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Many artists grow up with a passion for art from the very beginning. Their drawings get put on the fridge, people crowd around their work in progress to watch it come together, and they may get published earlier in their lives than others. However, no matter how much support they may receive for their hobby, it suddenly becomes a topic of ridicule if one wants to pursue art as a career. They get told: Artists don’t make a lot of money.
You’re going to end up hungry in a small apartment.
You won’t make a name for yourself if you don’t end up in a major studio.
This issue arises in many low-income households, and much more often in households of immigrants/ first-generation families. As a first-generation kid myself, I have seen, experienced, and understood when a child’s family has high expectations for their future, which includes the pursuit of a high-paying and highly esteemed career. These expectations are placed in the hopes of raising the family’s status and financial situation within a single generation, and careers most tied to these hopes and expectations are careers such as those within the medical field.
Yes, I admit, I’m also afraid of becoming a starving artist. I am, like many aspiring artists, whether it be in music, fine arts, animation, or another field, afraid that I will go to school and dedicate myself to my passion just to be overlooked and be tied to an office cubicle. Doctors, architects, lawyers, and engineers are all renowned careers for the near guarantee of stable work life and salary, but they aren’t the only careers in existence. There are other jobs, just as promising with just as much potential for success.
According to the “California College of the Arts” list of high paying artistic careers, there are many options and opportunities for those that seek to use their artistic talents and education such as: art director ($89,760 per year), creative director ($133,097 per year (Glassdoor)), multimedia artists/ animators ($63,970 per year (BLS)) and more.
There’s so much more to careers than salaries. Most if not all artists across all creative industries have a passion for the medium they aspire to pursue. Following such passions have been shown, based on studies such as Matthew J. Zawadzki, Ph.D. & Joshua M. Smyth, Ph.D. & Heather J. Costigan, B.S. 's “Real-Time Associations Between Engaging in Leisure and Daily Health and Well-Being,” to lead to a decreased amount of stress, the higher likeliness for a positive mood, and a higher likelihood for satisfaction in one’s place of employment and their lives in general.
That being said, it’s not impossible to follow one’s artistic passions and still be happy and financially stable. It may not be as highly regarded as the field of medicine, but it’s still rewarding and filled with potential. Without the creative industry, society wouldn’t have art galleries to admire, music to sway to, films and shows to enjoy, beautiful clothes to wear, or even well-designed buildings. We aren’t all doomed to become starving artists.
Sources:
https://www.hercampus.com/school/ufl/stigma-around-art-needs-stop/
https://www.cca.edu/newsroom/6-highest-paying-careers-you-can-get-art-school-degree/
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/10/smarter-living/follow-your-passion-hobbies-jobs-self-care.html
https://www.ucmerced.edu/sites/ucmerced.edu/files/documents/zawadzki-paper-2015.pdf
Article by Ruby Moran
Cover page by Brianna Paulino
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