actively doing any sketching/painting/drawing? If so, she might want to check with local coffee shops, bistros, cafes, etc, and see if they will let her display her artwork, with the intent of selling it.

Of course, she would have to figure out a value for each item, and I suppose most locations would expect, or appreciate, a cut from any sales.

Not a permanant, or steady job, but something to get her work out there in public, and possibly make a few bucks, until something more steady comes along, and/or she decides what path, artistically, she want to go down.

Mike

[PepperElf]

oddly enough this is something we mentioned in one of my computer classes...

she might be a bit inexperienced to be a systems manager but...
it might be something to consider, along those lines.

many companies are looking for people with art experience, to get a different angle on how to plan out new systems etc.

[MaggieTheCat]

There's always slightly "specialized" art fields like photography or graphic design or webpage design. Usually degrees like this have their own program which is more focused than just a general BA. She could also teach, although she'd probably have to have a teaching license for that. There's also art therapy, which I believe somehow uses art to counsel people, although again, she'd probably need some kind of psychology degree to go into that. She could also look into being a director at an art gallery, or possibly a curator of a museum, although once again, she might need art history for that.

Straight up art degree with no specialization and no secondary license/degree? Freelancing. Like JC said above, she could try to get her work into local businesses or galleries to at least get her name out there. What he said about the business taking a cut of the profit is correct, though, and sometimes they will demand as much as 50% of whatever price you put on it. Another way she could get her name out there and start building a portfolio is on the internet. Etsy is a good place for people who create stuff to sell their work, and they only take 3% of the selling price. She could also sell at places like arts and craft shows or conventions. Are either of you into anime or video games at all? In Texas, there are plenty of anime cons such as A-kon, Ikkicon, San Japan, Anime Central, Oni-Con etc. that all have Artist Alleys. Artists can purchase a table (usually for around $80-120 for 3 days, Friday, Saturday, Sunday) and bring their work to sell to the con attendees. Of course, bringing a still life of a vase of flowers to an anime con probably isn't going to sell. You'd have to cater to the clientele. I'm sure there are plenty of other cons that are not anime-specific that you could look in to as well. From what I have seen, tables at conventions are usually less expensive than tables at art/craft shows; the art/craft shows down here where I live usually charge around $300 for a table for 2-3 days.

I will say that drawing and painting seem to be the most popular medium when it comes to art. Meaning she is going to have a lot of competition. I've looked around Etsy a lot, and a lot of shops sell paintings and sketches. Also at the anime cons that I've gone to, prints are by far the most popular thing being sold in the AA. So she will probably have to come up with a specific style that sets her apart, or choose a different medium. Personally, I work with polymer clay and chainmaille, neither of which are very popular so there is much less competition. Not trying to discourage her from drawing and painting if that's what she likes, just forewarning that it will probably be a little harder in the long-run to get her work to stand out and sell.

[Aethian]

Home decorator, business decorator, landscaper, architect, computer image designer, painter, clothes designer, and most likely a lot more. Of course some of those I listed need two degrees but they work off one another.

[AdminAssistant]

What kind of degree will she have, specifically? BA, BFA? In what field? That would help a bit.

[draggar]

graphic art / design (designing logos etc..)

Marketing - someone needs to make all those graphics and picture arrangements

[Taboo]

Well, as someone from one of the biggest US art schools...

This is going to be long, lol.

There's a LOT of possibilities. It's hard to say much since I don't know her interests, but most art schools if they're art-specific have a freshman 'foundation' year where you're required to take classes in every area. That way you can switch your major after the first year without losing many, if any, credits.

Graphic/web design and illustration are both pretty big fields right now. Design is necessary for everything from business letterheads and cards to logos to websites to signs. Illustration includes a lot of conceptual artwork such as envisioning sets for movies, character designs for video games, and more traditional areas like toy design and children's books. These fields are doing decently even in the recession - they're not paying quite as well, and they're not hiring a ton of new people, but there are still jobs open and they're not shrinking fields. Art direction is also a very neat idea. Art directors are responsible for working with companies to find artists to fulfill jobs. She may want to be more hands-on than that, though.

I'm in a major called 'communications design.' There's a few variations on this sort of major but I think that something along these lines is often the most practical approach if you're not entirely sure what you want to do or if you want to cover several areas. Communications Design is basically the idea of any artwork done for the purpose of communicating, ie anything you would make for a client rather than for yourself (as in fine arts). There are different variations on this in different schools and it's not always called the same thing, but generally it gears you towards business skills and communications skills as well as artistic skills, which makes you much more marketable if, as I said, you're not sure what you want to do or you want to be able to do many different things.

She probably ought to think about how she best sees herself working as well - for herself or for a company - as that makes a big difference in how to approach an art degree. If she's going to try and work freelance, she needs to make sure to take some classes in things like copyright law and intellectual property law and how to write her own contracts. I'm doing some of this right now, and it's not *difficult* but not all schools or majors make it easily available so she may need to look into books or online classes if she can't cover it in her major.

If she decides to go into something client-oriented rather than fine arts, tell her to take a look at the Graphic Artist Guild's Pricing and Ethical Guidelines Handbook. It's probably the best resource out there for the business end of the field.

Anyway, there's a ton more I could say, but without knowing a little more about what she's looking for right now, I'm not sure where to start. I'm approaching this more from the business and financial end because it sounds like that's the part that worries you, but I do have some tips on fine arts based careers as well. If either of you have questions for me I'm happy to try and help.

[Hobbs]

I know an Art Degree major, but I think she's a bit different being in ROTC. I think she's doing Personnel or something. That's what I like about the program, I already know I have a job once I graduate

[MergedLoki]

What kind of degree will she have, specifically? BA, BFA? In what field? That would help a bit.

Not 100% sure @ the moment, as she hasn't been accepted yet. Just applied a few weeks ago and hasn't heard back, and she applied to 5 diff. colleges n a variety of programs. (i just know they're all art related lol sorry i'm not much help I know)

[AdminAssistant]

OH, so she's just applying for art schools, and not about to graduate and be on the market. I see. Well, she needs to talk to the faculty/advisor/admissions counselor to get an idea of what jobs are out there. I'm not 100% how it works in visual art, but the BFA is considered the top undergrad degree in the arts (usually). But, a BA offers similar opportunities. The process for getting a BFA is just a bit more rigorous. If she wants to teach at the college level, she will at least need a MFA and more likely, a Ph.D. MA's are not considered to be a terminal degree.

If she's good with numbers, she may want to consider taking courses in Arts Administration. Stuff like that can really expand your job opportunities. I would also encourage her to volunteer for arts organizations, both as a way to gain experience and to make contacts. I don't want to discourage anyone's dream of being an artist, but you need to have Plans B, C, and D in place. If you want an idea of arts employment on a national scale, go to: http://www.nea.gov/research/ResearchReports_chrono.html and pull up the report on Artists in the Workforce. (The National Endowment for the Arts is just a great resource for artists in general. Your state's Art Council might also have employment/salary figures for working artists.)

If she's interested at all in art history, she's definitely gonna need some Italian and French wouldn't hurt. I would just really encourage her to be very open-minded about job opportunities. The "starving artists" are usually ones that stubbornly hold on to the ideal that they can support themselves solely from their art, and that is a small, small minority.

[trailerparkmedic]

If she's at all interested in doing design on computers (like working with Photoshop), that translates very well to advertising. Writers and those who deal with clients generally have degrees in advertising but all of the artists my fiance have worked with have been graduates of an art program. You lose cool points since you're working "for the man" instead of for a cool graphic design company, but it's a good job.