Unexpected martyrs
How art majors navigate the tricky field for the benefit of society
By: Narah Landress
“How do you get an art major off your front porch? You pay for the pizza!”
This is a common joke about art majors and merely one of many, despite the fact that art has been a major part of societies worldwide throughout history. While there is no denying its solid position over time, jokes like these get to the heart of the debate surrounding art. This debate looks at the degree of art’s value to society, particularly as academic concentrations in colleges.
Some, like Bill Gates, say its value falls lesser than other fields, particularly STEM. He has spoken about the importance of and pushed investments in STEM and STEM education in the past.
Others, like former competitor Steve Jobs, have said art and art education is not only as important as science and technology, but an integral part of it. Jobs even claimed a typography class he took in college was a major part of the success of the MacBook computer.
Jobs’ success digs right into the heart of all the jokes, ridicule and often quite sound arguments against liberal arts degrees, particularly visual and performing arts degrees.
A study here showed that only 10 percent of those who graduate with an art degree actually go on to work as an artist for a living.
Another article by the Guardian looked at the reality of the average artist, who typically also has a day job in the midst of an the unstable art field, and is loaded down with student debt.
Others argue, though, if an individual is willing to work with the instability and knows the market, they can be successful.
Here we look at what some local artists who are doing just that.
This is Nick Jones, an illustration major at Savannah College of Art and Design’s Atlanta campus.
“The common thing among the people who say that going into my field isn’t financially smart is that they don’t know how lucrative the illustration business can be,” Jones said.
Other local art majors Breckon Chastain and Olivia Cambern agree.
“Anyone who says being a film major or an art major is ‘financially unsound’ knows nothing about the art industry,” says Cambern, who is a double major in film and creative writing at Georgia State University.
Chastain, an intended-graphic design major at the University of Georgia, says, “The market for graphic design jobs is really high. There’s always a need for them.”
They also recognize that the field is still a bit finicky and that hard work will have to make up that difference.
“I got a lot of negative feedback from friends and certain family members. I was told that it was too hard. But honestly, what doesn’t require hard work?” says Jones.
Cambern has been working hard not only in the classroom but outside of it as well.
“As a freshman, I was able to start working as a freelance video editor for clients around Atlanta with a skill I taught myself,” she said. She developed this skill using sites
like YouTube and through old fashioned, earnest practice.
According to artist and professor F. Scott Hess at Laguna College of Art and Design, these are some of the most important factors in turning an art school degree into a successful career.
“Ignore networking and an art career is nearly impossible,” Hess says. Drive, he says, is the most important factor.
“You have got to want it above all else, work like a demon, absorb defeat, be able to live on nothing, expect no praise, suffer like a martyr, and then maybe, with some luck, you will make a career of it.”
Some feel this isn’t enough, though, particularly when considering art as a degree. Bryson Eller, a former photography major at Georgia State University, recently changed his major to media entrepreneurship.
“Costs weigh more than gain in the art major I was in,” says Eller.
Eller wants to one day have his own photography business, but doesn’t necessarily believe a photography major is the best way to get him there.
While many working artists out there did get degrees in their medium, there are many who did not. An art degree may give an upper hand on a resume and connections to people in that particular field, but it can also lead to mountains of debt. This debt can be particularly hard to pay back when going into a field where the pay can be unreliable.
Eller plans to work around this through his new major that studies the business end of his field, as well as work with advertisers when he begins developing his photography business.
Hopefully, these factors will be enough to curb the mounting debt as well as allow him to utilize the benefits and networking of college.
One thing all these artists have in common, though, is a passion for their
mediums and a desire to use them to better the world in ways only art can, including an outlet for personal expression, the challenging of cultural norms and the ability to provide perspective into the reality of others.
“I want to be able to tell stories about intersections between identities and people, about all the in between spaces modern media tends to overlook,” says Cambern.