 |
| A typical day in the studio means a mix of youngsters and not-so-youngsters. |
Tomorrow, two of my students are skipping class to attend National Portfolio Day at Syracuse
University. I wouldn’t be encouraging students to pursue a career in the arts
if I didn’t believe it was a viable career path.
Ever since President Obama said that “folks can make a lot
more, potentially, with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they with an
art history degree,” educators have been falling all over themselves to point
out the value of a humanities education.
 |
| If you're not willing to work hard, it's best to major in something less demanding. |
Anyone who has ever paid a plumber knows that, strictly
speaking, the president was right. Very few kids are encouraged to go into the
trades in modern America, and these jobs pay very well. Nor should they have
any stigma attached to them; a craftsman is a craftsman, no matter what
material he’s working with.
 |
| There is nothing more fun than working with youngsters. |
But money is only part of the job-satisfaction equation, and
art majors are among the happiest of all professionals, scoring higher than lawyers,
financial managers, and high school teachers.
Sadly, a recent comprehensive survey
administered online to arts alumni seems to indicate less satisfaction among
recent graduates than among old-timers. This is no surprise, since they’re graduating
into the worst
job market since the Great Depression, and I’d wager that lower job
satisfaction is true of recent graduates across all disciplines.
 |
| There is nothing more fun than working with youngsters, even when they are eating a deep-fried turkey leg in class. |
Student debt is a specter haunting all new college
graduates, but can be particularly crushing for those with arts degrees. Less
than a third of recent art alumni graduated with no debt, whereas half the
older students reported doing so. About 14% of recent graduates finished school
with more than $60,000 in student debt.
So I want to see those high school seniors on the hunt not only for admission, but for scholarship
money. The best way to do that is to produce outstanding portfolios. That is
tremendously hard work. If they’re not willing to do it, it’s better for them
to major in something less demanding. The art world is a ruthless culler of the
unmotivated.
Message me if you want information
about the coming year’s classes and workshops.
