It’s a big world for an artist.
According to a study from Georgetown University’s Center for Education and the Workforce, unemployment is higher among college graduates with non-technical degrees, with art majors facing an unemployment rate of 11.1 percent. Many beginning artists may find themselves working jobs that don’t relate to their degree, the study says.
Art majors have always fought the idea of the “starving artist,” as hopeful artists struggle to find their niche in a highly competitive environment with little room for up-and-comers. Careers in the field of art are few and hard to come by, forcing many art majors to prepare for the possibility of a different future for themselves.
But many art students at Cal State Long Beach are pursuing their dreams regardless of the label.
Luis Macias, a senior jewelry metals major, has always dreamed of owning his own jewelry business.
“I can’t force myself to be interested in a subject just to get a job,” Macias said. “I have to do something I enjoy.”
He started at CSULB as an art history major, but found his passion in working with metal and decided to switch up his focus. He recently sold two of his pieces in a collaborative art exhibit.
Riley Hansler, a senior metals major, has similar feelings to Macias about following his dream.
Although he is graduating with an art degree, Hansler plans for his art to be merely a supplemental income while his primary source of finances would be the homestead he intends to start.
“I just want to get out in the middle of nowhere and live,” Hansler said. “Simple can be better. Life doesn’t have to be so complicated.”
Hansler said he enjoys sharing knowledge and believes that true happiness comes from doing that and following your dreams rather than following the money.
“I set my monetary goals low so I won’t have to hustle and bustle through a 40 hour work week doing something I would rather not,” he said. “I’d rather sustain my life with the skills that I possess already.”
Margaret Black, a graphic design professor and graduate adviser on campus, said she didn’t have a back up plan to lean on if art didn’t work out.
Black started out studying film at USC, but after graduating and working on industrial films, she took money she had saved and returned to school to study graphic design.
Today, Black owns her own business, Black Designs, which specialized in designs for print, with projects ranging from branding and identity programs, to books and exhibit designs. Her clients include the likes of Kaiser Permanente, Kodak Digital, Mattel, Paramount Classics Entertainment, and Warner Bros. Print Advertising.
“I just did it,” Black said. “I knew what I wanted to do and I didn’t have a back-up plan.”