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First topic: Why so few art students become FT art pros
I would like to start this thread with a thought of why is it that so few art students ever become professional artists.
Think about this a minute. How many accounting students do you know that don't get a job as an accountant upon graduation? Now, how many people with an art degree have you meet that do something else for a living? Now I am sure more then a few accountants have tired of that job and moved on to other things but usually after at least having gotten their first job and received a few pay checks as a accountant.
But many art school gradates never sell a single piece of work nor do they get enough money from art to pay their bills, yet we continue to take their money at schools of higher learning all over the world.
Funny if you told some one "pay me $15,000-$30,000 over 4 -6 years and I will teach you a skill that you will never earn a single penny doing but I will give you a piece of paper that says you are a expert at it." How many people do you think would do it?
This is exactly what thousands of art students do each year. And those taking the money know the odds but they earn their money selling the dream. Many art teachers went from art student to art teacher without ever having to build a career as a artist so although they know a lot about art (many have masters degrees) they know nothing of earning a living as a artist.
They have never lived the life of an artist. They lived the life of a student then the life of a teacher, not an Artist. So sure, they can prepare a student to follow the same path as them if the student is lucky enough to find a teaching position, since there are only so many positions for art teachers and many art students.
I feel that is part of the reason many art students fail to have a career in the arts. Their paintings from college hang on the wall at their mother's house or sit up in their attic along with their dreams.
Well that
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