For many creative people, the thought of holding down a desk job for five days a week, seven hours a day is one that makes them shudder. Fortunately, there is a wide range of jobs open to creative individuals, and it is possible to have a long and very successful career in the arts.
Getting started
Some jobs in the art world do indeed mean working at a desk, but the difference is that where other people might be looking at columns of figures all day, an art-related desk job could mean a person is looking at color swatches, artist’s sketches and much more. For example, creative people who are good at persuasion could work in advertising and promotions for a design agency, helping to devise marketing campaigns through concept drawings and other media. Those who love clothing could work as a fashion designer, surrounded by color and textiles and helping to create next season’s wardrobe. Those who use technology to be creative could work as a graphic designer for a design agency, as a film editor for a movie company or a digital artist for an animation company. And then there is the art world; the world where fine art, modern art and in fact, anything that can claim to be art, is created, studied, bought and sold. Jobs in this arena including being a conservator or restorer, an appraiser or even a curator of an art gallery.
Success is possible with any of these roles, but admittedly, some offer a higher profile and degree of success than others. Working in publications dedicated to the art world, such as regular magazines, not only fulfils an artistic bent but also helps with keeping up to date with developments in the art world. Someone who has been successful in this area is Louise Blouin, who built a media company dedicated to the arts into a global brand. Her company produces publications that cover modern painters, art gallery guides and art auctions. Check out the Louise Blouin Media bio to see how she achieved this.
So how does a person enter the art world as a designer or similar? The first step is to gain a qualification in an art-related discipline. Once you have achieved this, your next step is to acquire experience of any kind and build up a portfolio of your work. Fortunately, this should be relatively easy to do, because as a creative person, you will have been doing this anyway. But – and here is the rub – producing art for yourself is not enough if you want to make a career out of your artistic skill. Initially at least, you need to be producing art for others, so the best place to start is to approach agencies to see what job openings they have.
But what if you want to have a career as an artist, someone who paints or otherwise creates for a living? Be prepared to work hard because the arts world is a competitive place with many creative people, all wanting to be recognized for their work. An artist cannot afford to wait to be discovered. He or she needs to market themselves by staging exhibitions and getting their work noticed any way they can.
We are constantly surrounded by art, whether many of us realize it or not, in magazines, on websites and in the way we decorate our homes. The art world therefore is a big place, so those wishing to have a successful career in the arts need not consider their job choices limited. All they need is creative talent and a determination to pursue an artistic career.
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