Career Paths

The career path of an artist varies tremendously but tends to have a dual component as a common thread. Whether or not you have a day job or support yourself entirely by the sale of your work there is the creative component and the business component that both need to be addressed for the other to succeed.

As an artist, you have to make time for your studio practice. How you make that fit amongst your other responsibilities is often a challenge. Framing your options in the following three groups may help you identify what will work the best for you.

  1. Studio – Working in a studio can help you increase your studio skills, teach you how to successfully manage a studio of your own someday, and introduce you to the people involved in the life of an artist. 
  2. Arts Administration – Working at a gallery, museum or foundation can introduce you to people in the art world, allow you to work directly with artists, and also teach you how the business side of the industry runs.
  3. Other - Working outside of the arts altogether will not give you the perks listed for the previous two, but in some cases the money, hours, or benefits may make this the optimum choice.

With these three options, there are positive and negative aspects to consider and each one creates different long term results. In addition the most important thing to consider is which of these three will most likely leave you with the time and motivation to keep active in your studio.

Below are sample career paths of a number of Pratt alumni who have continued to pursue fine arts careers. There is incredible variety in the paths taken and yours, too, can be equally unique.