<p>I thought this might be a good pick-me-up for those in the midst of admission season.</p>
<p>Arts</a> Graduates Are Generally Satisfied, Employed | Inside Higher Ed</p>
<p>And here is a link to the full study. <a href="http://snaap.indiana.edu/pdf/2012/2012_Annual_Report.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://snaap.indiana.edu/pdf/2012/2012_Annual_Report.pdf</a></p>
<p>Continued good wishes for all of you in the class of 2013!</p>
<p>Thanks SO much for this LOP… I have a S who wants to act and you would not believe the amount of negativity he and I get when we mention this. It’s as if I were saying he wanted to go be a serial killer. I just don’t get it. I would encourage any of my kids to do what you love and forget about all the rolled eyes and negative comments. I can not imagine a more exciting, rewarding, and happy life as that of an artist.</p>
<p>Thank you! I forwarded this to my D and to send to her friends. It’s encouraging that they are not only employed but also feel that they are working IN their field (which as we know can be defined very broadly).</p>
<p>Adding to the above–my D’s experience since graduating would support the findings of the study mentioned above. My D graduated from a selective liberal arts college with a theater major. Left on her own, she probably would have applied to BFA programs and attended one, but H and I felt strongly that she’d do better with a liberal arts education, especially because she might change her mind about theater as a career. Needless to say, she hasn’t changed her mind. She finished school in 2011 and has been successful auditioning and getting parts. However, that work doesn’t pay her bills and she works two other jobs (part-time). Plus, H and I pay for her health insurance (she can stay on our plan until she’s 26) and car insurance. She’s happy and loves what she’s doing. She has been able to get equity points, which she tells me will eventually lead to more money. My question–do people in this field ever make a good salary? Do actors (unless they hit it big time) always starve? I’m happy that my D is doing what makes her happy, but I can’t wrap my head around the fact that she’s always looking for theater work and that it doesn’t pay well. Does that ever change in this field?</p>
<p>I have four daughters all going into arts careers. I get dragged into this conversation by well-meaning friends and acquaintances at least twice a week: “Wow, your kids are all going into the arts? Are you scared for them?” </p>
<p>My theory is that if you go into the arts with your eyes open, and with a clear sense that you will need to be an active business-person, managing “multiple income streams”, navigating your way through grants programs, and going after opportunities-- then you have a good chance at succeeding. </p>
<p>I also think that conventional wisdom, that it is safer to pursue business, medicine, law, social work, etc., is outdated. the world is changing rapidly; older models are no longer valid. It is the flexible and creative who have the best chance to survive.</p>
<p>It used to be that a professional career offered a safe, secure futures. Today, I know many lawyers, architects, and education professionals (not to mention academic PhDs) who are under or unemployed and having to learn, later in life, the skills that an arts professional needs from the start. Better to have coping and survival skills now.</p>
<p>My D1 graduated in 2008 from a top liberal arts college. The only financial support we give her is that we pay her cell phone bill. She has a fledgling (2.5 year old) performance company which she supports mostly through her own income. She lives close to the bone (she was working part-time for 4 years and finally managed to be elevated to full-time with benefits recently, which is great because she rolled off our health plan on her 26th birthday a few months ago.) A few years ago, she and 3 fellow grads from her college bought a house together in a gentrifying neighborhood on the edge of a university area in our city. The house is an investment (it is divided into apartments; they live here and rent the bottom apartment to students.) She had to borrow money from her grandparents for this investment, which has also taken a lot of sweat labor, and there have been unexpected costs (i.e., the house, which had been vacant, turned out not to be hooked up to the sewer…!) But what an education and introduction into adult life.</p>
<p>As for her theater company, in running it she has learned an incredible amount about networking, grantwriting, financial management, and every other aspect of running a company (this in addition to artistic growth.) Her new challenge will be managing her company and growing it while also working full-time at a challenging job (which is not related to her passion.) Eventually she wants to transition to become a full-time performing arts entrepreneur. And she needs additional arts training, which she will need to figure out how to schedule and pay for. </p>
<p>Well, that’s just one example</p>
<p>To Bromfield2: you know, it’s always been said that success as an actor is defined as qualifying for unemployment benefits(from acting work, of course). You have to have been steadily employed, full-time for six months.</p>
<p>5boys - that is too bad you have gotten such a negative reaction. I have had a few questions but overall not like what you shared. You probably know all this already… I think there is a big lack of understanding on the average person’s part about what success in acting looks like. It is very rare to be a movie star and household name. But there are many actors who are well known in the acting community…they are just not “famous.” They work steadily and they support themselves. There is also alot more work in the field than the average person knows. Commercials, instructional videos, voice overs, cruise ship and amusement park shows, etc. We read the classifieds in Backstage magazine and it helped me understand all the work that is out there for actors. Actors also have to be willing to do this other type of performance work, work that may not be their first love, so they can pay the bills while they build their reputation and connections. They can’t say “That kind of work is below me… I only want to do Hamlet.”
That being said, my D has some talents outside of acting that could be useful as “supplemental income” and we will encourage her to focus on these angles too to help pay the bills between acting work. We have to help our kids be practical in pursuing their dreams!
I am sure the naysayers will be eating their words in about 10 years. :-)</p>
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<p>I agree–much of the old wisdom is outdated. My H and I have both changed careers. I can’t put my finger on what I find disconcerting about acting–part of it is the uncertainty of income and part of it is moving from one thing to another all the time. I couldn’t deal with it, but my D can and seems to love it. She really doing cutting-edge stuff and is involved in creating a performance piece city’s fringe festival. I guess I shouldn’t worry, but that’s not easy for me (since I come from a long line of worriers).</p>