boog

Hi Michael, Thanks for your response! Your confirmation of things getting better after moving away from Chicago (due to it's outpouring of artists from all the art schools + the small market) gives me a feeling of encouragement and it really helps to hear that possibility qualified by someone. I really want to feel like my education stands out to people looking over my resume and holds the legitimate weight it deserves- exotic even. I don't want to have another year like this if I can help it! The other day was the first time I got that feeling- however it is most likly is a stupid example of an isolated incident: I had called the art school connected to Berkeley (where they offer non-credit classes like Lillstreet or Evanston Art Center) asking about if they were going to be hiring art instructors this summer (just to get a casual feeling of the possible opportunities). I spoke with someone who asked me what my background was, and when I said I had a BFA in painting + drawing from SAIC- all of the sudden her voice changed, sounding a lot more excited to talk to me. As stupid as this tidbit of a random phone conversation may sound, I have never once received any response even close to holding the same amount of enthusiasm as what I heard on the phone talking to this lady the other day...It gave me a fleeting feeling of optimism. On a side note- It also doesn't help either that around here (but then again, probably anywhere you mention it) people don't know the difference between the 'Art Institutes' and SAIC. This is a regular SAIC student complaint of course since I've heard it from many others. I'm sick of people being confused and imagining that one day I was sitting on the couch in my underwear watching Maury and suddenly decided to sign myself up for 'art school' after being enticed by an advertisement for career success!

Hi Bulba, I'm in the same boat as you and am glad to have found your post. I graduated from SAIC last May with a BFA in painting and drawing. I did really well while I was there and took painting very seriously. I had a very good scholarship and senior year I was admitted into their advanced painting program (12 students a semester juried in out of the entire department conducted in ways similar to the graduate program). My life-plan was to take a year off after finishing my BFA and work part-time doing something art related while painting in the other half of my time to build up my portfolio for grad school. After that year off I would apply for competitive MFA programs in order to able to teach and make more work on the side. Well to start out, since graduating I have had no luck finding an art-related job, and seriously regret staying here in Chicago (I had the opportunity to move). There is just nothing here job-wise. I know only 2 peers out of my entire AP class who have found artistic jobs- and they both moved to CA after school and found them there. I can't even count how many cover letters I've written, it's insane. I never get any responses back- and the few times I did receive responses for gallery jobs, I had 2 interviews and both places acted extremely flaky and left me hanging for weeks. The listings are so incredibly sparse- and 3/4 of the listings are for unpaid internships that never hire. I feel that unlike my peers, I am not comfortable with this attitude of bopping along working at a coffee shop for the rest of my life hoping to get a break from my painting. I grew up very poor and worked crappy jobs all through high school and the year after graduating. Pursuing a higher education at a reputable school was supposed to be a responsible decision on my part- but now I feel unsure about the path I took. Whenever I've asked my peers what they plan on doing, they just shrug. I think some people think it's romantic to be poor because it's part of the cliche artist image. However, I want to feel like I am on a path to doing something that requires my creative skills, technical abilities, and intelligence. I'd do anything to have a job with those qualities that pays well and that is also reasonably 'in demand'. This experience so far of going through 8 months of unemployment has led me to really rethink everything I planned and look over it in detail. I am scared shitless of spending more time and money on school, only to get out and be in the same position as now- maybe even worse (it's harder to find a stupid low level job with a Masters...). When I've looked online about MFA's and what people say- it seems to boil down to claims that you do not get an MFA to be able to teach- you go to further your work. This really makes no sense to me- how can I make work if I cannot find a viable part-time job that I like after I leave? I would be miserable! There are hardly any job postings for post-secondary art professors in general- then you pigeon hole yourself into 'painting and drawing' or 'photography' and what are you left with? How many people are graduating from schools such as SAIC with MFAs: 300+ a year...On a few online forums I checked, there accounts from people who regretted getting their MFA because they felt like it was useless since they could not find any work after school. Many people even referred to it as a "luxury degree". There are little to no tenure tracks offered for art professors. Schools cut costs by only hiring adjuncts nowadays- so you have no stability and are always looking out for the next one semester class you were lucky enough to pick up. I had one professor that worked at Borders for 3 years even though he had a PHD and was teaching classes at "the #2 ranked school for art". That kind of money is never enough to live off of and it obviously provides little to no stability. You can forget trying to find a job in a preferable area too. Most of the time you have to be a successful artist to even be considered to work for a good college in addition to having an MFA- which again is not just about hard work- its about luck. It's not like this for all other fields: my boyfriend and I are moving this summer for his PoliSci PHD program and he can expect to get a job after his 6 years there and work to get on a tenure track. He gets paid to go to school- all the schools have offered him an amazing stipend and have even paid for him to check out each of their campuses. I am so jealous, it kills me, especially when I'm feeling so unsure about what I'm doing! I have no intention of being a famous artist at 24- or a famous artist at all. I want to someday be able to live off my paintings- but seriously do not expect this until I am over 40 maybe. An MFA is not required to make great art, and an MFA does not guarantee a job after school. Some people will say that is true of all degrees- but I think it is genuinely harder for visual artists. After all the research I've done into this, I'm finding myself ruminating every day over what am I going to do in the meantime and where to go next. It's been a very hard year and I hope moving will provide me with a new start in a better location. I've started to look seriously into pursuing graphic design or animation- going for another BFA or getting into a certificate program. I've had a really hard time finding other people who can relate to switching into Graphic Design from fine art and already have their BFA's, so the search for answers has felt daunting. Like I said, I just want to do something on the side that still requires creativity, intelligence, and artistic skill. No matter what I do on the side, I will never stop painting- but I'd rather have better prospects making money in a job that's not related to working at Pete's Coffee or the Gap.