Navigating Careers in the Arts

High school is that tenuous time in a young persons life when seemingly the entire world is placing a tremendous amount of pressure on deciding on a plan for the future. College? Workforce? 2-year associates degree? 4 year university? career path? the five year plan? All of these weights bare down on the shoulders of upperclassmen just on the cusp of graduation. For students interested in pursuing the arts as a career or college option, the pressure to validate their decisions can prove to be excessive. As an art educator, it is my job to help students navigate the waters when it comes to deciding on a career in the arts.

For students who are serious about pursing a degree in the arts at a university, I would sit down and have an open and honest discussion about their options. I would only recommend majoring in the arts if the student was already a serious and dedicated student artist. Many students have the wrong impression about what being an 'art major' means. It is an incredible amount of work and it involves serious time management skills and an enormous amount of dedication. Students need to be aware of this before they decide to pursue an art degree any further.


Students need to be made aware of the realities of an arts career. For example, graphic design is an attractive arts major because it has the stigma of being high paying. Students should be aware that a high paying job in design is probably not going to happen in a city like Columbia, Also, students should be aware of the prestige of certain degrees vs, the cost of the loans needed to obtain them. A degree from the Savannah College of Art and Design has a perception of prestige that goes along with it but the same degree from a school like USC or Clemson will cost much less.

In AP, honors, and National Arts Honors Society classes, I would make a special effort to expose students to different arts careers. Having students research different careers in the arts and presenting a PowerPoint presentation will help expose them to options in the arts and design fields. The more information students are provided with, the more informed decision they can make about pursuing a careers in the arts.