Are you afraid of a career in visual art?
Visual art, we see it everywhere but we don't really recognize that it is created. We reap the benefit of the experience, yet we don't really understand or recognize that there is someone behind it.
I regularly have conversations with my students about their potential to have a career in visual art. A typical conversation goes like this “Hey I really like your work, you've got great skill, you're very thoughtful and creative. Have you considered going to school for visual art?”
The normal response to my inquiries is something like, "yeah I would love to go to art school but my parents won't let me." Or I get something like "I really don't know if I can make a living at art." My typical response is look around, who made your clothes, who made the chair your sitting in, who designed your water bottle, who put the cover on your book, who designed your phone etc... Once I start pointing out that everything has been touched by a visual artist they start to relax and ask more questions.
I want to encourage you whether you're a student or a parent or a school counselor or whoever, really consider the idea of a career in visual art. We live in a visual centric world, most everything that we encounter throughout the day is visual in nature and all of these visual things were created by visual artists. The idea that a visual artist is not a valid career it's just plain nonsense.
Visual art students and creators, if you struggle with the idea of a career in visual art there IS opportunity, you just have to know where to start. First let’s start with you, if visual art making is something that you innately automatically do daily, you are already engaging in one of the most important factors that shows your ability to have a successful career in visual art.
You create daily.
If you would like to know more about careers in visual arts please visit my store at Visualartcareerguide.com I have an e-book about visual art careers and a tutorial on how to apply to art schools and universities.
Respectfully,
Shawn
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