Arts, Visual and Performing Careers

So you want to paint with all the colors of the wind. Hope you can pay your rent with them, too.

The Arts have been around a long time. Ever since Unk and Thunk first made doodles of woolly mammoths on their cave wall. And you’d better believe they caught hell from their mother for that little stunt.

But just ask Unk and Thunk how much money they made with their little cave paintings. Everyone could get by just as well without them—nobody’s quality of life was directly affected (aside from on a purely emotional level), so they weren’t essential. They didn’t perform a necessary function. When a drought hit and all the cavemen’s bartering funds dried up, the extravagance of purchasing an “original Unk” was the first luxury to be denied.

Flash forward millions of years and a painter in France in 1703 was basically what a lawyer was 50 years ago or a java coder today—you could always get a job because they were in constant demand…the wealthy would want “their picture taken,” and you were the man to do it. But…that was a few hundred years ago.

Does art thrill and inspire? Sure it does. Really great art can even alter the universal consciousness occasionally and move the needle of human progress ever so slightly. Hopefully in a forward direction. But if your reason for pursuing a life in the Arts is because you want to have Jay-Z money, or because you want to have everyone fawn all over you like they do the Cloon…you’re barking up the wrong tree. One on which…money does not grow.

Being an artist is, above all else, a sacrifice. You’re going to sacrifice things like…getting by comfortably with a reliable paycheck, living in a place that doesn’t sit on wheels (or worse, cinder blocks), being able to retire with a hefty nest egg, having the freedom to take nice vacations or build memories that don’t involve peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or Ramen noodles…basically, if you’re one of the vast majority, you’re going to have to scrap and struggle for every penny for the rest of your days. And you’d better get used to those gnawing pangs of hunger as you lay in the cot in your studio apartment at night. Hey, at least all the pain and suffering will lend more authenticity to your work, right?

The numbers are awfully discouraging. Even to aspiring artists, who aren’t the easiest people to discourage. Roughly 35% of opportunities for visual artists, for example, pay…anything at all. That’s down from when it was almost twice that in 2011, which is…still embarrassing. In recent years, the value of work—in terms of what buyers were willing to pay for it—has declined by 60%.

And guess what, folks. It’s not gonna turn around anytime soon. With the advent of social media, apps and games, people today are sufficiently entertained on their phones, and movie and theater ticket sales are way down, and dropping further. If you haven’t noticed, “reading” isn’t much of a thing anymore. And art galleries might as well be museums. Artists are slowly but surely going the way of the dodo. Which…is about what you’d have to be to think you can carve out a decent living at it.

But okay…say you’re not deterred. (Stubborn little thing, aren’t you?) Our only advice is to have a solid plan B. That doesn’t mean trying to make it as a dancer but having mime be your “fallback.” There are plenty of careers related to the Arts where you may not necessarily be plying an artistic skill, but you can still, you know…hang out backstage, or whatever.

So go to school for musical performance if you must, but pick up a minor in business while you’re at it. You may not see a need for it now, but your future, starving self will thank you for it.

Careers In This Field