It happens to the best of us. You run into an old friend or a family member whom you haven’t seen in a while. They ask you something along the lines of, “what’s your major?” So, you tell them. You sense a bit of hesitation. Then they proceed with one of the following: the curious, but somewhat offensive, “What do you plan to do with that?”, the assumption that art students only become teachers (ie: “Oh! So you want to teach?”), or some backhanded comment about how you won’t be able to find work once you graduate.
Unfortunately, we’ve heard it all, even though we really couldn’t care less about what anyone has to say about decisions that pertain to OUR futures. If you are reading this and you are not a fine arts or liberal arts major, think about how many times you have heard someone ask a student majoring in business about what they want to do with their major. Or, the last time you heard someone wish a political science major good luck on finding work, after implying that they’ll have to find a “real job” to pay the bills. Can’t think of any examples, right? That’s because it usually doesn’t happen that way. Why is there a stigma that comes with being an art student? Who is responsible for leading many people to believe that we cannot have a successful, fulfilling career being artists?
Art is everywhere. When I say this, I mean everywhere. The color scheme for your favorite fast food chain. The designs on the clothes we wear. Even the design and color scheme of our school logo is art. Why do people take this for granted? For everything that we interact with on a daily basis, at least one person had to have the idea to create a concept for it to be further developed into what we know it to be. It does not affect just our country, but the world. Art is universal, and we interact and respond to it (consciously or subconsciously) on a daily basis.
When most people think of the word art, they think of drawings. This is merely one type of art that can be utilized to reach a group of people. We should also take into account film, photography, interior design, fibers, painting, sculpture, graphic arts and more. Having said that, I challenge those who are not as versed in the art world to consider the many pathways that a student can take if they are majoring in this field.
Consequently, when most people think of the words art school, they imagine a group of students in a studio drawing or painting still lives all day. Fortunately, this is not the case. We have core subjects just like any other major, all dealing with specific things related to our chosen craft. The main goal in being a fine arts major is to become better at your individual craft, as well to make connections with other artists that will benefit you now and long after your graduate. Myself among many other hardworking students, have dabbled in film, photography, sculpture, painting, drawing, fibers and more. This definitely puts that mindset to rest about what art school is like, especially considering the fact that I am only in my second year here in the art school at VCU.
In the midst of experimenting with many different mediums in art, there is evidence that art majors spend more contact hours, independent study and work done outside of class than law students, according to The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) in a 2016 study.
So, if you or anyone you know does something involving the arts, just know that they do in fact work hard, and it’s not the best thing to hear other people downplaying the amount of effort that if put into pieces and ideas that we want to bring to life.
Anyone has the potential to create – this alone should be celebrated. Unfortunately, as we age, the encouragement to be imaginative that we receive when we are younger begins to dissipate. It is important to continuously encourage each other to not be afraid to share ideas, no matter how outside of the box they may seem. It’s okay to go with our instincts and to let the creative juices flow.
To all of the artists out there, as well as liberal arts majors: don’t be afraid to be yourselves, it’s part of what makes you so great!
Photo credits: cover image, 1, 2
Sources: 1