It’s day-job time again in America, and that’s O.K. Artists have always had them — van Gogh the preacher, Pollock the busboy, Henry Darger the janitor — and will again. The trick is to try to make them an energy source, not a chore.
via NYTimes.com. Found it on we can shoot too.
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[…] to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!You may have already read this article on the nytimes from APhotoEditor, but I think it’s worth repeating. It rings home with the same tone of this old post One day […]
Thanks for the posting and for the link to “we can shoot too'”s comments as well. This article seems to be getting a lot of notice (after receiving your posting and my reading of the article my instructor -on her own and separately -sent it out as well for reading) though I’m a bit surprised nobody is commenting here about it.
I’m curious, is the unknown and its conjecture in the art world too scary or sacred to poke one’s head out about? Is only art history and not its future safe to discuss? Or is it the notion that somehow it doesn’t effect “me” or its just not something I can easily get outraged about and stomp my foot?
I don’t know the answers, but I am wondering about them.
Art in America has historically been vastly less important than it has been in much of Europe. When school budgets get cut (sometimes too often), one of the first things to go is any spending on art programs. The emphasis has been on business and revenue generating professions, with creative professions not considered to generate revenues. This is despite the prevalence of advertising, and the vast amounts of money spent upon advertising.
Colleges of art, and universities with art programs, too often emphasize fine arts over commercial arts. There are so few that ever will make any name in fine arts, and no guarantee that a degree will help much. After I graduated in 1998, I was able to learn about running my own business, and how the world of commercial art (especially advertising) worked. I think I would have been much better off leaving college with a few advertising and business classes on top of all my art classes, yet very few places that offer BFA degrees throw in practical and useful classes.
Being a successful fine artist is like being a rock star. There are always tons of people on the fringes getting the odd notice, and then fading away. Then there are a mere handful left that really make it. Those successful few who treat it like a business might manage to stick around.
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