"Self-portrait"
At the tender age of 39, I decided to return to college to finally pursue a four-year degree and reinvent myself as an artist--a subject and occupation I have loved my entire life. ---Now, I possess and AFA from SFCC and a BAFA, Magna Cum Laude, from UNM (impressed yet?). It was a worthwhile and engaging experience and I have few regrets, but the actual monetary value of these degrees is negative sum. That's minus $0.
Life post-graduation has been professionally stagnant and financially stressful to say the least. I spend far more time filling out forms than making art. My debt burden far exceeds my income prospects. I moved out of my apartment and in with a wealthy friend because I could no longer pay my rent when the grant/loan faucet was turned off. The rejections from potential employers seem endless and are even expected. Marketing my own work has been mostly fruitless and "trying harder" has made little difference.
Mine is not an isolated case. A recent Associated Press article published in USA Today reports that "While there's strong demand in science, education and health fields, arts and humanities flounder…Most future job openings are projected to be in lower-skilled positions such as home health aides, who can provide personalized attention as the U. population ages,". Not a rosy outlook for creative types. Other reports are more positive: The Strategic National Arts Alumni Project survey report from May 2011 put the percentage of artists finding employment after graduation at 92 percent while 74 percent "had done so at some point since graduating." Yet this report lacks any real specificity, just numbers.
The bottom line, kids, is that all the sunny, future-focused rhetoric you may have received from the college industry marketers doesn't necessarily reflect reality. Once you graduate, you must sink or swim on your own (or go back for another degree). College "career services" usually translate into job listings on their websites, mostly internships. You will likely be competing with those classmates you now hang out with in the student union. And what you may have heard about the so-called Great Recession (no one will use the "D" word) – its high unemployment and lack of economic opportunity – is true and likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.
It may be best to put those creative skills to work creating your own income opportunities by other means.
Good luck.
