As someone who ended up studying art despite some pretty intense pressure to go into STEM (and as someone who believes art and science are far more connected than most people think they are) this blog post by a stage manager really resonates with me. A similar post of hers has lived in my head for years.
Her blog also has some valuable thoughts about being autistic.
This in particular hits hard:
I suspect this is at least somewhat the case with any discipline it’s possible to study at a high level, but it feels especially so with regard to the performing arts, that the average person, the average high school teacher or counselor or parent, just has absolutely no idea what the true range of career possibilities within the field is.
I could have had an entirely different life if the adults around me – the ones who were supposed to guide me – knew anything about what sort of work might be available to a musician besides being a musician. But nobody did, so I ended up becoming a techie instead, because there was no way I could make a living as a performing musician.
I try not to be too bitter about that. Sometimes I even manage it for a while.
Always interesting to peer over the other side of the fence, as it were. I often wistfully think about how much happier I might be, in another universe where I pursued a writing degree. As it stands, my English electives were some of the most memorable and cherished classes I had in my undergraduate.
This makes me think of Eisner’s “10 Lessons the Arts Teach”. Of course, art has intrinsic value but there is so much that can extrapolate onto other fields.
I make a living by making and teaching art in various capacities, mostly at a big research university hospital (art with patients) and to pre-meds (arts in health). Lately I’m interested in “artist &” and “musician &” kind of life-paths. We’ve made it so that art is made by professional artists and it’s kind of cringe to make art/music/plays as either an actual amateur or as a very skilled person who makes their living in another field. I want to see more art openings for people with day jobs. Normalize a creative life. Making money from your art is only one way to be an artist.
I also wish art schools talked more about money & skills to survive in capitalism! This is changing a bit. I was taught in undergrad that only bad artists teach -and “art education” is more that what happens in schools. I find I run out of art to make if I just sit in studio all the time. I like being on my feet and watching people come up with good ideas and hyping them up :)
Thanks for starting the topic, manatee :) I could go on but I just get excited when ppl talk about art and science